Need to be motivated!

[CreativeCoding]

So, I am creating a game called Radke. It's just me working on it, and so far, it's ****. The only thing I got done (sorta) is the dialog. Basically, level 1 as well as an outline for level 2. But every time I go into udk thinking about creating the level, I completely get bored and quit. I get bored because it looks like **** at first and I start to have doubts...

Here is a pic of level 1:
[SHOT]http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4901/sadrawr.png[/SHOT]



So far I have made some fog, lights, basic meshes, a mountain that the player has to escape from, a Matinee showing the mountain, and a basic tutorial on how to play.


So, what should I do to keep motivated and working?

[JohNLA]

Set specific goals and meet them

[mafiadude1]

yea i usually keep record of a to-do list that keeps me active with my projects.
Also, note things down like player is too fast, slow it down lol....or something like that

EDIT: Something's wrong with your pic btw.

[UnspoiledWalnut]

If I knew where you lived I could break in and threaten you. Generally I think that motivates people to do things.

I get bored all the time too, which is why I have like six projects all the time. Right now, Empire City, US History, Project Sylvanus, the MMO that we need to decide on an engine for to work on the server code, an RTS/FPS (that is getting no where), and a bunch of plugins for 3DS Max (that well never get done because once I start getting the new version down, they come out with a new f*cking one).

[Kaldrick]

Walnut, as for your MMO project, google ryzom open source, you might find it interesting.

[CreativeCoding]

Hmm... Thanks for your feedback guys.

I'm working on a list as we speak, a better one than the one I have in my signature.

[UnspoiledWalnut]

My list usually looks something like:

1. Get Idea
2. Work on models and concepts
3. Get food at store
4. Finish game

I usually get to around number two before getting ****** off and like "F*ck this idea". I need a Monopoly board or something for emphasis I think, imagine me throwing one. I do love Monopoly though. Oh I forgot the one that I'm trying to figure out if I can legally do if I don't sell it, where I just break every possible copyright I can. I told someone else to do it a bit ago but I decided it's mine now. It's gonna be awesome, there'll be like a Monopoly Man and stuff, the Philly Fanatic's gonna have an epic battle with the Kool Aid Man, there'll be a battleship and top hat and stuff, probably include a mid-life crisis to screw over your awesome career as an Athlete or Doctor and you end up as a cop or some **** thing on welfare. Then we'll have the Planter's creepass peanut thing and Monopoly Man fighting over the top hat and hitting each other with monocles. I want to get the old 7 Up circle thing in on it too. And the Allstate's hot girl, but it turns out that she apparently doesn't exist so I'll have to settle for a battle between Progressive's girl and the annoying cartoon one from Esurance with the Allstate man pausing it to cheat and win his bet with Nationwide. Now that I think about it... I might be able to make a ton of money if I can get a bunch of people to sign for advertising, which will help pay for the lawsuits that I'll get from the rest of the world that I don't get permission from.

[Ghiest]

Only you can motivate yourself, as with allot of art (digital or not, mapping, coding or what ever) if you can't get yourself into the mindset where you want to actually finish something then you need to think about ways to properly finish something.

There are some good suggestions, but the best way is become part of a team, when there are other people relying on you to produce something that they can take then use to carry on in their task is a big motivator for me. But having worked for almost a year in a professional studio really slaps your mind into shape that even if you hate what you are working on and how it comes out you need to finish it and pass it on.

Personally I find that you will always get a bit bored of what you are doing half way through, it's natural. Usually I hate what I am doing about 2/3 the way through then when I finally get to the finished product then I kinda like it (although there are always things you can change :P) and find myself glad I finished it up to be a final product and until that point you will still think "what's the point really?", just get your mind in focus get it done.

[junkens]

Well setting specific goals is important.
It's very demotivating to work on while you have the overwhole finish of the game in mind.
Srsly.. it's the biggest demotivator.. to think of the whole thing.

At first you may want to make simple topdown sketches of the area you want to create.. or if you are a skilled concept artist.. several enviremont sketches. After you finished some. [Optional] You print them and put on your desk. When ..call it a day and relax .
The next day you see that you already had a progress while you are looking at your sketches. Start the engine and you create a simple version of what you thought of. Not much of a detail. After you are finished.. you are maybe a little bit demotivated because everything looks kinda crappy. You may call it a day or start to work in details.

After some days you have completed a level and you got one step closer to the release of your project.

That's how I do it..

[musilowski]

Work small. Perhaps forget the big picture for a while to concentrate on making that single weapon look and work perfectly or add a few waterfalls to your level. When you do loads of small things you can concentrate and get stuff done.

But remember that at the end of the day it all needs to function as a whole. Also dedicating five hours on a weapon when you could create a resource and economics system is something to keep in mind.

In the end its just balancing importances: "need" and "want" are the two words to think about.

