hellojed

@hellojed

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hellojed @hellojed10/29/2022, 10:35 PM

Game Dev Diary, post post burnout edition

Probably not a good sign that one of my remaining tasks is to play the game to completion to verify that the game all works, and I don't want to, because it means I have to play it and I'm anticipating seeing things i don't want to (bugs, balance problems, general jank) which will delay the game's progress even further.

I sort of wanted to do Nanowrimo this year but that will take a considerable time, and I sort of wanted to finish this game before year's end, because the idea of spending another year on it just fills me with dread. I meant to finish it last year, but I ended up shipping a AAA game, then working on post-launch content, which severely burned me out.

one of the things I haven't really done is sunk a lot of time into a project like this, so I'm encountering a lot of feelings for the first time like this. There isn't a lot of writing on the subject i can find, other than the last stretch seems to be the worst, or something. Expecting wild swings in my opinion on the project as I near completion too, positive and negative.

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in reply to @hellojed's post:

@Aubrey10/30/2022, 2:05 PM

I have worked on projects I felt burned out by. It's tough. One saying that's common is that last 10% is 80% of the work, and it can really feel like that at times. Trudging through the last bit towards release can be hard.

I think one of the hardest parts on any project is realizing how the finished product will compare with your original vision. The good news is that players will never know what you really had in mind, and will only judge the game by what you put in front of them.

One thing I would suggest is that since you have a whole game (theoretically) playable, is find a friend or two to test it. It's great to have someone else play the game, because it means you don't have to, but also getting bug reports from real users feels more urgent to me.

If you have not had other testers, this can be a massive source of anxiety. I find the fear of putting a build in front of people so intense that I try to force myself to do it as early as possible in the project.

Also at the end of development your mind naturally turns towards "marketing" or at least, release details -- platform, platform assets, web page? posting on social media, making videos about it... all of this is super difficult and usually dismal fighting for attention on most platforms.

Sometimes though it is nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is absolutely great to actually finish something, if just so you don't have to ever think about making that thing again. I have so many game ideas and every time I release something I feel a little bit relieved.

hellojed @hellojed10/30/2022, 9:24 PM

the first times I showed this game off people didn't "get" it and would suggest things that wouldn't work for my vision of the game. I didnt want to playtest it until it was longer along in development, then I sorta didnt want to show it off, because it would mean extra months of development adding in features or changes to fix unclear concepts or whatever. I barely get time or energy to work on it, and its been several years of on again off again development, so im eager to move on.

I also, absolutely, dont care about marketing

@Aubrey10/30/2022, 10:13 PM

I recently decided to scrap a bunch of working gameplay in a project because I felt like listening to the feedback was going in the wrong direction. Knowing how to interpret feedback is still something I’m working on

hellojed @hellojed10/31/2022, 12:21 AM

yeah, that's the kind of thing I want to avoid with getting feedback. It's absolutely possible to retain your vision for something and address feedback you're getting.

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