MOAM'S PROFILE

author=Strak
Aha. Ha ha. There's no end date to a true passion project. I "finished" Bloodstained Hands in 2012, and have not been able to put it down. The game now isn't even close to what it was with the initial release, Even now, I'm still coming up with new ideas and systems to implement. The better I get at scripting, the more possibilities that open up to me, and things that I felt were previously impossible are now simply challenging. As many times as I've said "this is the definitive edition," I've never truly been able to put it to rest. Heck, I just revamped the party selection method yesterday.

On the other hand, my other released game is definitely finished. One Hour was short enough that it didn't need any more fleshing out, and it accomplished the goal I had set out to do. I never had a definitive goal with BSH, other than "make the best game I possible could," and with such a fluid goal, one that keeps evolving as my capacity increases, there couldn't possibly be an end date.

I think that it ultimately comes down to deciding whether or not you've met your goal, if you want to apply these new ideas you have to a new project or continue to work on your current love. And as you mentioned, life gets in the way. Marriage happens. Babies happen. Career changes happen. I think if you've finished the project to the point where it could be considered complete from an outside perspective, you can mark it as "complete," but that doesn't mean it's the end of the project. Lots of major studio productions release updates and DLC for their games long after they've been completed. The definitive edition is what you decide it to be. In my opinion, a "complete" project is simply one that has a beginning, middle, and end, and does its best to tie off any loose ends. The overall quality of everything else is absolutely open to adjustment and enhancement.