- Jun 17, 2017
- 5,960
- 30,229
OK, so I can't call myself a game developer yet (you usually actually have to release a game for that), but I do concur with what the others have said, there's a lot of good advice here.
The thing you just said about other's expectations...
Letting things/situation/people pressure you into doing something, well some people thrive on that, others deal with it, and for some it just really throws off your mojo.
Just remember it's your story and your vision, and not anyone else's. Sure, if you have a Patreon, etc. there will be people asking for things, and of course if you've promised and are falling short that can be an issue, plus keeping the revenue up can be a source of stress...
In these situations, just don't over-promise and work at the speed you are comfortable at. And yeah, don't be afraid to mix things up a bit, or to take a breather if needed. And remember that that speed may vary from day to day. Sure, you want to keep moving forward, just don't fall into the trap of setting high targets here.
Plus, if you end up delivering more than people are expecting on a release, then you look like Scotty the Miracle Worker, so if you are publishing goals, keep those published goals very reasonable and conservative. This makes you feel good when you exceed them, and your patrons/fans are happy that you didn't over-promise something. Your own personal goal bar can be higher, just keep it to yourself. That way you disappoint only one person if you don't hit a personal goal.
And, if you got into the making games thing mainly for fun, well you want to keep it fun. That's where getting occasionally sidetracked doing slilly renders or just being goofy to break up the monotony can help. Once it becomes a grinding job, yeah that's when the soul sucking begins, so you need to find your own balance here...
Of course, I am quite a bit slower than others here r.e. generating content, but once I realized that cranking out dozens of renders a day/week wasn't for me, and accepted that... well I took a long breather and then eased my way back into things, and I'm much happier now.
It's your vision, that you've chosen to share with others, so don't be afraid to do things your way. Sure, there will be critics out there (there always are), and constructive criticism can help, but trust your own instincts and vision, and make it your own.
Sure, learning and improving as you go along is a good thing, but don't let you trip this up. As uradamus mentioned above, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and (adding to that) everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. Sure, fix the obvious mistakes, but sometimes you can let a little thing or two go, or just 'fix' it in post with Photoshop or whatever.
But of course, as mentioned above, YOU need to be reasonably happy with the results. If you find yourself going down a path that just isn't your thing (say a series of renders that are falling flat with you), yeah don't be afraid to just chock it up as a learning thing, set them aside, and try something else.
Hope this perspective helps!
The thing you just said about other's expectations...
Letting things/situation/people pressure you into doing something, well some people thrive on that, others deal with it, and for some it just really throws off your mojo.
Just remember it's your story and your vision, and not anyone else's. Sure, if you have a Patreon, etc. there will be people asking for things, and of course if you've promised and are falling short that can be an issue, plus keeping the revenue up can be a source of stress...
In these situations, just don't over-promise and work at the speed you are comfortable at. And yeah, don't be afraid to mix things up a bit, or to take a breather if needed. And remember that that speed may vary from day to day. Sure, you want to keep moving forward, just don't fall into the trap of setting high targets here.
Plus, if you end up delivering more than people are expecting on a release, then you look like Scotty the Miracle Worker, so if you are publishing goals, keep those published goals very reasonable and conservative. This makes you feel good when you exceed them, and your patrons/fans are happy that you didn't over-promise something. Your own personal goal bar can be higher, just keep it to yourself. That way you disappoint only one person if you don't hit a personal goal.
And, if you got into the making games thing mainly for fun, well you want to keep it fun. That's where getting occasionally sidetracked doing slilly renders or just being goofy to break up the monotony can help. Once it becomes a grinding job, yeah that's when the soul sucking begins, so you need to find your own balance here...
Of course, I am quite a bit slower than others here r.e. generating content, but once I realized that cranking out dozens of renders a day/week wasn't for me, and accepted that... well I took a long breather and then eased my way back into things, and I'm much happier now.
It's your vision, that you've chosen to share with others, so don't be afraid to do things your way. Sure, there will be critics out there (there always are), and constructive criticism can help, but trust your own instincts and vision, and make it your own.
Sure, learning and improving as you go along is a good thing, but don't let you trip this up. As uradamus mentioned above, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and (adding to that) everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. Sure, fix the obvious mistakes, but sometimes you can let a little thing or two go, or just 'fix' it in post with Photoshop or whatever.
But of course, as mentioned above, YOU need to be reasonably happy with the results. If you find yourself going down a path that just isn't your thing (say a series of renders that are falling flat with you), yeah don't be afraid to just chock it up as a learning thing, set them aside, and try something else.
Hope this perspective helps!
