How do you guys stay focused on your projects? I usually come up ideas and stories for games while day dreaming in class, mainly trig, and I'll do some planning and start working on it, but sooner or later I'll slowly just stop working on it. I'll hit some small problem and never get back into working on it. What are some tips that could help me stay focused on a project? None of these projects are professional or are intended to make me money, just small games for my friends and I.
how commited are you to these ideas? if you say they are only small games for your friends, are they small like flappy bird? or complex mini-games? sometimes you can have a stream of neat ideas that sound simple in theory but are not in execution, and that will defeat the purpose of putting 6 month to a year work of programming for something that is slightly amusing or a neat gag or a glorified easter egg -
if you have an idea that is truly fun then you can just picture it and wanting to play it so badly you just need to have it made;
personally, when i am running low in spirits i have found that inspiration is the way to go for me,
i play some games that are fun or are in the same type of game i am wanting to make and i try and think about how they handled stuff and picture myself making something as neat as that then i can push on for another few days
My ideas usually are just simple in theory, but that's usually how I work with things anyway. I'll come up with the outline of what I want done and then I go into working on it. I'd say they're small complex, the most recent being a sherlock holmes game made in RPG maker where you have to try to find the murderer before the given time is up. It was a simple outline, but it quickly became complex. Thanks for your input.
rpg maker is a time saver but the flexibility on it is weak; if you want to cut time and not compromise on your ideas try game maker studio; it's like a real development kit but a lot more intuitive and user friendly
Only thing you should learn from a dog is that the new bone is always tastier. So think of it as a project that was but isnt a good one.
My friend was actually looking at this just a few weeks ago, but I never got around to trying it out; guess I will now though. I'm getting pretty far on a Skyrim mod I thought of and I'm determined to finish it, but this last year of highschool is really taking all my time so that will extend how long it will take me. Thanks for the suggestion.
Lol, I like your analogy. Thanks for the advice.
I always carry a super small notebook and pen in my pocket. My ideas will hit me in the dumbest spots. I was at target last week with my wife and I literally had to drop my conversation and get our my "idea" book to jot down some ideas. The mind is a terrible place to lose ideas.
Batman Arkham Asylum Soundtrack. I just have a YT playlist of all of them and I'm 100% focused.
This helps me. Just something about it reminds of phendrana drifts from Metroid Prime a bit and I loved that game (still do). I usually do play a game soundtrack when working on projects, whether coding or trying to make a game. My issue with staying focused over the course of days, thanks for the tip though.