Tips for completing my first project?

I'm 18 and I've been programming and making games since I was about 14. I love art, animation, programming, and game design and I've started dozens of little projects using various programming languages and platforms over the years, but I have never completed anything to my satisfaction.

I obsess over every tiny detail. I have plenty of good ideas, can write solid code, and pull off good looking art assets, but nothing is ever good enough. I keep redesigning everything to the point where I completely recreate the game three or four times and then give up.

I've started using Unity to develop for Android devices. I've started and failed a few little games already, but I really want to dedicate myself to one project and make a decent Android game.

Does anyone who has successfully completed a game of their own have any tips for me? I would greatly appreciate any info that would help me finally complete a game.

Thanks!

 

That's where the problem lays.

I've been reading and reading endless game development articles stating how not to obsess too much on detail and just get it done. Once you get it done, you can detail all you want and even if you're not satisfied with the end product, release it any way and work upon that.

I myself recreated a game three times now, and I've finally decided to cut it into three seperate games to see what people like about each one of them. Once I find a good mixture, I'll then build upon that.


Edit: You're still young, don't stress too much and enjoy what you do.

Best wishes and I hope one day I play one of your games.

 

NEVER GIVE UP

I know that sounds cliche and all but honestly, never do. Please don't. You won't believe how many times I got so frustrated that I trashed my project.... gone forever. I kinda stopped doing that and I am "reviving" my trashed project by starting from scratch. It's been almost a year now working on this project. Before I trashed the project many people told me that my game was worth pursuing and that it was unique and different from the other bad projects on the WIP. Those comments helped me realize to never give up, so I decided to start from scratch.

I am almost done with the alpha version of my game. I hope to have it on Greenlight soon. Just yesterday, I rewrote the whole project again (4th time now) for optimization reasons but the only reason I keep going is because I always think of that time when people told me that my game was good. That forever inspired me to keep on developing, even if you have the most frustrating bug or an unsolvable problem to your game's design. That is honestly all that is keeping me motivated.

 

That is the hard part. It's really just something you have to force yourself to do. I had a fantastic illustration professor who, among other things, said that key to being a successful artist is knowing when to put the brush down. Its very true. (and challenging). Shipping is the most critical feature.

Something to consider is that you as the creator are constantly looking at it in great detail. When you get the urge to rework/change something, is it because it really needs to change, or has it just become a bit stale because you are always looking at it?

Good luck

 

Whatever you do don't increase the scope of your projects!

Keep it small. Finish something small. Once you finish something small you can try something bigger.

 

Release a game and then update it with regular updates if you feel the need. I've learned many things since the release of my first game and I've put those into improvements for that game in subsequent updates. It's good because you learn a lot more once you have a game out in a store somewhere than you do just by experimenting within Unity.

 

I've revived an old project and I started a thread for it: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/my-first-game-a-physics-game-for-android.259174/

 

I do know what you mean. I used to be the same way: I had an idea, I worked on it, I wasn't satisfied and I just left it there and moved on to a next project. What really helps is to just decide: "This game I will finish and publish". You should try and make the first one a small game, just something simple. Then just do it. Don't obsess over tiny details, you can fix them when the game is already published, don't leave any bugs or annoying things in on purpose though. This will bring you out of the loop and you will see that it isn't so hard to publish something. Also, the first games you release actually teach you a huge amount, as even though you might think such a simple game is easy, you will still make some mistakes. But as it was a simple and unimportant game anyway, it will just be for learning and the next one will already be better.

Good luck.

 

Its hard to say why you are giving up on your games. There is a honeymoon period where the game is really exciting/new your really full of piss and vinegar but after a week or so (whatever) you realize damn its going to take alot of work to make a full fledged game. One thing that can really kill your project is losing momentum -- if you let your project sit idle for a period of time you might say ah forget it. Maybe your game idea was too complex for you to create, maybe it was too half baked and the idea simply was no good.

I guess in your case i would suggest just getting hte whole project feature complete then start going back and fixing issues, polishing the gameplay etc (your probably losing too much momentum).

 

Delusions of grandeur are such a pain in teh butt eh... I too suffer the same problem, and at times, even the tiniest thing I cant get around can put me off working on the game.

Dont have any real solutions to your problem...

