Motivation.

[GraysonEvans]

I have a huge problem with motivation, especially lately. I have a huge list of games I would like to make and I know I could make but I just have no energy to work on them.

 

Do any of you guys have this problem? I want to make stuff desperately but I just can't seem to do anything.

 

So far all the games I have made have been super small and about conveying something that I have been feeling, but lately I haven't been feeling anything. Maybe that's the problem.

[Merus]

I live here and have made furniture out of ideas that I let lie fallow too long.

 

I can't do projects that longer than about 2 weeks - including assignments, which is a bit of a problem because I've failed a few courses because I had nothing done.

 

Supposedly the solution is milestones, but I don't respect milestones because I just made them up so I can always just move them.

[Twig]

A common source of lack of motivation is actually just depression! Or some I'm told by a lot of people. Anyway that's where I'm at! It's fun!

[GraysonEvans]

A common source of lack of motivation is actually just depression! Or some I'm told by a lot of people. Anyway that's where I'm at! It's fun!

 

I have heard this as well, I have been clinically depressed for eight years and only had a brief window of motivation, maybe a month a most.

[Problem Machine]

Pretty much everyone has this problem I think. For me the best solution is just to try to work a bit every day and make a habit of it, and not be too hard on myself if I don't get as much done as I feel like I should, since that will just make me more anxious and unproductive. I don't think there's any one-size-fits-all solution though.

[clyde]

There are a couple of things that help me.

1. I consciously make my default actions "wash dishes" and "make games". So if i'm just bored and I don't feel like doing anything and I can't decide what to do, I have already made the decision with my policy; I get up and wash dishes. If there are no dishes, then I get up and open Unity and play around. Sometimes I just don't jive with playing around in Unity so I watch one of the Unity live-training sessions and it usually inspires me to try something.

This is a great system for me because I end up not making sacrifices for game-dev. If I want to go hiking, I don't say to myself "I should really work on games instead." because I work on games when I'm bored, I've been working on games.

I also work on games when I feel like working on games.

2. Personally, I just won't care about this stuff unless it involves other people. I'll be frank with you GraysonEvans; when I look at your Tumblr, I'm like "No one is going to read this." And it's not because of the content or because people don't want to know, it's because you are putting it on a Tumblr page in the desert. Look at the quantity of responses you get here[/ b]. Look at the quality of responses. I'm not saying that a Tumblr page is useless, I'm saying that it's more of a personal diary that no one will open because they don't know it's there.

There are a lot of sites with active game-development communities and I've found that if you post there, and comment on other people's stuff, game-development is a lot more fun. MakeGam.es is a great forum. Twitter works great once you've found some like-minded game-devs, Glorious Trainwrecks is tonally necessary (and their monthy 2-hour game-jam really got me over some barriers). Game Jolt gets a ton of traffic and is game-dev focused (in progress games are encouraged). Some people have also recommended TIG. And of course the game-development community here is wonderful.

I could go on a bit of a rant about how our culture has poisoned us all with this idea that we are all special little snowflakes, but instead I'll just summarize: you and I are not special. We are social creatures and caring about something you do alone takes energy while caring about something you do with others is typically automatic. Involve other people.

3. Don't just make short games, play short games.

When I get done playing Skyrim or even something like Fez of Gone Home , opening up Game Maker or Unity is just overwhelming.

When I get done playing Destroy Your Home

http://bouduboudu.free.fr/fabien/jv/DestroyYourHome.html

Yerevan, Texas http://www.dreamfeel.org/storage/games/yerevan_texas.html

or Fashion World

http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/6371

I want to make a game and when I open Unity, I put a cube on the screen and think "I'm about a quarter of the way there! Wahoo!"

There are tons of these games, many of them are really neat. Playing them has completely changed how I think of games. These are the real deal; multi-million dollar sequels are games, but they are also reified estrangement.

Play short, personal games. Once you do, send a twitter message to the creator telling them what you liked about it. When only a few people have played your weird game (or none) it feels amazing to have someone tell you that they liked it. This also has the effect of making game-making feel like a community affair. There's this psychically damaging mentality around hobbyist game-making where everyone is hunkered down in the basement trying to make the next Braid or Minecraft and keeping all their precious to themselves. I'll just go ahead and be the antagonist: you're not going to get rich making short, free games. And if you try to sell them, then only a few people will buy them and you'll lose the majority of the audience who would care about your game the most.

Make games because you enjoy it and because it is a community activity that brings you closer to people. Make decisions based off of that premise. This might not apply to you, but it's the most important thing I've had to learn about game-development.

[SuperBiasedMan]

Befriend clyde, that'll definitely help.

 

But yeah. I echo a lot of what he said. I think that milestones are good but shouldn't be personal. When you hit a milestone, share it with people. If you are particularly concerned about how much you show people, you could still show screenshots or video to show off. The point is, don't hit a milestone and then set a new one without sharing it in some way to help with feedback and validation.

 

 

I had a thought, would enough people here be interested in a jam club? Maybe we each make a very small game every month on a theme, post them all in a thread and then we talk about each other's games. The focus would be making something chill and fun, since I assume most people, like me, would have this on the side of the other game making (the other stuff probably already being a side project...)

So yeah, anyone else interested in regular lowkey community focused Thumb jams?

[clyde]

I had a thought, would enough people here be interested in a jam club? Maybe we each make a very small game every month on a theme, post them all in a thread and then we talk about each other's games. The focus would be making something chill and fun, since I assume most people, like me, would have this on the side of the other game making (the other stuff probably already being a side project...)

