HOW TO FINISH A GAME

Here's some of what I've learnt over the ages to tackle this issue:

- The two biggest issues are time and motivation.

- Learn when to say "Fuck it". I spent several months trying to iron out my storyline to perfection before I said "Fuck it", and just made semi-plausable explanations for things that don't quite flow very well. Honestly, I should've said it sooner.
- To add to that, figure out where you can skimp on things in order to save time. Background images, interactivity, that neat little sub-system you've got going there, how much does it add to your game? Would it be okay without it?

- Figure out ways to improve your efficiency. Use keyboard shortcuts. Print documents with relevant or useful information. Use map templates instead of starting from scratch each time. Etc..

- Time spent on side-projects is time not spent on your main project. But sometimes, you just gotta do something else for a while..

- Half of the deal is dedication, and the will to see your project to completion, no matter how much you think it sucks or how you have a much better idea. For me, I have tonnes of things I'd much rather work on over my current project. It's been this way since the day I started my first project 5-6 years back.

- Understand what you're willing to do and not do. For me, spriting is pretty fun. For my current project, I spent half a year spriting all the main characters and their battle animations. However, my tolerance for mapping is comparatively MUCH lower, and as a result, I tend to do that in small bits with frequent breaks to work on other things.

- Raise your motivation. Here are two ways:
- Play your game. This seems to work pretty well for me.
- Get feedback/ praise for your project. Say what you want, but deep-down, we all want to be praised for our hard work. For some people, this goes as far as being their lifeline; their number one reason for game-making. For this to happen, you'll need to figure out what the audience wants, and what you'll get praise for. I like to think of this as "The Brickroad Dilemma" (For info on who Brickroad is, ask WIP or any other RMN regular). I've certainly been here before (making a game that isn't in demand), but I make games for myself, so it's never been too big of a problem.

- Don't get demotivated. Expect the worst. At some point, someone's gonna tell you your game sucks and you're wasting your time. Someone else is gonna tell you all your systems are broken and you'll need to spend several hours fixing and checking things. If you're not ready to handle this, your motivation is going to drop to zero rather quickly.

- Break your game up into little components that'll let you see progress. This links to the whole play your game thing from earlier, as well as understanding what you're willing to do and not do. Work on the stuff you don't want to do, but keep something that you will want to do ready for when you cease being motivated to work on what you don't want to do.