[UnspoiledWalnut]

I've always liked thinking about what the finished product will be. Not really specifically, because when you write out all of the details and end up with a huge plan, a lot of times you end up at a point where some things you just can't do. Because with the technology it's not feasible or realistic, or you simply don't know how. But thinking about how you want it to play, what you want it to look like, things like that are what generally help me. I've never been big on concept art, since I'm horrible at drawing by hand, but if you're working by yourself really the only thing you need is your own mental picture for a lot of it. You don't need to pass what you're thinking off to someone else to do, and you can have all of the details you can think of. Only issue is you might forget... generally that's kind of an issue for me. And it changes a lot as well, like the original plan for Empire City was just a normal linear game and it's progressively turned into something completely different ( I don't even want to do it in Manhattan anymore because I feel that it's too cliche, everything is in New York. I need to think of a new name though, it was perfect...), and that's the only game that I'm really making progress on. The MMO is still in pre-production, doing some quick models and stuff every once in a while so we can get an idea of the world we want and stuff, US History is getting no where because I can't find any information I can use on half of the battles, Sylvanus has been borderline dead for a year since I change the storyline every day.

Anyone else find science fiction the hardest thing to write? I mean, it's just one of those things that I find I love everything I think of, but then the next day I either hate it or have so much more I want to add. Or I watch something and totally change my mind on how I want to do it, so I have to start all over again and use something new as inspiration but not make it a copy.

[Piranhi]

The hardest part for a level designer, as far as I'm concerned, is getting past the first stage. Levels always looks awful when you start and it's severely off-putting, but you have to envision the end result and work with that rather then what you're seeing on the screen. However, beauty isn't the only thing you need to look for in a level and while you're level is basic and bare you should use that time to make the level fun and make sure the layout works.

[Sir. Polaris]

As most people noted here, the issue is most people are chasing a feeling of want - but have no way or no drive to finish. Generally anyone whom is chasing more then one project at a time is chasing ideas and not solutions.

I don't want to be blunt but if your struggling to continue because your not getting enough instant gratification. I would severely take a look at your approach, and how you see game development - or level design. From what I have seen of you posting, it looks to me like your new and just learning this world. Which is fine, but you see to be taking the approach of every "alsom cool mod". 100's of pipe dreams are made and support rallied and then decay and despair kicks in and they are abandoned. Then the burden falls on others to keep the person or project alive.

The only way to combat this - and this is a very important skill to learn, is how to by yourself punch though large tasks by making them small goals. As noted by others, being able to break down tasks into small easy to complete goals helps immensely. This is not to say that if you make small goals you will succeed. This is to say, with will power and skill, this approach will make the strain of a large product - seem less immense.

As Blade[UG] would say, if you don't know what you want - how are you going to get it? I know many of a project that has died, because of feature creep. People keep flipfloping or growing the ideas because, they don't know what they want - or perhaps need. Ideas grow and grow and grow until there is to much for anyone to do in time. Then the project is scaled back and half completed to get it to market. Once you know what you want - lay it out, then the job becomes making that.

Don't correct your ideas mid flight - kill the goal and finish. Then learn from what you just completed and then repeat but this time with corrections. Repeat this process until successful. You have the benefit of not having to ship a product or meet deadlines. You also have the ability to chase your dreams with the UDK. However you must remember - no one is going to chase these dreams for you. YOU and you alone need to rummage up the spirit to plow though and get it done. You however need to learn the skills (if you don't have them already) and know when it's time to retreat. Always keep your short term and long term goals in mind.

With that said, with some learning, time, will and effort - anything is doable. You just need to approach it correctly so your not overwhelmed. Break the tasks down into easy to destroy sizes and weed out the problem man by man, room by room

[junkens]

@sir.polaris: very well formulated.
In my time of learning things I discovered for myself that working on a piece of art is pretty much the same as building a level.. or a game but much faster.
Like in digital painting where is this model-like painting style. You start with just some simple forms to lay down the ground work. When you go in detail. Defining most of the picture just through painting over the simple thing.. which is a guideline.
At the start and mid you just see some colors with no real detail.. as you go further for example the face of a beautiful woman appears. You go for eyelashes and so on.. and a part is finished.. you relax a moment and look what you've created.. it's something beautiful..although the picture is not ready but you get a motivaiton boost because you want to see the whole thing finished.

I made this experience and it really helps me. All the time I get demotivated I just think about my last works.. and how I approached them. If I see similaritys and tell myself "that's just like always. It's going to be AWESOME!" and well. That helps.

As a guy who works just for himself on a project. Where is no money which could motivate you, also no boss behind your neck. Or the group which needs your finished stuff. It's just you and the project. Maybe it's neccesary to make such experience.

[McTavish]

Plan things on paper I think is a great way to stay motivated. Try to plan lots of things before you even touch your computer man. Make lots of drawings of ideas for gameplay and environments and such. Like others have said make lists of things youll need and things you want to have in your game. I think having a good sound idea of what your doing helps in a big way, you will get bored if you sit down and start thinking "ok what now"