So yeah, anyone else interested in regular lowkey community focused Thumb jams?

I would be interested in participating, especially if it is done with a focus on presenting itself as something anyone can participate in regardless of experience. There are some very skilled and knowledgable people on this forum and that can be really intimidating (but also an incredible resource for beginners).

[SuperBiasedMan]

Absolutely, I think a simple thing that you have fun making and then get to share is way more important for this than trying to build your skills.

Musical Stacks is a good example of a thing someone could make, a fun idea that you can show people and see what they have to say about it.

[Twig]

I need to play Musical Stacks to see if it's stealing my idea that I stole from someone else.

 

Anyway I'm unwilling to participate in jams of any sort because I get stressed out. I've done it twice now and I finished one (Twirly Bird!), but didn't finish anything for the other, and ugh it's too much for me. Everyone else seems to love it, though, so there's that.

[clyde]

I need to play Musical Stacks to see if it's stealing my idea that I stole from someone else.

Don't play it Twig. It's not fun at all and about horses. It's all hype. Nothing musical about it. There aren't stacks either, just horses.

-----

In other news, are any of you simultaneously a lawyer and not Twig's lawyer?

[GraysonEvans]

I tried the whole "a game a week" thing and had a nervous break down so I dunno.

[clyde]

Anyway I'm unwilling to participate in jams of any sort because I get stressed out. I've done it twice now and I finished one (Twirly Bird!), but didn't finish anything for the other, and ugh it's too much for me. Everyone else seems to love it, though, so there's that.

I tried the whole "a game a week" thing and had a nervous break down so I dunno.

I'm interested in hearing y'all's thoughts on what makes game-jams stressful. Maybe we can somehow make them no-stress jams!

[Problem Machine]

I tried the whole "a game a week" thing and had a nervous break down so I dunno.

That's why I mean you can't beat yourself up if you fail to meet your expectations. Just chalk it up as a bad day/week and carry on next day/week. That's why I work by time and not by "I have to get this thing done today", though: If I say the latter, then days where the thing ends up being too hard or I end up being too tired/lazy/depressed/whatever create a huge morale hit.

 

I think the only way a game a week thing would work for me is if I just admit up front that most of those games won't get finished and proceed from there.

[Twig]

I'm interested in hearing y'all's thoughts on what makes game-jams stressful. Maybe we can somehow make them no-stress jams!

Deadlines. It's not very complicated. I just don't like doing it. There doesn't exist a "game jam", as the current definition goes, that won't stress me the fuck out. That's fine.

 

EDIT: It's entirely possible that were I in a better mental state, I could manage it without feeling stressed out. So chalk it up to me being unable to handle it, even though I know that logically it should be stress-free.

[GraysonEvans]

the more I think about it the last time I made a game was when I was happy for the first time in years. That sucks

[Nachimir]

You can get back there. Importantly, are you getting any kind of help like medication or counselling?

I have heard this as well, I have been clinically depressed for eight years and only had a brief window of motivation, maybe a month a most.

Pretty much everyone has this problem I think. For me the best solution is just to try to work a bit every day and make a habit of it, and not be too hard on myself if I don't get as much done as I feel like I should, since that will just make me more anxious and unproductive. I don't think there's any one-size-fits-all solution though.

I struggle with it too, and have a heap of unfinished projects around. Usually the projects that turn out best are ones I can become completely absorbed in to the point of distraction, and often they start as tiny experiments. Try loads of things, but try not to put pressure on yourself by doing that.

[clyde]

I'd be interested in us organizing some sort of game-collage/game-potluck/game-stew where we could just have a thread where thumbs can post bits of art, sound, scripts, project-source, and builds that we can all piece stuff together from. I think we could escape deadlines, but still maintain a sense of temporality since hypothetically the thread would continue to deposit our submissions on the current page; the more recent stuff would be the most likely to be used (does that make sense?)

The reasons I think this would be fun are as follow:

1. It's hard for me to imagine something more accessible to beginners. If I had never made a game before (but had always wanted to participate in game-making), I would take interest in watching the thread develop and eventually build up the courage to submit a drawing of a phallic fantasy-tower. 

2. I imagine that little inside-jokes would develop in such a thread as well as an particular aesthetic or tone. I would be interested to see what that result would look, sound, and play like.

3. No deadlines, but a couple dumb games would show up over time. Even a larger collaboration may occur at some point. 

 

Is anyone interested? I wanted to discuss it first so that when I post a thread about it I can do so confidently. I don't want to make rules, but I think a clear description at the beginning of the thread would set expectations. 

We need a good title.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I'm very interested. I wonder if more of a structure or some form of incentive to push people into posting stuff would help. If it was a totally formless compilation I could imagine it being held back by the bystander. Off the top of my head I could imagine the idea being that there might be a vague theme just to get people thinking about it. There's probably better ways to do it but I think a level of structure would help.

 

As for names, Too Many Thumbs Spoil the Jam?

(I don't have good ideas for names)

[CEJ]

I like the idea, it's easy to set aside an hour now and then, and you don't have to feel bad if you don't have time.

[itsamoose]

I won't likely have the time to contribute anything major, but I'd be interested in helping people out or posting odds and ends when I am able.

[GraysonEvans]

My gut reaction is to say that I would be interested however I don't think I have anything to contribute and my game making is predicated on the time I have an a VERY specific idea.

I find that I have a end product in mind and then change things are developement goes on. But I think all you talented and cool people should do this because you are all awesome.