Getting back on your feet.

[silversporksama]

Hey everyone! This is Kris of Silverspork Pro, a.k.a. silversporksama
a.k.a. ...a gamedev with a horrible unpredictable schedule and game projects that suffer because of it...


It's been a common thing with me, not being able to finish beloved projects. So far I've only released Senpai WataMite (take note that was a good few months back!) out of a whole bunch of projects I've promised and eventually have let down. I've also had this fear that the constant flops are something that my work would be associated with, so that's been eating me up and stopping me from making progress on anything, old and new. There's also a bit of fear that anything I produce after this slump won't be as good as my previous work...

Though I also like to think the production limbo is a familiar sight for a lot of people, especially one-man-teams like SSP ( usually it's just a one-man team;; ) and others who still have to juggle school and/or work.
So I was wondering how anyone else kind of fights off those negative feelings that come with neglecting their precious projects and getting back on their feet?! Yeah!! >:0

Thankfully I've been working on some small personal projects on Ren'py (and I've finished a couple, but I can't share them because they're littered with friends' in-jokes and badly photoshopped pictures of korean idols) but I still feel like my coding has rusted significantly as well. I'm sure a few others might be getting rusty around the edges, too, so I guess we can discuss that.


Let's all support each other and keep making great games, okay?~

[firecat]

surround yourself with positive stuff, anything negative to you needs to be removed. also...

[Mammon]

So far I've only released Senpai WataMite (take note that was a good few months back!) out of a whole bunch of projects I've promised and eventually have let down. I've also had this fear that the constant flops are something that my work would be associated with, so that's been eating me up and stopping me from making progress on anything, old and new. There's also a bit of fear that anything I produce after this slump won't be as good as my previous work...

Mhu-haha! Obviously my methods are far superior to those of anyone else: Not existing on Lemmasoft until your project is done, thus allowing you to fail as often as you want without anyone knowing about it. It's the perfect strategy!
But wait, people know I exist now...

Oh no! My masterplan is ruined! Every failure from now on will be another blemish on my reputation! NOOoooooooooo

I think the only good tip for this problem is not announcing a project before you know it'll go somewhere, but that is already a tricky question in and upon itself. And off course knowing if you can deliver your part of the job before working together with others. I'm not going to get into any new projects myself until March at least, considering my current internship keeps me away from home from 7am to 7pm. (Got plenty of time during work to visit this forum though...)

For you SSP, if we were to assume that the WiP thread of HOT COMEBACK is all you have right now; a funny list with everyone in your team and three parapgraphs, than the announcement would indeed be too early. Hopefully you've got a lot more stuff ready behind the scenes like one of the last lines suggest. BTW, have you already made an estimation of how many words, sprites, BG's, CG's and months of work the project will be? Making at least a mental if not a digital list of how many you predict you'll need before starting the project can be a huge help on deciding whether the project is practical or not.

[TheJerminator15]

Mammon brings up a great point in regard to not immediately announcing projects. Only announcing them when you have something tangible and proper to show the people is a good mindset to have. From what I've seen many on here have immediately announced it as soon as they have begun or their team has started work. Or extreme cases they may have already announced a completion date etc.

This is something I think first timers like myself should also do their best to avoid. We have a habit of naturally getting excited at the prospect of releasing said project and thus announce it when little to no headway has been made on actual development. I didn't do it personally, only ever announcing it in the ideas forum with a tiny teaser demo of the prologue since I had not yet started on the full sory nor made any headway on anything else.

As for production limbo, firecat has the best advice there is. As someone who is usually busy with college work I have a habit of taking any break I can, this has led to two incidents of me neglecting my script for over a month (the worst case was recently over the summer vacation where I didn't even touch it until a few weeks ago, not helped by computer issues which were recently resolved). Just sitting down, opening the project and working on it regularly (even if it's half an hour or ten minutes a day) helps quickly shape you up into a routine where you become used to doing productive work. Just do it, even when you have no motivation and cannot write more than a few sentences or lines of code. Just make sure you do something. Positive reinforcement helps a lot as well as they also said.

[Mammon]

Good point @TheJerminator15, I found that I lacked the urge to continue my project when I didn't work on it for a few days, just like games I meant to play later can become less and less attractive if I don't touch them for a while. Katawa Shoujo's desktop shortcut has been looking at me for over a year now, but I just can't seem to find the motivation to start another route... The same goes for writing or coding, you need to push through and find some time every day to do it, ESPECIALLY when it's something you don't want to do, or it will become more and more difficult to start again. You need to keep yourself in that work-drive, even if it's just 15 minutes a day doing very little of a tedious task.

