Motivation.

[sniko]

Sure, you may argue that this is in the wrong section, but everyone who has dealt with a certain project, for instance, a text based game, their motivation begins to shrink, thus your once loved project begins to die, and fade away. So, let me get to my point here, looking at the chart below, you can see, typically, your motivation levels as the project proceeds.

* Some may argue the placement, the values, the decrements and increments over time, but typically, this is how I see it.

As you can see, your motivations levels will come back once you see your project be a success, be it an active user base, people talking about it, please donating, whatever. So I hope that gives you some motivation if you have lost it to get back on with your projects, and you need to look 'over the wall' to the future to see what you could be doing once the project has finished.

I came across this 'footage/audio' yesterday whilst on YouTube, and my god, it has opened my eyes to what I can achieve, not by giving examples of people who have been in my position, but by giving a logical walk-through on life, success, and achievement. I was so excited by what's said on this 'footage/audio' I made it the soundtrack to my personal site and I have written a speech to say in a lower-school assembly to help inspire them, and open their eyes to achievement.

Listen to the 'footage/audio'

Thank you for your time.

-sniko

[lucky3809]

This is really right on, thanks for posting this, because from the start you are motivated then when your rounding to finish your game its less motivating then once the players arrive, the motivation goes back to how it was when you thought of the idea!!

I think the part where your motivation is lost is when you try to compare your coding with other games, and also when others tell you negative things about your ideas, then you are usually thinking maybe this is not the right idea to do, but then you finish it and it WAS the right idea! Just NEVER listen to anyone when you are coding a game, if you believe in your game success it will be successful no matter what others might think or say! Your time is never wasted nor is your ideas!

[Djkanna]

[...]

I think the part where your motivation is lost is when you try to compare your coding with other games, and also when others tell you negative things about your ideas, then you are usually thinking maybe this is not the right idea to do, but then you finish it and it WAS the right idea! Just NEVER listen to anyone when you are coding a game, if you believe in your game success it will be successful no matter what others might think or say! Your time is never wasted nor is your ideas!

Listening to others criticisms of your ideas, is a good thing.

Especially if you lack experience in playing the type of game you're creating, it can sometimes bring a fresh perspective on things, I know whilst I develop mine, I have a couple of gamers I share my ideas with, as they'll give me their honest opinion on something and if something is not going to work well, I'll take it back to the drawing board and see if I can rework it.

Also comparing code with others is another good thing, you can learn a lot from doing so, especially if that person has been doing it a bit longer than you, or has some specific tips/tricks that would help you in certain situations.

So I disagree with both your remarks, comparing features of your game to other games, can also be a good thing, you can get a lot of inspiration just from looking at another game.

In my opinion, I think the lack of motivation comes from burning yourself out, trying to do to much at once, especially if you're building a game on your own.

Unrealistic deadlines is also another one, try to set goals you know you can make, rather than fretting at the last minute trying to get everything done in time.

@Sniko, a product is never truely finished, again I think the lack of motivation comes from being burnt out at that stage, after releasing.

Another thing, sometimes you just get bored of what you're doing and want to try something else, if your no longer enjoying what you are doing, you'll no longer have the motivation to work on it.

[sniko]

@Sniko, a product is never truely finished, again I think the lack of motivation comes from being burnt out at that stage, after releasing.

Although I agree with you on this, There has to be some point, a milestone, in your progress where you think "I've done it", but true, it is never truly finished.

[Djkanna]

Although I agree with you on this, There has to be some point, a milestone, in your progress where you think "I've done it", but true, it is never truly finished.

True, in that case you're probably right that milestone would be finally releasing the product.

[Cronus]

This topic is very true.

Getting through that slump makes it all worth it though.

[ColdBlooded]

Nice. Inspirational.