How to avoid burning out (and abandoning your game)

[Winterfire]

I see many abandoned projects everyday, which is a true shame.

Some get abandoned because of in-group fights, difference of ideas or simply the artist/writer/whoever jumps out the ship and the rest slowly falls apart;
Some hope for a quick buck and once they are not happy with the result, they give up and :wave:
Those cannot be helped but I am sure many projects get abandoned because the developer gets burned out, they start with a great idea they like but slowly start to dislike it (a bit like a new food, tastes like heaven, eat it 10 more times in a row and it'll become meh).

My suggestion is: Stop doing that.
Don't overexposure yourself to your project for too long, avoid working on it many hours in a row on your first days, stop while you still want to work on it and do something else.

You may think that's underproductive but you would be wrong: What really matters is steadily working on it, even a couple of hours a day; Avoid working on it 10 hours and then stop for days, consider it like playing your favorite game... Force yourself to stop for the day to do other stuff and steadily feel the need to come back and "play" to continue it until it is finally completed.


Granted that it may not work for everybody (Each one of us is different, after all), it does work for me.
I am almost done with an animation that I am doing for my game, it could have taken me one day to complete but it actually took me three days and that is fine.
In the meantime I have done other stuff and even written down pseudocode and dialogue snippets for the game (stuff that I should have done after completing the animation) yet, those ideas and inspiration came over a span of three days while I was doing other stuff... Had I completed the animation within one day, I would have been left in a "Now what?" situation.

I know it may be tempting to work on your project until you burn out but those things require a creative mind and you cannot be creative if you do not allow the mind to experience other stuff throughout the day.

 

[recreation]

Back in my modding days I learned that it's good to have a goal for the day, like getting this specific part of the code done, or this one animation
The important part is to set small and realistic goals and not to go for something thats not doable in a few hours or would take the whole day. If you're stuck somewhere it doesn't help to rack your brains for hours, do something else instead, give your brain a pause and the solution will most likely be right before your eyes when you get back to work.

Never forget that you're doing this in your free time and you don't need to get everything done asap.

 

[Winterfire]

Yup but even if you are not forcing yourself and actually like doing it, if you work on something for too long you'll stop liking it and that's counterproductive, you have to keep the "like feeling" alive by forcing yourself to stop for the day after you have completed a realistic goal.

 

[eosar]

I can't play any mmo game for long because daily quests and a slow grind turn it into a burden.
The curiosity to try new things gets me started, but it is the tiresome continuos effort that eventually brings it to an end.

Passion is a flame. Without fuel to keep it going, it will be extinguished quickly. And creation without passion turns barren in all things.

Wise-ass attempt aside, when things get boring we tend to walk away, hence all the cheating on spouses. Keep things fresh and any project will reach its completion.

 

[aroha]

The other part of it (aside from not working long hours) is to take regular breaks - not just for 20 minutes, but for an evening or a whole weekend. The working week for most of the world revolves around a 2 day break after 5 days of work; if you plan on your project being a long-term thing you should take regular breaks, even if it's a hobby (and especially if you have a day job - even if you're super passionate about your game, you could still be effectively working 80-100 hours a week).

Burnout is very common in the software industry, so if you're worried or feeling the effects, there's tons of advice available on the internet.

 

[Snarkfu]

It's not even necesarilly burnout, vast swathes of game development are just boring as fuck and nobody wants to do them, the answer to both is pretty similar in some ways.

At some point in development you're almost certainly going to stop feeling it, you'll be sitting there and would rather claw your own eyes out than spend time looking at your code, art, instrument, typewriter whatever it is that you do. This usually happens after the first flush of excitement, when you've got your prototype/vertical slice/proof of concept down and it's time to actually dig in and make something that won't fall apart and people will enjoy playing.

There are two things you need in this situation: a plan and a hobby.

Having a plan that you can follow on those days where you brain just isn't working will let you get stuff done even when you really just want to stay in bed. If you're working to a time limit (eg monthly release) you need to know where you're going and how much time you have, this plan should be written at the start of development when you're still relatively sane and be updated as your mental state deteriorates.

Having something to do when you're not working that will completely absorb you is vital, it should be something that's totally apart from what you do day to day, though it can still be useful in the long-term.