[silversporksama]

surround yourself with positive stuff, anything negative to you needs to be removed. also...

!!! True, true, the positivity is really a big help, so I've noticed...!
Which is why despite my self-doubt it always feels so nice to head back here every now and then...

I think the only good tip for this problem is not announcing a project before you know it'll go somewhere, but that is already a tricky question in and upon itself.

Ahhh, that makes sense. I didn't make an announcement about my previous project until I was super-duper close to completion, and thankfully that was the one project that more or less made it to the end... Also I'm glad to have a comment on my recent post ehehehe;; It's more or less planned out completely at this point in time, since it's actually meant to be a really short VN!

Though, I admit I may have gotten ahead of myself and excited about putting it up without fully fleshing out the details yet... o|-<

Just do it, even when you have no motivation and cannot write more than a few sentences or lines of code. Just make sure you do something. Positive reinforcement helps a lot as well as they also said.

I suppose as long as there's progress being made, it all adds up in the end...? :0
I guess in a way, it also kind of helps because somehow you could build a little more progress with every effort you put in until you get the hang of doing more in one go... kinda like exercise... kind of like building a habit...? something like that?

[TheJerminator15]

Basically yes, building a habit out of it is the most important part if you want to see multiple projects to completion within a decent time frame. The progress really doesn't matter in the beginning, just building the habit to consistently work on it is the hard part. Once you're doing that regularly you'll notice you will generally do far more work on average in each session, and even if you don't you're working so regularly that you can easily make it up.

It's like exercising, you start off and it's really hard, but then the training strengthens yourself to a point that the exercise become easier. Same methodology.

[RedOwl]

I've been working in gamedev for quite a few years now, and I just want to confirm that yes, this is a very familiar feeling! As firecat and TheJerminator15 have already mentioned, the major key to getting through it is to "just do it."

Peronally, I often literally need to tell myself "don't think about it, just do it" - because if I start to think about things - i.e., how the work is not good enough, or how I feel bad for not working enough - I often can't get past those thoughts to actually get work done. And of course, then it becomes a vicious cycle. Maybe it sounds ridiculous, but my piece of advice for you is to try not to think about it. Don't think about the past (feelings of failure), and don't think about the future (the pressure of expectations) - just try to focus on the project itself, and what thing (however tiny) you can do today on the project.

In regards to project failure - many, many more projects fail than succeed. It's not something you should feel bad about. In my opinion, every bit of work you do is a learning experience, and even failed projects make you better at what you do. Don't be afraid of failure. And in terms of public failure - people have short memories, honestly. People aren't super likely to remember that you had a failed project. And, if they do actually remember you because they were pretty interested in your last project, it's mainly a good thing - name recognition is really, really important for building a following. Just hearing a familiar name will make people sit up and take notice of a project, regardless.

I guess in a way, it also kind of helps because somehow you could build a little more progress with every effort you put in until you get the hang of doing more in one go... kinda like exercise... kind of like building a habit...? something like that?

Yes, very much like that. Start simple - do something tiny and manageable every day, silence your inner critic, and it will become a habit.

[Zelan]

name recognition is really, really important for building a following. Just hearing a familiar name will make people sit up and take notice of a project, regardless.

Very much this. I recognized your name from your NaNo project, actually! c:

Recently, once of my favorite dev teams on Lemma, Hidden Masquerade, put up the WIP thread for SchizoValentine. I was immediately excited about it just seeing that they had something in the works. ^_^

[rubyto]

building a plan before doing anything will make us have more chance to get success. don't let your fear become bigger or you will be loser.

[asatiir]

I found that overthinking and worrying is what burns me out with staying focused, it is a very common problem so don't feel bad about it. We all feel you.

