Motivation...

During the years i started and abandoned so many projects. I am the kind of person who gets motivation when plays some random game. For example i spend the entire 2018 playing some sci-fi fps games like system shock 2 and so on... that gave me inspiration to make sci-fi fps game. I spend 3 months on 2 different fps projects. I wanted to make the fps project for android devices.. so i was creating low poly models. I didn't like how the models looked. So i abandoned the first project(took me two months to make it). Here's a quick look at the graphics.



The graphics are so low poly and low quality, that you can't understand what this is?? Is that buildings or what? Then i started another project. I found a way to create more detailed textures, and i also learned about bump mapping. The results looked so good, here's a quick view of my second project.



Well, i got instantly demotivated as i looked at other sci-fi fps games on google play. They look so good, so well designed. Also having to remember every time that it takes HUGE amount of time to design the levels, write the story line, design the characters, model everything from 0, texture everything, make cut scenes and program everything all alone is so huge demotivation, that i decided to stop today. Most of the times when i remember that there is so much work to be done... i get extremely lazy and i just sit on my chair all day long doing nothing. Even tho i have nothing else to do at this point of my life. At my free time, i don't wana go out play with friends, or sit on coffe bars... i just want to do full time developing. But not seeing progress is a demotivation that i feel daily, and that demotivation always succeeds in making me abandon my projects. I just can't believe my eyes. I spend 2 years laying around and i could've made so many assets, and at least one game for google play, instead i made nothing because of that demotivation. I have no idea what i am going to do in the future. I am thinking about some game like serious sam, where the enemies are all the same, and the levels are simple. Those are the type of games that are easy to be made, even tho it also needs a lot of time to be made -_-. What do you guys think about me? Share your thoughts. Have you ever been in such hopeless situation? Both of the projects above are now deleted and i feel depressed af. I say depressed because i feel like i threw all the free time i had in the past straight to the trash. I am even willing to take pills for motivation.. if there were any existing...

 

Sorry, not too much time to write something like now but this part stuck out to me! I'm also on a bigger project and don't have that much time I can invest. The more I progress on it, the more I realize how much still is left to be done (how software projects go usually, right? ).

Of course, sometimes the thought occurs that I'll never be able to finish the game the way I'd like to and there's absolutely the chance that I'll just stop after a few years of commitment because my life circumstances and priorities shifted.
But that thought doesn't scare me too much. Even if I should ever give up, that'll be ok, too. I still had tons of fun, got to know some amazing people and learned a lot along the way! For me, the journey itself is enjoyable and rewarding and that's whats important and matters. As long as that's the case, it will never be time wasted.
There's so many things one could do in his or her free time in this modern day and age, that no matter what you decide to do, there's always an incredibly huge opportunity cost associated with it. Always thinking about what you could have done instead of x has high chance of just making you miserable and there's not much to be gained. That's why, at least in my book, it's ok to do whatever you want as long as you enjoy doing it. But if there's no intrinsic joy in what you do, you should seriously reconsider how you spend your time.

I absolutely would not bank on a big, super rewarding payoff at the end of years long journey that makes it "all worth it!".
If you'd enjoy doing other things in your free time more than making games and you're not depending financially on it (which it doesn't sound like), I'd really reconsider pursuing such ambiguous project if the journey itself doesn't feel rewarding. Sometimes what we think we want and what we really want aren't the same thing and it might be worth thinking about that

 

The projects you're interested in making are probably too big for one person to complete, especially if you're trying to create all the content yourself. It's unrealistic.

If you want to make one of those big games, there are multiple ways of going about it:
- Find out what you need to build your game and find the resources to build it ~ Code? Art Assets? Design and Story? Can you find these resources on the asset store? Can you find someone who will make the assets for you? Do you have money? This usually becomes more difficult the more content thats in the game and how high the quality of that content needs to be to satisfy the people you're building your game for (if you've considered that).

My company creates games using many assets from the asset store because it's expensive to pay for artists. Instead our team consists of purely programmers, which probably could be outsourced too but would then require management. We've made MMO's using unity plugins with tons of assets, etc. Sure, you don't get that feeling like the game is purely new (with regards to assets), but this is the only way you can build these large scale games in the space of 6 months. You have to use existing stuff and build on top of it.

- If you want to develop all the assets yourself, you could also make a game with a small scope, like 6 months. But that game will most likely be significantly smaller than any of the games you're inspired to make. It's a trade off you have to make to complete something. Right now you're just making what's called 'vertical slices' or 'rough prototypes'. Just small snippets of a huge game.

