I'm talking MVP (Minimum Viable Product), such as if I want to make a gambling AI, I'll write it in python, run 10 million simulations, graph the results and see if the results match expectations. No user interface or testing if playing feels good or not. Note, python's default RNG is absolute garbage! Considering how often I've worked with game projects over the past 13 years in both personal and academic settings, I am fairly familiar with all the points you're making. I think I remember writing a similar wall of text nearly 7 years ago when I found this community. Forgive me for not making a more detailed reply to your well-written comments. I don't mean to devalue what you have to say, I think it is a great collection of notes and references, and I can tell you've been around the community for some time since your familiar with issues such as what happened with breeding season. Just right now I don't want to get caught up in writing a well-crafted wall of text because these comments sizes are already intimidating for anyone new who wants to jump in, and I have to leave to go to work soon.
While I don't want to sound like a downer, I also don't want to give false hope.
As it is now, I hardly spend more than 6 or so hours a week derping around with game making and art. Of course, I have more free time than that, but I mostly spend it either sleeping or messing around with other stuff (friends, family, youtube 90% of the time). I've already gone through that phase in my life where I work really hard for my passion projects, working late nights, starting new projects but only never to finish them and instead starting on the next cool idea that catches my attention. I started to feel terrible. I would have a week or 2 of great progress, new code, features, engines, art, etc. but then after that things start to feel wrong. Naturally, the process of creation is slow, it was less fun and cool, and felt more like work or a job but I still wouldn't have much to show (aka dark work), so I couldn't get others interested either to keep myself motivated.
Then there was the perfectionist issues, wanting to share things to help keep myself motivated, but nothing was good enough to share. Then there comes the questions of your own self worth, the practicality of the project, etc. So one takes a break to try not to burn out, to come to it later. I never mastered that last part because either I would make new obligations that took priority so things would go on the back burner, or if I did have tho motivation to work, it was because I had a new idea.
So I don't plan to 'work' on any major project. Right now I am taking a new 'casual' approach: where I work on things, but no real long term goals. Just one mechanic or piece at a time. just work on what seems cool at the time. I balance this with doing all the other things that interest me and keep me spiritually satisfied (ie playing online games with friends, a day with the family, build a small robot), and making nsfw games is just one single piece of the whole picture that is me. As cool as game-making can be, I don't think it works to have one aspect of oneself just take over your life.
So you can certainly talk to me, and we could work on stuff every now and then, but this may be a once in a week or 2 type-of-thing (at least at the rate things are going for me), but you probably won't be able to ask me to do something like 'make a simple title screen' and expect it to be done in 2 weeks. But I'll certainly play around and test things out, make test art, etc. as for complete working code or systems, that takes a lot longer.
I could write a whole wall of text just on that idea. Trying to make something for everyone is probably the most damaging thing I think can happen to a project, in terms of the final quality of the project, the amount of work needed, etc.
