If you're like me, you have some personal projects that you're working on, in addition to whatever you do to make money.
If that's the case, you're pretty lucky, because you have gainful employment and (some) time to work on your own stuff. You may find, however, as I have, that it's not always easy to motivate yourself to work on these other projects, especially when you're just scratching the surface of Dark Souls 2. (And let me tell you, being a mage is very fun.)
So, if you're like me even more, you probably are working to find ways to motivate yourself to get going with that sweet, sweet, creative outpouring.
If that's the case, you're pretty lucky, because you have gainful employment and (some) time to work on your own stuff. You may find, however, as I have, that it's not always easy to motivate yourself to work on these other projects, especially when you're just scratching the surface of Dark Souls 2. (And let me tell you, being a mage is very fun.)
So, if you're like me even more, you probably are working to find ways to motivate yourself to get going with that sweet, sweet, creative outpouring.
Here's a list of the top ways I motivate myself to make video games in the little free time I have:
- Accountability
- Time Limits
- Anticipation of Finished Product
1. ACCOUNTABILITY
ACCOUNTABILITY is the big one. If I have someone who's expecting me to finish what I've started, I'm about 10 times more likely to actually work on it AND finish it. Even if this someone is just a co-worker I told about my most recent game, that counts. (This can be a bad thing, too, if you're, say, working for an overbearing boss or some such. Never having developed professionally, though, I can't speak to that intelligently.)
2. TIME LIMITS
TIME LIMITS are closely tied to accountability. But, essentially, they're a way for me to actually work on all parts of the game to have something actually playable in a reasonable amount of time. (See: minimum viable product) My tendency is to spend a bunch of time beautifying my games before they're even playable. Take a look at this screenshot from my great unfinished game Spider the Fox. Or this gif. Lots of pretty stage dressing ... mediocre, limited gameplay. In my experience, (and I think in a lot of other developer's experience as well) game jams with short timeframes are an excellent way to actually finish things, especially if you're not great at setting reasonable time limits for yourself. Or if you can't stick to the ones you DO set ... |
3. ANTICIPATION OF FINISHED PRODUCT
If accountability and time limits are the main things that get me to work on games, ANTICIPATION OF FINISHED PRODUCT is the main reason that I want to make games. Yes, there's the thrill of creation and the joy of learning new things, as well as the sense of satisfaction after I code a particularly elegant function, but, at the end of the day, it's about being able to say, "Here! I made this thing! Let it entertain you! And let me watch!"
"Here! I made this thing! Let it entertain you! And let me watch!" | Any one of these is potentially enough to get me to actually sit down and do some work. But in the absence of any of these, you better believe I'll be back in Dark Souls 2, trying to kill some hovering knight or something. I'd love to see some comments about what other people use as creative motivators. Do mine work for you? Will yours work for me? |