TRYING TOO HARD?

Gam Mak is fun, yes? It's fun making the maps, writing the stories, designing the battle system, etc. As time goes on and the game gets closer to completion, you realize just how much you believe in your game, and you want it to be great. So you put more thought, effort, and focus into fine-tuning the different parts. Maybe this forest map could use some more flowers? Maybe there can be a hidden item in one of these barrels over here? Maybe this cutscene should be rewritten so that it better conveys the tone it was trying to present?

And then you realize that, earlier in development, you made a lot of mistakes. Whether the mistake was from inexperience with the engine, a simple oversight, or discovered through player feedback, and you go back and fix those mistakes.

Oh wait! But the rest of the game hasn't been made yet! You need to make these last few cutscenes! But you need to keep in mind the overall themes of the game, and the last cutscene is where it all comes together! If you want your game to remain in the player's mind after they are finished with it, it can't just be a half-assed scene. You REALLY need to put some thought and effort into it! So it's back to the grindstone.

You plan out the next few cutscenes. But a certain character's dialogue just doesn't quite convey the tone you want. Sure, it's acceptable, but you don't want acceptable. You want awesome! So you go back and rewrite this character's words. But wait, that rewrite causes some problems with ANOTHER character's dialog! So you go and rework THEIRs.

You look over at the clock and gasp. It's 2:30 in the morning. You were so busy trying to make sure every part of your game is great that you spent two and a half hours just staring at your screen, getting no actual work done.

Oh well, you tell yourself. There's always tomorrow...

24 hours later, this exact same process repeats itself. Then the next day, then the next day, etc. Pretty soon a week goes by and you have nothing to show for it except a pair of sore eyeballs and a crappy mood. Neither of which help your situation.


I have basically just described the past week for me. It's so frustrating when I could have been done with my game about two days ago, but I want to make this game GREAT, so I keep tweaking, reworking, and polishing. I've spent over a year on this, and I don't want it to look like some hastily scrapped together mess. On the other hand, I want to release the game within this lifetime, and obsessing over every little detail is NOT the way to go about it. But the workload isn't getting lighter by just staring at the screen. As time goes on, making games becomes less of a fun activity and more of a chore.

Have you ever had this problem? What do you do when you realize that you're trying too hard?

Thanks for the replies! To build on my original post:

I want to make games for a living. I'd like to get hired into a game dev studio as either a writer or Creative Director. Building my portfolio with GOOD games was my top priority when I started developing Soul Sunder.

With that mentality, I probably expected too much of myself. Perhaps I went overboard in making too complex a game when I didn't have any completed games to my name. I suppose it goes back to the basic rule, "Don't do too much for your first project," That rule would CERTAINLY help prevent people from trying too hard.


You can't run until you lean to walk, right?


But yeah, you both made some good points. It's only now that I remember I made a blog about this exact same scenario.


EDIT: Oh, hi, SnowOwl. I see you beat me to the punch post. Hm...

... You're absolutely right. I've been working on Soul Sunder a LOT longer than I had originally planned. It was supposed to just be a short game, no more than 3 hours. But I kept adding. And adding. And adding. With each addition, I tried to integrate it into the game so it doesn't feel like a tacked on gimmick.

It does seem stupid that some of us think we can emulate those big budget titles. But then I look around on RMN and see titles like Enelysion and think, "Well, if SHE can do it, why not me?"

Conveniently forgetting that games that like aren't made overnight. Or even in a year. But it's too late, the project started, and so we keep going until the point where motivation bottoms out.

author=BizzareMonkey
That barrier is a farcical one. If you're using game maker you're already unlimited by silly people like me who make shit in RPG Maker, while still managing to churn out professional level games. Making GOOD games is something anyone with the ideal mindset for a genre can do!

I guess it depends on what your definition of, "good" is. I was actually talking to Marrend about this same issue.

What is good, anyway? Is it a solidly built game with only a couple of glitches and bugs, but just doesn't do anything to impress you? Or is it a game with a LOT of heart and soul poured into it, but full of plot holes, glitches, etc?

author=LockeZ
My personal adage for a long time was, "There are no finished games, only abandoned games." I don't know if I still think that's a good philosophy. I stopped following it as strictly, at least. I started working on new games instead of just continually improving the same game forever. But I bet at least six years passed between when I first released version 1.0 of Vindication that was a complete game, and when I released the most recent update.

That's an interesting idea. But if you continue to add more stuff to a game that's been out as long as Vindication (good God, man. 16 years?!), don't you run the risk of falling into a WoW problem with balancing? That has to be tough to do.

author=emmych
Everything you said.

This. So much this.