Lemma Soft Forums

Hello. I've been working on my visual novel for a long time now, which means that I've put a lot of time and thought into making it. But everytime I'm done with a scene or see my sprites presented in the VN, I get the feeling that "it's not good enough"... And then I put more time into correcting those faults, to the point that I either think it looks good or give up. But I just keep having the feeling that it can be better.

I want to know if you guys feel the same when you see some of the great projects presented on this website. Do you ever feel like you won't be able to deliver those feelings that you feel when you're playing your favorite VNs? I haven't started or even thought of making another project, I want to successfully finish this one first before thinking that. I really don't feel like giving up either, but at the same time I don't want to waste my time... What are you guys thoughts on this matter?

I have it all the time and it's terrible.



Then there's also comparing it to someone else's amazing work and inferiority kicks in

Every single second of every single day.

Of course, what I think about it doesn't matter. I'm most worried that you people won't think it's good enough =P

Considering as the creator you can see all the flaws and such that were present in the game, I feel like that about everything, unless it's a AAA million dollar budget game =P

Im pretty sure anyone who ever makes anything tends to feel that way. lol
I mean how often have you heard even big name developers working on multi-million dollar AAA titles talk about things they would've liked to do better, or bits they wanted to add if they'd had more time or resourses etc?

Everyone tries for perfection but nobody ever achieves it, so if you let yourself get caught up in only trying to achieve it you'll get stuck in that loop forever and never actaully produce anything, when otherwise you could potentially made many excellent, but perhaps not perfect, games in the same time.

100% of the time. I have a lovely, vivid imagination and I can visualize exactly what I want. But that's the problem. I don't really have the skills to do a complete replication of my imagination to actual real-life game, so I'm constantly like eh.. not quite.

But it's what you do with that feeling that matters. As long as it doesn't hinder the pride you take in actually getting things done and doing the best you can *right now* then I think it's okay. Just keep aspiring to greatness and you'll get there! In the meantime, I hone my skills on whatever I'm working on in the present, knowing one day, if I keep going, I'll be able to put exactly what's in my mind into the game.

Always. Always always always.

One good trick to keep in mind is that some of this "greatness" you see in other projects is likely just the sense of novelty. I've found that the more I obsess over something, whether it is my physical appearance or my writing or my artwork, the farther and farther the "greatness" seems to be slipping away. However, there will are times I'll meet my reflection accidentally, or stumble upon an old drawing I forgot about... and I always think, "Hey, this is not bad at all!" It's like catching water in your hand... it's something you have to hold onto loosely because if you try to grasp it tightly it will run through your fingers and be lost.

Additionally, when I start feeling like something I made is terrible, I try to set it aside for awhile and come back to it when I am no longer overwhelmed by all the perceived faults. Repeating this process helps things "gel" and I begin to accept many "faults" as legitimate facets of the work, while being able to make more intelligent decisions about what should be changed.

Yes, but then I got over the feeling and just really badly wanted the project off my plate.

Honestly, it doesn't matter if it isn't "good enough;" it's enough work as it is without having to worry about whether people are going to like it or not. If you put any effort into it--if you care about it at all--that is "good enough." Create because you want to, not because you're trying to achieve some sort of mystical standard of quality that you're probably never going to reach anyway.

Creating something is not a waste of time. OTOH, worrying about something you haven't finished is a total waste of time. Finish it first! Then you can freak out over it all you want.

My forum spam advisor gives this advice: "The best forum spam is a done forum spam."
Also, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Yeah. Who doesn't?

While I believe in putting effort into developing a game, I keep in mind that I can't please everyone.

Yep, all the time. I'm thinking what if they don't like the writing style. What if they don't like the artwork style. What if no-one plays it. Then I just keep working on it (there's no chance of anyone playing it if I never finish it).

Do you ever feel like your game is not good enough?

Nothing I create; not the books I write, the art I do, or the games I make, are as good as I want them to be. But then, that's exactly what drives me to do better on the next project, then the next, and the next...

Count me in, too.

muniiam wrote:Do you ever feel like you won't be able to deliver those feelings that you feel when you're playing your favorite VNs?

Especially when it comes to that part.
I'm quite the perfectionist and no matter what I do, I always worry people won't like it.
Even if I like it a lot myself.

Re-Reading some older comical dialogues I wrote, I still think they're funny. They make me laugh. But will they make others laugh, too...?
It helps reading these dialogues out loud with a friend. If they haven't read it before and we do it live together, I can experience their genuine reactions to it.
The last time I did that the parts I was hoping would be funny actually made my friend laugh.
That made me happy and gave me more confidence.

As for character sprites... well, I keep being dissatisfied and try to fix the smallest of details, but I've also come to realize that nothing I do will ever be perfect, anyway. So I just do what I can do and hope people will enjoy it.
In order to give me a surge of confidence, I like to look at VNs like Higurashi/Umineko.
The sprites are terrible, yet I personally didn't mind that while reading. And I'm certain I can do a LOT better than that. So I keep thinking, if people managed to put up with sprites of that quality, they'll probably put up with mine

I can only repeat what others said before me, but I guess it really is natural for every creator to never truly be satisfied with their work. But there aren't many options.
I mean, what are you going to do? Keep fixing errors for all eternity? Drop the project altogether and never finish a thing?
Nah.
Finish it and let the readers decide.

There will always be times when you think your work isn't any good.
But, at least in my experience, there will also be moments of confidence.
And those are the ones you should always keep in mind while you continue working.

...
*keeps editing this post multiple times*
Perfectionism strikes again!

This is a lot more common than is admitted in my experience. That's why I strive to make deadlines/milestones. Someone whose work I respect had a saying that I tend to use in these moments: "Just another stone in the fortress of regret."

What I do to keep the regret from building up is to get it done. That, among other things, fuels me to finish the work in the best way I know how. Once it's out in the wild, people can make their own assessments. I know what I did and why.

I do experience it. In fact, I'm the worst kind of perfectionist. I'm very self-defeating. I've had to learn how to accept 'good-enough', and part of what pushed me into beginning to accept it was actually taking part in a competition on deviantart.

On the day before the last image was due, my computer's power supply failed, leaving me unable to finish the last drawing, even though it was an hour or two away from done at the most. Since my husband's computer still worked, but he was using it, I had to go back to traditional art to finish in time. It was bad. So bad. It didn't match up with any of the rest of my entries at all. But I did finish it, scan it, and submit it to the competition. Yep, I submitted Grade D work alongside my Grade A work in a competition. After doing something like that, 'mailing it in' is okay for me, if it has to be done.