Hi there,
I am a fellow game developer just like you, I write content for freelancers (gamedevs) and I want to share my experience that can help you to finish what you started. Text in written more in general than game dev way, but still it’s very useful for everyone, no matter what is your industry. It can help artists, writers, programmers, anyone.
This is the link to the text http://tomicz.com/index.php/2017/02/13/motivation-is-overrated-start-doing-work/
Darko
Its not finishing things I need help with, but starting them.
Sure, if you see your game as one giant project then you will indeed mainly have an issue with finishing it, but I see my game as a bunch of tiny projects such as; a weapon system, character controller, user input, UI, Localization, custom components, etc…
I have trouble planning each of those small projects. Theres a bunch of stuff needed and it gets overwhelming. I try to break them down even more, but things rely on eachother, making it so I need to keep the whole picture in mind. I think about the future of what I will need. In fact, I used to think about what I “might” need, but that ended up in wasted work and over complications, so now I am kinda in the middle by thinking of what I do want, but might not need immediately.
For example, I am currently procrastinating making my weapon system. I could design it one way, but in the future I want a gamemode where each kill gives you a new random layout with random weapon stats. I dont plan on releasing the game with that game mode, but I do want it (or something that involves random weapons), so I need to plan for that, else I will most likely need to redo my weapon system.
I also stopped aiming for the “totally reusable components for any game anywhere” and am aiming for just something decent.
But the bugs, the planning, the worrying I will need to redo it all…
It is the struggle of my past attempts that prevents me from wanting to start another.
However, usually, once I get started… I just keep going. Though, that may be due to me having previously spent a while procrastinating while also planning here and there and now finally having an idea of what I want.
I think everyone has their own reasons for having trouble moving anywhere, and probably my main issue is thinking of what I code up might not be good enough and need to be redone…and then redone…and then redone… and being more difficult to be redone later than now.
Some may say you shouldnt have coded it in a way that would make it difficult to replace in the future, but thats kinda what I mean by planning ahead too far and falling into a procrastination trap. I just aint good enough yet ^^.
From your post, I feel your basically saying “Just do it”
but thats the problem…
How do I “Just do it”? ^_~
Currently, I dont follow the “Just do it” pack,
I follow the “Just keep swimming” pack.
I should get there eventually =)
Ive seen many threads with a similar topic to this, and I usually dont bother with em since its kinda a cliche now, but I guess I got that off my chest. Gotta do that every now and then I guess. Also a good way to procrastinate =P
Also, the pure black background and white text of your post hurts my eyes a bit, but this is coming from someone who actually likes lighter themes (even the unity light skin), so I guess it just depends on the person =).
I’d say, like @HiddenMonk , I struggle more with getting started than I do finishing. Often it’s not starting the entire project, but starting on that critical element that will be core to your progress moving forward. So it’s easy to work on stuff that I know won’t offer too much resistance (and won’t be as considerable an effort to rewrite), but for important things I can plan and debate and think myself into paralysis.
Plenty of nights have been wasted trying to “Just Do It” and put something in place. By the next day, I look at what I had and can’t make sense of why I thought that might work. When I don’t have something somewhat fully documented before I create it, I lose sight of what I needed. But when I over-plan, I spend days of messing with spreadsheets and find myself looking at 10 new classes that need written to be able to handle the system and question whether this is the correct way to do it.
So far, I’ve found the system that works best for me is a combination of seizing inspiration and forcing diligence. I have limited time to work on my game, but when I’m in the shower, or driving to work, or waiting in line at the grocery store… I’m thinking of my game. I’m planning things out in my head in a loose way and thinking of potential strategies for tackling subjects later that night. When I finally get in front of the keyboard, if I’m not feeling it yet, I’ll write down what was in my head all day to reevaluate later. And on the nights when I’m really feeling the inspiration, I’ll stay up until 2 working away until I can’t keep my eyes open. It’s not a perfect system, but it keeps me making small progress at least, while avoiding burning myself out and getting stressed by forcing it.
