Motivation
Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Beginners Area/Motivation
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| How do you guys stay motivated??? I been on and off for almost 3 years and really don't have much to show for it. I'm really having trouble, I love the idea of making a game. I have made mods for other retail games maps etc... But doing it myself has equaled fail. I want to know how you stay focused. I don't have but a few issues with the code, and I can learn that for myself. My pixel art design skills are bad. But even that being said, it doesn't matter how bad the art is for a complete first game. Or use free releast sprites for now. When you get ready to make a release it should be allot better. I need some help/pointers for motivation guys. Come on and help me out please. |
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| Pick a project that is small, easy to code, easy to do graphics for, yet is fun to play around with. Come up with an idea that you can put together in say a weekend...so that you are limited to choosing something small. |
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| My main thing that I love is the ability to create useful functions that can be used for more than one thing. I don't use other people's premade stuff like sprites and models because It just seems kind of.. well... too easy and cheap. What keeps me going is when I learn new things, I like to try to see how much farther I can go in an older project I started. I also think of a game that I would want to make, and start a project on that and go as far as I can, and end up learning something that could help with a previous project. Most of all, I just love making things. My end goal is to make a movie or a game of a certain story that I've had through dreams. |
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| I agree with Matty, selecting a project you can finish is definitely helpful.. doing smaller projects will allow you to finish (and the satisfaction that goes with it)... bigger projects require more planning work so you don't code yourself into a corner. As for motivation... Its my cave from life I suppose.. I don't really care all that much about whether or not I finish a project as much as I enjoy the process of creating it. Ok, i do care if I finish it, but if you dont enjoy the process of creation it would be hard to stay motivated. |
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| I am with Green Fire on this one... I love to learn new things and see it at work on the screen hence why I love physics and am working on a physics engine atm... you just have to find your niche in programming and what makes you go. |
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| I agree with everything said above, and have a few pointers of my own to add. If I am not enjoying something I'm programming, in all likelyhood, others won't enjoy playing it. So if you don't enjoy what your working on, my suggestion is to just stop, and either work on something else for a little while, and then come back to your first project, or go out in a new direction, and change the style of your game. Also don't get discouraged. It takes awhile to really have something worthwhile. I'm getting ready to sell my first game, and it took me around 4 years to get as good as I am.(And I still have a lot of room for improvement:) Just pick something you enjoy programming, upload it to the Blitz Show Case, get feedback, and take the advice that people give you and you will improve in no time! Hope that helps you out, Now I must be off to eat dinner! WERDNA |
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| Heh, I've been learning Blitz for probablllllyyyyy ummmm over 4 years? I think... close to it. The only thing I've finished is a Match 3 game and that was a last month. I finished it in 3-4 days. I already knew the rules. The hard part was making the tiles drop. I'm really glad I actually finished something for once, it's still not "complete" as I want to keep adding to it randomly. Anyways... how do/will you sell your game WERDNA? Because I really want to make money off of making things. |
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| Motivation can be a tough one. One of the biggest things for me is just opening up the IDE. Once I have the IDE open and start typing... I'm on my way! no matter how unmotivated I was before. After the IDE's open, knowing that every little piece of code I type is adding up to something bigger, drives and inspires me. I like to look at it like going to the gym. Once you start doing it regularly, it becomes habit. Everyday or every other day I program, .. I just do it. Habit. =D Hope that helps! |
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| I don't believe there is any magic involved in staying motivated. If you love what you are doing, it comes naturally. If you find yourself constantly doing something other than what you've planned, it is problably best to adjust your plans and go with that other thing instead. |
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| Girls make me unmotivated. |
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| For me the keyword is discipline. My mood and my lifestyle effects my projects greatly so when I start to work on a serious project, I start by planning my sleep time, meal times, spare times etc. Another thing is, you have to achieve something for you project everyday. It may be a huge milestone or a tiny function. A single day off may be okay once in a while but more than that may become devastating on your motivation. Planning takes an important role too, you have to plan the entire project from start to finish, assets, gameplay, programming, levels, features, target audience, where to sell etc. etc. If you can't see the way, you can reach your goal so the planning as I said, is very important. There are other aspects like "not planning a MMO", starting small. Being motivated by the project, not the financial success it will achieve etc. etc. |