 

'Decent' is the safety net of your perfectionism. And it prevents long-term success by shielding you from the reality that at 18, you are exactly where you should be, which means you can barely spell game design. If help is what you want, then here's some wisdom to grok: "I will FAIL by releasing a CRAPPY game in 4 weeks." Setting goals for (1) failure, (2) crap quality, and (3) a hard timeline will allow your perfectionism to focus on what matters most: "I shipped a game!" Until then, you are just another 'wanna-be' being jerked around by his fixed-mindset, perfectionist ego that believes it must get it right on the first shot - as if Da Vinci wasn't a loser until the age of 46!

Quit whining and release a game - try, fail, improve!
Gigi

(PS - Apologies for my harshness. Right now, Benji needs tough love.)

 

So, the first thing you've told us is you obsess over getting things to a state you consider 'just right'/'perfect', and that this prevents you from finishing stuff. I've seen this before a time or two and had to overcome it with my first project.

Your mindset may be wrong. Instead of aiming for AAA-quality perfection of assets, instead come at it this way: "Everything I am doing does not matter, if I do not release my game." You have to release for people to adore your stuff.

From there, you need a level of quality that is presentable, but doesn't take an infinite amount of time to make. Instead of angling for perfection, figure out a style that's quick to develop, that you can reproduce consistently, and that is easy on the eye, and reinforces your project's theme. I did this with The Hero's Journey, and it worked reasonably well (my style was based off of medieval art, particularly "The Reconstruction of Jerusalem", with more modern influences blended in.)

Finally, don't obsess over the art, obsess over your mechanics and the interface you expose for the player to interact with said mechanics. Your game could be drawn by a five-year-old, and still get good marks if the gameplay is good and compelling; conversely, if you've got a visually perfect game with crap mechanics and design, it will still be ridiculed for good reason (for example, Final Fantasy XIII; while it's not as bad as some people say it is, it's still a great example of how not to build a game, even though it's beautiful, especially near the end of the game when you're rushing to Edenhall after re-arriving on Cocoon!)

Last but not least, do as Gigi says, and keep your timeline short. A deadline is the best thing for you since you're a perfectionist. You have to ship by that deadline.

...What are you waiting for? You've got a game to write! Snap to it bro!

 

I think you need to spend something like 10k hours at something before your any good at it

 

This statement is purely subjective; software is never finished, it is only changed. I could easily see your games and claim that they are not failures, but are completed games. There are no rules about what a "complete" game is.

Even games that are so called "complete", are still lacking so many features. The best of the best can ALWAYS be better.

 

I used to participate in projects that had this problem all the time until I decided to teach myself programming and do the whole project by myself. I can't speak for why all the other team members could never finish but I can relate some practices that I do that help me finish.

- Stop right now and write down a list of what you need to do to finish.
This should be in the form of "Top Level Tasks" like "Finish the UI", "Write a Highscore system" not "fix bug on line 342 of the Character class file. Take your time, if necessary write it over the next week. But when your done with the list, that's it. Fix all bugs should be a item on this list.

- Don't add new things to the list.
You should have seen this one coming -- adding new things to your list makes the list go on and on literally forever. If you think something is a great idea add it to the 1.1 update list. NOT the 1.0 ship list. If the game goes over really well then do an update to reward your customers with that neat new feature you thought of!

- Start working on the list
Start working on your list, if necessary break the top level items down in to sub tasks. Sub tasks are the one exception to adding new items. If your a major item was "character creation screen" but you had no line item for "New character" well then clearly that was part of the feature, you just didn't think of it at the time. The point is don't cheat and add feature creep, be honest with yourself.

As you finish each item put a check mark( or an X or use subscript to mark it out). You'll notice your list is getting smaller!!

As your list begins to get smaller and smaller you should begin to feel a new feeling -- that the end is coming and you can do this!

Once every item is checked off (even all the bugs) its time to sit on it for a week and just play your game, show it to friends, watch them play it etc.

If you find anything that absolutely positively must be fixed before shipping - then do it. Make a list and do it. You know how to make a list and get it done now -- this shouldn't be too hard.

If its minor or is a feature add it to the 1.1 list.

Once done with the above; ship your game. Pat yourself on the back - you did it!

 

Thank you everyone for all the advice. I've finally managed to finish a simple game. It's not anything special and only has 12 levels, but I feel like I've reached a sort of milestone.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=benjaminalbrecht.grifftoss&hl=en

 

Grats!!! It's a big step on your journey toward excellence. Take a few moments to savor the victory .
Gigi

 

Congratulations!

I skipped a step on my way to finish projects; once you've actually shipped it take a week off! (time can vary but always let yourself enjoy some downtime)

 

10 Stop obsessing

20 Make a list

30 Cross things off list

40 GOTO 10