I don’t really have a problem making games. Other than the normal time factor. I was getting burned out from pushing myself to complete tiny games very quickly. I was trying to get at least 10 hours in per week and up to 20 although I rarely hit that sometimes I hit 16 hours in a single week.
It was all just too much though so I stopped game dev completely for a couple of monrhs thinking I might just be done with it. Came back once again and this time made two key changes.
First on the presentation side I decided on ultra low resolution pixel art and although I did some test scenes I am not even working on graphics or audio at all. Basically returned to what I used to do years ago of just using rectangles for the most part.
So that was one major difference because I am not even spending 5 to 6 minutes on each frame of animation, etc. A lot more satisfying because when I work on the game I am working on the true core piece… the game within the game.
Second thing is I made a rule to not work on game dev more than 5 hours in any given week. So instead of a minimum of 10 hours per week I now have a maximum of 5 hours per week.
And instead of striving to work on game dev every night I try to work no more often than every other night. The last time I worked on my game was 5 to 6 days ago. Feeling great. Not burnt out at all. I was gonna work on the game last night but decided not to. Tonight I think I probably will.
Anyway… for me it was just managing this game dev stuff better that made all of the difference. Because I am now not pushing myself like a madman game dev has no stress.
I feel comfortable tackling bigger games than I used to because working like this I don’t care if it takes 3 months or 10 months to complete the game.
Finally when I do work I put in no more than 2 hours in a night. But because I am so fresh I get even more done each game dev session than I normally would.
Maybe loosening up on it will help some other people as well. Just a thought.
EDIT: I did no game dev again last night but I am very satisfied because I hit a new personal best of doing 300 push ups in one day. I have other things I am interested in besides games and fitness is a very important one. It works out well because each night I do not work on a game I feel a little more desire to work on a game. Eventually it will become strong enough to outweigh other goals and interests for that particular night.
Wow. Just remember that work isn’t the end objective. And even if it was, working from dawn to dusk every day and working weekends isn’t the best way to be productive. After a while doing too much starts to cost you productivity.
I think it’s important to keep moving, in any direction really. Something that has helped me recently is not trying to “power through” things that aren’t interesting me anymore. As a simple example, I purchase a lot of game dev books, which typically tend to be 500-600 pages or so. If I’m half-way through and getting bored, I pick up another book on a different topic. I can still go back and finish the first book, because many times I will remember what interested me in the first place. But switching like this keeps me moving and motivated, rather than trying to push through when I’m not feeling it at the moment.
Same with my game projects. I have about a half dozen promising ideas that I tend to swap back and forth from. I’ll do little feature tests in Unity, maybe try an idea to find it’s not as fun as I imagined and maybe find some that work. But I’m not really attached to anything. So I just try whatever is interesting in the moment. Sadly, this means I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked (or what would be theoretically possible working all the time on one thing) but I find it’s better for my state of mind. If you’re not feeling something, then what is the point?
This is an important thing! I used to like bouncing back and forth between 2 different game projects for the same reason. And have been thinking that even with the tiny amount of time I am currently spending on game dev I may just add a second game.
You are right… at least I have found the same thing… working on just one game project can well if not get boring at least it gets tiring after a while… monotonous.
Also there are advantages like when working on game #1 pieces built and problems overcome can directly benefit game #2 and vice-versa. And some weeks we may want to work on a platformer game and other weeks we’d rather work on a shmup or FPS. Having 2 or 3 projects supports that.
Different things work for different people, that’s right. But if you want to make something, you must be finisher. Your motivation will fade through time, but if you still don’t keep going there’s a chance that you will end with too many projects but 0 finished. This is okay if you are a hobbyst, but if you want to make this your career, then you should reconsider things.
Well sure, but then, who is this article targeted at?
If I’m trying to become a full-time professional anything, obviously I need to focus my attention and work really hard at it, right? What’s different about game development in this respect than something like cooking, painting, or landscaping?