While working on my project, I've come through a few hurdles that slowed me down but was able to find a few solutions to fix it, whenever I found trouble focusing I took it was a chance to organize my process better and mentally declutter myself:

• In times of frustration you'll try to squeeze your brain to work on it without being able to work on it, take that as your body telling you that you need a break. It's easy to use that as an excuse to procrastinate but it isn't, take a complete (yet reasonable) duration not only not working on it but also not thinking about it. Mentally block the project from your mind, so when you come back to it you'll be back fresh.
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• Do you have your story written elsewhere? like a word document or a text file? Try chaptering and sectioning your story into smaller portions to give you a bit of a scope one how you'll work on it. In my current project, I'm focusing on finishing the first chapter as demo. I've divided the first chapter into four sections and I'm focusing on it one section at a time, this way the scope is smaller and less daunting to work with. Scrivner (for Mac) and OneNote (Mac, Windows, Mobile, Web) are great for sectioning.
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• Set goals and a schedule, this one is easy to put off but it definitely makes a difference when working on a project. Try to aim for a deadline on when you have a good portion of that game done (like the first chapter as a demo for example). Give yourself enough time where the goal is doable, but don't kick yourself if you miss it - just try hard to get your work done by then. This point can benefit the first one where you can give yourself frequent breaks to keep your mind fresh, try making a schedule that will have you working the entire week but enough room for fun and relaxation on certain days or weekends. Game development maybe fun and rewarding, but it's still a job that needs you to be motivated.
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• Parallel to the previous point, make a list of all the tasks you need on your project. writing material, bug fixes, features you want to look into, graphics, etc. Trello is excellent for that and many developers and teams use it for that and it's easily accessible from any device with internet connection. My Trello board is left public for those who want to view my progress, it may not be the most optimal format, but it may give you an idea how it works: https://trello.com/b/3bys0cFd/roses-will-rise
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• If all that isn't helping, sometimes I go back and rewrite scenes depending on what I have problem with them. Can I word the character's line better in this situation? Is the character saying too much? Is the character saying too little? Could have the scene played better if I took it a different direction? Is the scene too long or can I make it briefer?
  Don't be afraid to fix, change or start over, You might write it better the second or third time, because in every iteration you will learn something new and that will help you story get better the more you write it, you just need to know when it's good to go.
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• Do you have art or screens of your game? If you're on twitter showing your progress can encourage you to keep on going when other see it, post it on #gamedev or #screenshotsaturday to showcase your work, any sort of interaction there can keep you going.

I hope that helps!

[Aviala]

If you "fail" to finish a project, do you just abandon it forever? I've found that working on something else for a bit and then returning to the previous project gives me motivation to continue.

Of course, this may not be the ideal way to work, and especially if you try to juggle more than two or three projects, it's probably almost impossible to finish any of them. But with a couple of projects you can switch between, it may be easier to work especially if you tend to get bored of projects easily.

If the problem isn't motivation or attention span, then you'll have to look elsewhere for answers.

[Godline]

Get others to help.

Without crying out for help and finding awesome people who can do bits and pieces with me, nothing could ever get done.

The best way is to find people and if those people suck find other people. (I've had some duds who have hindered more than helped but you just thank them and get on with it).

I've got a few peeps on here who I owe my being able to finish anything to. You know who you are.

If you can't trust people with your project then you'll burn out doing everything yourself. If you can't have a collaborative spirit then you're making it harder on yourself.

Just my two cents. Sharing is caring. I have people who share theirs as well and we help each other out. Because I know that I need their input.

Find people like that by being willing to help them too.

[pyopyon]

Well, I usually go through a weird cycle of guilt and shame and whichever one wins is usually the one that determines if the project gets finished. If other people are involved, guilt always wins because it's like, 'dang... I'm letting down [my friends]" (since I usually make friends with a dev team. I say usual like I've had plenty but I've legit had like... one.)

My NaNoRenO team... -__-;; I just this week started making amends with the team I abandoned and two persons out of four are glad to be back on track. The other two, I'm still working up the guts to talk to... I should do that now, I guess.

But to answer your question, once I conquer my fear, I try my best to take preventative measures to make sure it won't happen again.

For example, part of the reason I let my project die was because I started to burn out creatively, but I was afraid of telling the other members and it made me feel horrible, like I was letting them down, which led to me avoiding them because I wasn't making progress and from there, the downward spiral. Now that I'm trying to get back on track, I'm seeking a co-writer who can help me so that this doesn't happen again.

I'm hoping that if I can prevent burn-out, I can complete the project since that's the only hold up.

Basically, open communication probably would've saved me, but everyone was making great progress and while I was as well, I wasn't as fast as them. So staying confident, communicating fears with your partners and the like are all ways I'm trying to use to fight back against project burn out.