I'm a games programmer by trade so my hobby is daz rendering. It has nothing to do with my core skillset but when I finally have the time to start up my adult game (best game ever, going to make millions in the first week) I can make use of it. (my secondary hobby is writing rambly comments on internet forums)

You also just need to accept that there are times when you will hate your game with a passion equalled only by the joy you felt at the start, unfortunately this will not always pass. If you want to make things for a living you need to be able to work through this stuff and put something of value out, nobody cares if the first half of your project is great if the second half sucks balls because you stopped caring and wanted to move on to the next thing, they're going to judge you on the things that they remember and people are great at remembering the bad bits.

 

[Domiek]

One thing I've learned is to identify which part of development you find yourself dreading the most and plan for it.

For example, I don't mind doing post-proc work or coding/testing. Yet when I end up saving this for the last week before release it's an absolute chore to edit 150+ renders and implement everything at once. Now I try to do it in batches. Complete rendering a few events -> post proc -> code/test.

Sometimes I find myself going crazy after sitting in the office for 6+ hours. Bought a cheap chromebook so I can go sit on the couch with my wife and work on writing the script or new events as a break of sorts.

Most importantly, if you're not making the game that you want to play, you'll get burned out quick. Despite some objections to my silly and political humor, I still do it because that's what makes it fun for me.

Obviously everyone is different so experiment with what works for you.

 

[anne O'nymous]

The other part of it (aside from not working long hours) is to take regular breaks - not just for 20 minutes, but for an evening or a whole weekend.

Said otherwise: Don't forget that you have the right to live.

The problem is that making a game as indie author is something that you do at home. And there's mostly two possibilities in this case. Either you tend to do nothing because you're too distracted, or you pass most of your time working on your project.
During many years, I worked as freelancer, it was good, fun and it payed well. But few days after my wife death, I had a revelation... I missed so many things, with her and with our children, simply because working at home mean that you can works when you want and as long as you want ; what for me led too often to thoughts like, "Well, I'll works 48h none stop on this, so I'll finish it faster and will have more times for my family"... almost always followed by a new contract. So, now I have a regular job which give me way more freedom and time, that I had as freelancer.[/my life]

It's a common pitfall. As long as you have free time, you dedicate it to your project, forgetting that it must be handled as a job even if it's just a hobby. You don't works all day long. You take time to eat, you take time to sleep, to laugh, to love, you take holidays, so in short, you live. And you must do the same while working on your project ; it's a part of your life, but it must stay just a part of it.
The first thing you should do, is fixing some limits. By example, if it's a full time occupation, you don't start working on your project before 9 AM and at 9PM you stop. You don't works on Sunday, you take two days off after an update, and things like this. In short, you handle it like what it is, a job.

 

[SeventhVixen]

@anne O'nymous summed up well the crisis aspect of working at home, I'll like to add the bad planification problem.

Usually the only thing that make me abandon a project is 1) total stuck on a programming issue (you try and try and try and at last you move on) or 2) the project wasn't so interesting as to be a full project, but just a concept idea (You better think of it as a prototype and the things your learn as a positive thing or it will be a burden in your memory).

This happens to a lot of people; with a VN in mind as a example, You just think "would be awesome to make this thing". You draw a map, write some pages, make skectches, make some characters, make a conversation or two, and you don't know where to go from there. "in the worst case", You already have some people giving you trust because you go face ahead to a patreon site type to show your concept project. The only way for you is to continue with an idea that has no sense, and eventually giving up.

The thing is that when you make the public statement that you are gonna make a game, you better do it, even give it a rush ending if you must, even more if there's other people money involved. If one starts asking form money about a project and abandon it, and their patreons forget it, abandoning projects become everytime less shamefull, more common. People see other people abandoning projects and nothing happens, so it becomes more common.

The most common reason because started/half year/year in development games are abandoned, (When related to the inspiration to make the game, not outside causes), is lack of planification. I'll say looking at the current panorama, a no planificated game ending.

My advice, When starting a project, or want to start a project, from a good idea, (or even if is an explotation product, just copying ideas, even those projects need a ton of work), you must write the story from begining to end. Not all the holes in the middle, some, but from beginning to end. Even if you are resolute that you can make the story along the way, think that you are not. You can always fill in more and more holes if the middle of the story is interesting, don't worry about on the start.