I see a lot of these… I’m not even sure what to call them… Game Development Advice sites, I guess… that focus their attention on Indie™ developers* and offer advice that makes me think “You don’t say…” I wish there were more resources focused on the hobbyists like me.
As a hobbyist, it doesn’t really matter if I work on my game or not. Worst case is I don’t achieve one of my many dreams in life, but since I have a good job and a wonderful family, that’s something I can live with (Side note: I’ll also likely never hook up with Natalie Portman, so that’d be two dreams I have to put on the shelf). That said, it’d be great if I could get motivated/disciplined into working instead of playing some nights, and any blogger/Twitterist who found a way to push me in that direction would have a regular reader from me, at the least.
Just throwing it out there.
What I could really use is something that helps me silence this urge:
Clickbait. At least that’s what I would call the majority of articles. I don’t know about the OP’s article. I simply couldn’t find the motivation to bother reading it. 
I’ve struggled with this a lot. Partly it’s cus I’m quite a sensitive chap so I’m easily put off when something goes wrong. I’ve tried all the tricks to do with working hard, having a plan, setting goals, reducing scope, making short-term goals, being disciplined or consistent, allocating time, having side projects to fulfill the boring parts, switching up whether I’m working on programming or graphics etc. NOTHING WORKS.
The only way now that I think I can sustain any kind of ‘progress’ towards getting something done, is simply that I as a person am honestly and deeply aligned with what I’m doing. If I don’t really genuinely love it, I can push myself through he ‘hard work and pain’, but eventually I will reject it because I’m aware it’s not quite the right thing for me. You have to do what’s in your heart and what you really believe in, and you also have to stop undermining and questioning and doubting yourself all the time. Be more decisive and confident. It’s that sort of central core of confidence and happiness and flow and interest etc that keeps everything else afloat and running smoothly. Who wants to do soul-sucking empty hard work?
I think a big part of it simply interest… importance. If game dev (or anything for that matter) is truly important to a person AND they don’t have other things (problems etc) requiring time and energy I think a person will just naturally sort of gravitate to it and focus the time on it.
At least that is how it is for me. I haven’t worked on my barbarian game in a while now. Tonight will be 10 days. And for me I really don’t care. If I wanted to work on it I would. But it doesn’t need to be done. It is something to do if and when I want to do it.
There are other things that I want to do and those I am doing. One is getting back into fitness big time. I’ve been doing that since the very end of September and made a lot of progress. Another is learning more about relationships / women and especially “mine” because I want to be the best boyfriend (and at some point ideally husband) I can be.
Finally the other big reason is I am now focused on spring cleaning (early I know but close enough) and I love being outside working and doing. So when the weather gets nice I spend less and less time on the computer. Last year was a fluke thing where I made 2 games in the middle / end of summer.
Anyway… if this was something super important I would focus on the game. But it isn’t plain & simple. There are other things far more important. This doesn’t mean I will never work on the game (maybe I will tonight and then again maybe I won’t) just means it comes last not first.
Not really a click bait, if you want to call it that way, then okay. I have a lot support on Reddit, it was on top page on several sub-reddits which validates the article.
Above in the article I wrote how you can finish things. There’s really no other way around, it’s just hard work. You can’t work an hour a week or even more and expect to finish things. If your point of existence is being spiritual and just share love and not work much, then I am scared that you may not make the game. You can’t just stand here and blame me because I can’t help you to finish your projects. I see many developers here 5+ years in Unity but they have 0 projects finished, and that’s fine I don’t judge them. But if you really, really want to finish something then start working, that’s the whole point of success. Go visit some youtube channels (Valutainment, Gary Vaynerchuk etc) and see their opinion, they will just tell you hard work, tons of hours (every single day). If you can’t make that, that’s totally fine, nobody is judging you, but don’t expect anything in return.
You can build normal apps if that interests you, as they take much less time to produce. Game dev can take up to 1000’s of hours and you must be ready for a challenge.