Maybe try finding some smaller games you enjoy playing, a game that you know you can make within a small amount of time.

Remember that the great games you have played are most likely made by a big team of people, or highly dedicated hobbyists who invest huge amounts of time into the games they make. Solo game devs who can finish games by themselves are rare and godly. If you don't have motivation you're probably not one of those people. I know I'm not.

 

Firstly, you should never delete your older projects with your assets. This is like going back to square one.

Then as mentioned by peers, you are aiming too high. Start smaller.

But in the end, you need to be more realistic. Development may not be your kind of hobby. Find one which probably was more adequate from your younger age.

I said before, good writer is not necessary good film maker.

 

Yeah but, the thing is that i don't have what else to do with my life. I am the kind of no life person who spend many years playing video games. There is no longer a game that can make me addicted or make me enjoy playing it. All i want now is to create a game.

Yeah i am aware of that. As i look at the credits at serious sam i was amazed. I mean... i can make such game myself within a year of hard work, and with better graphics on top of that. I think there were around 100 people worked on that game... for god's sake that's crazy.

I always wanted to create a big free roam racing game like nfsu2 for android. The last project that i abandoned was developed 2 months. Here is also an old browser game project that i abandoned...

http://testcargame.coolpage.biz/frontend/index.php?

I think, i am the member with highest amount of abandoned projects in this forum.

 

Bear in mind, many peoples think like that.
Yet we don't have so many even near good looking fps games, made by single, or even small studios.
So I suggest reconsider reason for being so.
Again, need to be more realistic.

I suggest, as many does as well, grab something smaller. Make a prototype. Make some small mechanics work.
Once you see you made think work, you will feel satisfaction and motivation will come automatically. Look into other mechanics. Or add feature.

But if you naturally don't have persistence in doing so, it will be hard to find motivation, even you have all time of the world for yourself.

If that would be so easy as perceiving, surely we would have many more complete and interesting games, made by single devs, or small studios.
Or at least less abandon wear on the market

As I said, you would need change your attitude, to deleting old projects, to start of.
If you keep doing so, you will never progress.
You should keep every little bit and archive it. You never know, when you may find it useful. Even if you decide to recreate thing from a scratch over again.

As some would probably say, game dev is easy to learn, hard to master.

 

It's not uncommon for developers to become disheartened, just take a look at the 'Indie Game' movie. It's actually quite inspiring to watch Jonathan Blow, Phil Fish, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes handle the setbacks associated with game development and still come out on top.

You'll also notice that their games are designed in prototype mode. By using placeholder objects to represent the game components, they can script and test the game mechanics before spending countless hours creating graphical elements which may never be used.

Why not take your idea, grab some paper and create a written plan outlining the objective of the game. Once you're happy with the general format, create a selection of suitable cubes, cuboids etc and make a start on building a prototype level. Continue this method until you've created a simple, playable game then replace the placeholder components with release ready lighting, models and textures.

You might create a marketable title, but even if you don't, you'll have adopted a a solid method of development. Remember that even the major studios abandon projects, but they learn many valuable lessons from the process.

 

Och, the art barrier. I've been developing software, for over 20 years, mainly not games though, and I still better leave all the design and art bits to others. The common thought when looking at other games, indie mainly, is "how dare you be this good".

Game making is diverse work and the appearance bit is quite important. But, the people with a knack for development do not very often, in my experience, have that same knack for artwork and design. I've got quite a few games and concepts in various stages of up and 'ready', but completely based on either my own pretty mediocre artwork or using assets and placeholders. It's hard to find artists willing to 'practice' game making the same way many developers do.

A few times I have found people to collaborate with, each bringing in their own skills, those projects went really well. But finding trustworthy, reliable, people with the skills you need, that's hard. If only if most people tend to hang around people like themselves.

Best advice was already give above, don't aim to high and keep working and thus learning. Practice makes perfect. Or at least get's you a step in that direction.

 

Wow.. i actually never thought of that i could temporary create some cubes and replace them later. You gave me good idea, maybe i will try this on some other project in the future.

Yeah, i listened to that advice. I decided to start a new project, smaller than my previous ones. Also that vectorbox guy gave me super good idea. Hmm, i was also thinking that i could make a second game using the same resources. For example Serious Sam and Serious Sam 2 were made using the same resources. This kinda motivates me i guess.