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| Another very important point i find, is to keep a progress log. There is nothing worse than having to read through your code, to see where abouts you are in terms of progress. Give variables useful names too, and the same with functions. Don't make your functions too long. Someone once told me, you should keep each function no longer than a page in the IDE. Anything bigger, than split it down more. So it's more like a list of processes, rather than lines and lines of code. For instance: If KeyDown(203) Then ; if LEFT key Move_character_left() End if Rather than putting in lines of code to make the character move left. It leave it cleaner and easier to pick up, and to debug. |
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| I find I often plan too big and get swamped by to much work. the only games Ive finished have been limited because Im either making a remake of an old game(bubble ghost,mario kart,mario land) or making a small game to sort out the codeing for a system in a bigger game(the bigger games never get finished) for instance an snes zelda style rpg; I would make a smaller game where you wander through a few dungeons and kill things with a limited set of weapons. It means I get a finished game out and I also have some of the work done for themain project. |
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| Don't start right off with 3D projects. Start wit 2D to learn some of the commands. Then move to 3D, and learn those. |
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| Motivation? Bleh :P (I'm going to sound harsh below, but I truly believe this) Game developing has itīs highs and lows... there are parts which are very pleasant to write, and there are parts that are pretty dull and boring. Getting your idea "live" and completed should be more than enough motivation. If you can't "force" yourself to go through it, then you should look at something else... or maybe get a better idea ;) |
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| I need some help/pointers for motivation guys. You have three weeks to release a game or puki will strip to his nappies, oil himself down and show up at your door in the middle of the night with a handful of sausages. |
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| That would about do it motivation wise, lol. As to your question Green_Fire, read this. http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=85131 I asked the same question not too long ago, and got some very useful advice! WERDNA |
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| Thanks! Now I just have to figure out how to make a sellable game. I wanna try my luck at making a Tower Defence game because they're so fun. |
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| You know Labyrinth, I had the exact same problem as you (still have it, actually). If are constantly practicing whatever it is related to game development (programming or art), sometime you will have the skill necessary to build up your project. What motivates me? I'm gonna be honest with you. Firstly, competition. Being able to get that "I made something better than you" feeling. You also have a little suspense right before posting your work, hoping people will like it; it's a nice feeling, kinda. Secondly, it's the thrill to show your good work to others (which in turn makes me want to be able to make the best graphics myself, the best sprites, etc. and that pushes me towards self-improvement in the skill department). I don't like posting things for critique, even if I may say so in the post or whatever. If I post something, it's because I want to hear "wow, very good". EDIT: Don't take it like I'm an arrogant prick. If a person took the time to say "very good", then I'll surely take the time to say "thank you!". That is what motivates me. Stopping a project and then getting back to it doesn't really work for me. I prepare my mindset or whatever and just focus that project. If I go to work on something else, I'll start wanting to do other things, and will stop caring about the one I was doing. Also, if the thing isn't interesting me or is beyond my level of skill (meaning, I hit a roadblock), I start to give up on the project. I can only get interested for a problem if it's in my level of skill (or just slightly beyond it) to find a fix\bypass for it. That is why you should practice a lot so that you encounter less problems in your game, and for those you encounter, then at least you can improve your skill while trying to solve them. |
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| What a cool thread! I'm happy to share with you what keeps me so endlessly motivated. 1. Think of your absolute favorite game of all time. 2. Make a clone of it, which will take serious time and caffeine. 3. Go through magazines for anything you think would make great level parts. 4. Always be listening to new music while you work. vgmusic.com is very good for that. The key to all of the above is making a game that you yourself are excited about. That's the secret to staying motivated with something so obviously labor intensive. For me anyway. Please try it and let me know if it works for you. I really think it will. |
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