You must not have built normal apps of any meaningful size. Worst part is that normal apps are likely the job you’ll end up with until you’ve successfully gotten game development making enough money to be sustainable. So not only will you be putting that hard work in your own game, you’ll be putting it into your normal app day job too.
By the way I recommend using a term like “dedication” or “determination” over “hard work” because even with motivation the work you’re doing may still be considered “hard work”. It’s just that you’re motivated to do it because you enjoy it.
Well I don’t think anyone here doesn’t realize that yes to complete a game they must actually work on the game. And while there are probably many people who have never completed a game yet there are also many of us who have not only completed a game but actually completed many games.
I agree of course it comes down to just simple stuff in the end. Break the project down into smaller steps. Focus on getting the work done. Actually do the work. That is basically it.
However, I think if completing the game is really important to a person they will be doing this already. Unless they are just terrible at breaking steps down into smaller steps, simply have no time available to spend on their games or… are at a roadblock such as needing graphics content and are unable to find it or make it themselves.
For myself… I’d like to make my barbarian game. But it is just that. Something I’d like to do but not really something I want to spend the time actually doing. Not today or in the past 10 days or so. But maybe tomorrow or the next day or next week it will be important to me to work on the game. So again I see it like if a person really truly wants to complete a game they will complete the game.
Every game I have completed I had far more than a general view of I’d like to make this game. I was passionate about making the games. I truly wanted to make the game and there was no question that I would make the game. And I had a clear vision of what I was making. Sure not every single thing planned out but enough clarity to actually begin work and breaking the project as a whole down into simple steps.
People do what they really want to do. What is most important to them. This is why some people never get beyond creating graphics for example. They will list many reasons and stress the importance so much but the bottom line is they spend all of their time working on graphics simply because that is what is important to them. That is what they enjoy doing the most. What gives them the most satisfaction. For others, it is simply coming up with game ideas and writing out 10,000 word game design documents. For others making music. For others creating AI systems, dev tools and so on.
We’ll do what is really important to us. So when I wrote my earlier posts I was trying to get this simple truth across. If a person isn’t completing a game they yes definitely have to put the work in as you have said. BUT… there is a step BEFORE that. And that is what I was addressing. They have to really truly want to complete the game and have a reasonably clear (solid) & realistic vision of the game. Not just kind of want to create the game. Not just have a very vague idea of the game. They need at least enough clarity to actually begin work.
Nothing like a forum regular throwing out accusations of “Clickbait” while simultaneously admitting they have absolutely no idea what is even being discussed.
These posts truly baffle me.
Your article is crap. But I didn’t read the article so I don’t know if that is true. Trolololol!"
Ironically the only people who have misinterpreted anything have been you and the OP. I highly recommend both of you read my post again rather than simply stopping at the first word.
Edit: By the way in case it wasn’t obvious from my second post, I did eventually read the article and frankly the information isn’t really useful to anyone who has had any sort of responsibilities. There may be some value in presenting it to someone young but everyone will eventually come to the conclusions on their own so it’s very limited in value.
This is not pointed to someone who has the time or not, it’s pointed to someone who wants to make something. And if a person thinks he can make it, he will make time too.
And this has to be the most silly thought process in the world. Let’s use a different teachable topic as an example; It will show how silly this statement is.
There may be some value in presenting [the idea that you need to market your game] to someone young but everyone will eventually come to the conclusions on their own [after risking bankruptcy] so it’s very limited in value [to tell them].
There may be some value in presenting [the concept that leaded drinking water kills humans] to someone young but everyone will eventually come to the conclusions on their own [after seeing their friends die] so it’s very limited in value [to tell them].
There is no value in a lesson because everyone will eventually learn the lesson on their own? W…T…F…? The very reason we TEACH is so people don’t have to “eventually learn the lesson on their own”. I won’t even go into the fact that assuming everyone will eventually learn the same lesson is silly on its own; let alone the irony of your statement. (Isn’t constructive criticism just a vessel to teach?)