Bregalad wrote:
A second problem is the lack of inspiration...I am in this state since 2008 and I started the project in 2005. Just for you to see how a huge problem this is.
Another strong point to say that if we do this because we're motivated by the enjoyment of doing so, then it's easy to stop when we simply don't enjoy it. If somebody doesn't WANT to make a game then of course it won't get done.
Looking back through for tips on staying motivated:
I think dougeff's suggestion is a solid way to increase motivation:
dougeff wrote:
Break the project into smaller (easy to acheive) goals. Focus on just that one piece until it's complete. Set aside specific time each week that is devoted to that one small goal. Don't start any new thing until your first goal is done.
GradualGames suggested a similar approach, and also added to complete one, even small goal, during every work session. Also suggesting a written journal as a thing to keep track of for motivation:
GradualGames wrote:
Keep a journal and write in it each and every time you sit down to work on your project. State what you want to accomplish. Then break it down into tiny baby steps. Each time you complete a step, write DONE. underneath it. It has the potential to be encouraging, psychologically as you make progress.
tepples brought up a good point concerning lack of feedback. It's easy to not be motivated when you're the only one who sees what you're doing. It goes without saying we can share in here, but maybe it would be good to post success and failure stories when it comes to attempts to share our work with it's intended audience, whether through the internet or IRL:
tepples wrote:
Another thing producing lack of motivation is lack of feedback, or lack of knowledge of appropriate venues to seek feedback.
rainwarrior suggests having a personal reason to stay motivated, and I think that's good advice. There's not much to comment on because this unique for everyone:
rainwarrior wrote:
If you want to finish a game, you need to give yourself a good reason to. Something that's important enough to get it done. I can't help with that at all; it's gotta be a personal reason.
I don't know if this is necessarily on topic of motivation, but GradualGames suggested keeping a view on completing the game instead of making one or every aspect of it perfect. To draw it back to motivation, do you think it would be fair to say that if one intends to complete a game, rather than to just learn to code for 6502, that it would be key to keep your motivation in having a completed game to play, rather than staying motivated to overcome a technical limitation:
GradualGames wrote:
If you become too worried about perfection or impressing others, it might slow you down or stop you from finishing things. I took this quote to heart early in my life and have kept it with me to the present day. As a result, I am finishing games.
tepples suggests a warning that negative feedback can hinder motivation, or perhaps bring to light a lack of knowledge on part of the programmer, which could surely set a person's excitement back. It's hard to consider how a person can approach seeking feedback without getting non-constructive criticism. I'm sure we're all to hit a step or metaignorance or three at some point. Perhaps an idea may be to seek feedback at more regular intervals during a project, instead of waiting until something is put together. Then you could learn as you build your program, rather than feeling that you wasted your time when you find out it may not be as good as you thought:
tepples wrote:
It can also slow you down if you hit a lack of inspiration, seek feedback from the public as a means of breaking through it, and receive abuse instead of the constructive feedback you were expecting, while discovering that you weren't worried enough and were thus laboring under metaignorance.
GradualGames suggests discipline as a key to completion of project like this. I think it's fair to say that not every single part of a project will ever be fun. There will be works of love and works of labor. Without being able to mentally power myself past lack of motivation to some degree, I don't think I'd have much chance of putting a completed game together:
GradualGames wrote:
Discipline had to enter the picture at some point---and if anything, it completely removed stress because I'm actually completing projects now.