So back at the sketching process. You have the start of the story and the end. You think you can do it in six motnhs? double or triple that math, you'll take one year and half. Never think as a strategy making a game without and end, you will not be able to see the end goal, and your users will see it even less.
You think you'll need 200 renders per update? Calculate how much time will take you (x4 of the time you think in scene posing, plus render time). Are you sure you can do it? If the answer is no, cut innecesary stuff /Postergate it. Stick to the base of the story (you need an story with an start to an end to have a story)

I could go further and further on the planification aspect... but I guess everybody take the point. Even the much more money anyone can gets, the game will not be made faster nor in danger of abandonning, One people can do what one people can do; And trying to make a single dev game into a team game without having it plannificated from start can be disastrous.

So devs must 1)Planificate well 2) be realistic about the effort they can put without burning out.

 

[polywog]

Do your damnedest not to abandon a game, ever. The first scene you should make is "The End" where the MC gets raped to death, and fade to the end. keep that scene for emergency. If life throws something at you, shove that scene in the games ass and upload it, but don't just walk away. Shit happens, fans will forgive you as long as it has an end.

I love variety, seeing all these wannabe developers make a go of it is fantastic. If they are just in it for the money, they aren't gonna make it. Adult games are a labor of love. Fans reward you for being in a meaningful relationship with them. $10 whores come and go, you have to be better than that.

 

[Nottravis]

*peeks in*

And chain smoking. Let's not forget chain smoking - I find that helps

 

[Raymondo]

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[recreation]

Hello

Id like to ask different question in this thread about games. (delete it or what ever if its not ok to ask that here / or pm me i edit it and delete the text)

I work on a small game that has multiple chapters and each chapter is like small story and in the end i have multiple small storys in a big world.

I did it that way so if i feel doing "THIS" then i just create it and link it in my game or if i want to do other story i just do it and find way to connect it in my game. (Its not a normal game where there are only 3-4 main characters and the story is build around it. My version is more like a MALE Main person that doing different stuff with different womans so if i see a nice model that i like to use i just add it without problem and can ask on patreon if an older model shold get 2nd story that i can add.)

The thing i want to ask is rather how do you make advertising for it? I mean i could try to sell each chapter on an erotic store and offer the whole game in progress for patreon. (is that recommendet? Selling each chapter of lets say 100 pictures on an erotic store?)

Shold i offer the first chapter to an "UPLOADER" from F95 so he can publish it here i get maybe some feedback ect? Or should i directly self upload it here?

Thanks for the answers and sorry for my english =)

Best Regards

PS: I mostly work alone and just use "hints" to do somthing better this way you dont get the problem if somone jumps overboard you are stuck with project. The only thing i try to find is maybe somone that can correct read the english text because i write it in my language first try to translate it afterwards with different programms.

Even if your way of doing the chapters is somewhat related to this thread, you should better make a new thread with this question. It's unrelated and you won't get much answers here

 

[Raymondo]

Even if your way of doing the chapters is somewhat related to this thread, you should better make a new thread with this question. It's unrelated and you won't get much answers here

Thanks i wil doo that =)

 

[polywog]

Usually the only thing that make me abandon a project is 1) total stuck on a programming issue (you try and try and try and at last you move on

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A young writer friend got his first book offer, and came to me for advice. It wasn't one of those we'll buy your book and put Stephen King's name on it deals, it was just a short paperback thing. They would publish a small first run and see what happens.
It was a good thing, and I tried to tell him that, but he was a little too hung up on the bottom line. Looking at the price the book would sell for, versus the amount he would receive per copy. He thought, he did all the work, why should the publisher get the lion's share. I explained that the publisher does all the set-up, prints, binds, packages and distributes the books to bookstores.
It wasn't so much greed that drove him, it was more a sense of injustice. Those rich publishers get richer off the labor of others.

How much can it really cost, to print paperbacks? He rejected the publisher's lame offer, and set out to publish his own damn book. I thought he was an idiot, but I admired his courage. He paid out of his own pocket, for a print shop to make 1000 copies, and went bookstore to bookstore trying to sell them. It was then that he learned that bookstores work on consignment, they don't usually buy books, the distributors just drop them off. The bookstore pays the distributor for the missing inventory at the end of the month. This only fueled his anger even more. "It's organized crime" he said "It's a racket, they're all in on it together, it's a conspiracy"

It's not a conspiracy... writers write, artists art, printers print, distributors distribute, editors edit, translators translate, coders code, testers test, players play, marketers market, readers read... it's team work.


Do what you love doing, and you'll never hate your job.