Do you ever get tired or bored?

My project is well on its way through development but it is still in the early stages. I find myself waking up with a renewed vigor each and every day as I get to work on my beloved project. I also thoroughly look forward to the time that will need to be spend finishing the product. Even though it is a long way off, I feel like I don't want it to end because it will be like finishing a journey you want to keep on. So I have a few questions.

-Do you ever get tired/bored of working on your project?

-If you have gotten to that point, how long did it take and at what point of development were you in?

-If you managed to overcome the boredom, what caused you to see a new light in the project?

Thank you and I look forward to your comments.

 

No i never get bored or tired.... I never sleep ....... I'm a man of metal

But to seriously answer.

- Yes, if you didnt you wouldnt be normal

- Point where pseudo code gets frustrating

- Getting actual visuals always cheers me up

 

1. Yes.

2. It usually happens every month or two and unfortunately it becomes compounded the longer you work on something. There's come points where I've barely even wanted to open the Unity project. Which brings me to...

3. Take a bit of a break. Either try to tackle a new aspect of your current project or just put it down for a bit. Once you go back to what you were working on before, you will approach it with greater energy and also a more critical eye. One of my most productive times ever was after I caught the flu and was unable to do anything for a week. Before that point, I really didn't want to work at all. After that point, I had an insane amount of energy and got a buttload of stuff done in just one day. Chances are you will also have other ideas throughout your project and those might seem more interesting then what you are doing now. Although it's dangerous to focus on them too much, it might not be a bad idea to take a bit of a break and prototype that idea for a day or two, so you can get it out of your system and have more energy for your current project.

 

Thanks for getting back. I did kind of expect those answers, so I'm not really surprised. Also thanks for the advise Chaos, I will keep it in mind.

 

Yes, I get exhausted and bored of the project now and again. I just take a day off, play some games, watch a movie, then get back on the saddle. Realistically game development is a business and being a business it's a job just like any other job. I do this as a hobby though so I'm not forced into deadlines or development that I don't want to do (nor does my mortgage depend on it, lol), which makes this significantly more fun for me. For example it took 2 frustrating weeks until I finally got the desired 2.5D cave-like lighting with realtime shadows implemented, but when I did discover the insanely simple solution it was like an overwhelming blast of joy and renewed interest in the project.

 

When I get bored, I start playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. When I play SWTOR, I roll a female heavy armor wearer. When I roll a female heavy armor wearer, I grind Social Points so I can buy the bikini on Nar Shaddaa. When I buy the bikini on Nar Shaddaa, I PvP in the bikini from Nar Shaddaa (which acts as if it confers the same armor rating as heavy armor. Bonus points if you're a Bounty Hunter, since it's now a rocket-propelled bikini.)

Don't PvP in a heavy-armor, rocket-propelled bikini!

 

1. Yes, all the time and it's completely normal. Just keep pushing on.
2. Mostly when I stop doing stuff I've never done before, it gets kind of tedious after that, usually a month or two.
3. Taking a short break is good to diminish boredom, and for me improving the visuals also improves my mood. Getting the game from a barebone state to fully playable mode is also good for morale.

 

Yes I get bored all the time. I normally only get 3 days into a project and delete it. It doesn't help when I have ADHD lol. My meds don't work but when they do im able to work for hours on end. I'm currently trying to push myself through a coin dozer game but I can't even build something that small lol.

 

Yea, pretty bored on my project right now, mapping takes to long......

 

1. Yes
2. When it comes to fixing some bug which has been there for AGES!
3. I just work on a smaller project and come back to it later!

 

what you're feeling is burnout

are you taking regular breaks? playing other games for inspiration, doing other activities too ?

 

One thing I've learned about game projects is that whenever I try to focus on what the audience wants I feel a strong resistance and lose all interest. Unfortunately game development tends to focus very heavily on being competitive, even making the game itself is like trying to put on a best performance, to get the most attention and the approval of others, seeking for lots of people to say wow, that's so cool, I want to buy it. That's not a good foundation on which to be artistic.

If I'm always in a mindset of `what will the audience like` and trying to please them and trying to appeal to more people and all that, it puts a total damper on my creativity and turns what could be enjoyable into just *boring as hell* hard work that I don't want to do. I might not be like many other people in this regard but this is what I've learned about myself. If I focus on what I want to do for myself, and I make the game for myself, based on what I like, without any consideration for other people ever being part of the equation, then I can make progress and be artistic and it can be `fun` to develop. But once the impending judgement of the audience is brought into play I think that really dilutes the artistic expression and forces it pretty much always in the direction of `how will I make money`, which sucks the living soul out of the whole project and it's no fun at all. For me anyway.

I've pretty much had to face the fact that I do not enjoy making games for other people, at all. I may enjoy to see them play my games, or to see them have fun, or whatever, but while I'm actually making them I don't want to think about them at all. I'm trying to learn now whether I even want to make games for myself, just for the fun of it. I've spent so many years trying to make stuff that will please others that I'm not even sure I have any desire to make something just for myself. It may seem counteractive or counterintuitive but I think you can't really be artistic, or be true to yourself, if you are constantly sacrificing and compromising to try to win the attention of other people.

 

I'm working on several projects because when I focus on one for too long I get burned out. Now I just push the puck forward on each and it keeps me interested and productive.

Sometimes I get distracted by non game dev.

 

I already got bored of this thread.
Haven't you?

 

Pretty deep man. Hopefully I never get to that point, but who knows. Right now I am making the game for myself, all things considered. I have taken into account things that others tend to like in successful franchises, but there is a lot of my own personality in the project that has kept me interested. Good luck with your endeavors.

 

Take a coffee or 2 and get back.. hahah but yes if you are human you get bored once and while

 

@Imaginary Human: I actually wouldn't worry about the audience too much, even if you eventually release this game to the public. Most successful games including most indie games really are just what the designer likes, and essentially the designer is hoping the other people will like it as well. The authors for games like Braid or The Binding of Isaac said that they thought these games would never appeal to a wider audience and in the case of The Binding of Isaac the designer said he was seriously considering not releasing it at all or just putting it out for free. Yet, these games have been successful. Don't focus on what the audience wants, focus on what you want and chances are there are people like you out there that will like it as well. I'd try to remove the burden of the audience on your development process as much as possible, even going so far as to avoid testing until very late and not to take the feedback from the testing too seriously*. Chances are you know what makes a good game and you are perfectly capable of achieving that on your own merits. If you really need outside opinions on a game, ask a friend.

Just for some context, I've been working on and off (see my previous post, lol) on a project for years now, and I still haven't revealed anything about it besides to people who are close to me that I know personally. Although you might sometimes get the feeling that you're project isn't as great are you think it is, it's better then dealing with other people and having to filter your project to suit their often misguided demands.

*there's a lot of debate about this amongst game designers, but getting accurate testing results is very difficult, because if you stand over the shoulder of someone and take notes the tester would be more nervous and self conscious then usual, but if you leave the room and ask them to tell you what they think afterwards their answers will be generic or off target (human memory is flawed). Also, testing to smooth out the hard edges can often compromise your vision for a game, see any modern game and it's difficulty. After all, the more difficult but fair a game is the more rewarding it is to get past that challenge, and if your game is not truly challenging but fakes it (I.E. most people who play the game will beat it), then you are getting into manipulative territory that in my opinion you want to avoid. This is getting off topic, but my point is that testing is really only useful for "are the controls good" or "are there any bugs", not so much for tuning game design, thus enhancing the fact that the audience can mess up your project if you're not careful.