YOUR BIGGEST STRUGGLES/BLOCKS as a developer

[EliteZeon]

I'm currently working on my very first project whenever I have free time from irl.

Because I am a complete idiot, I've decided to try and go big, or to not go at all. You see, the most unique thing about my game is the animated battlers I've designed for it, as well as all the artwork I've made specifically for this title.

I'm doing this all solo...

Because of that, I'm having a nightmare of a time designing unique monsters and then animating them... followed by...

Creating the animated party members.

Coming up with bosses and their designs.

Coming up with the flesh of the story, and trying to make it in such a way that would make sense.

Then, I stare at what I am using as general resources for the world building... everything I've got is RTP for the most part. The tiles, the sprite styles, the icons, the fonts... I keep asking myself if I should go and change it, or look for something else. But wait, no this is my game, I don't want to use someone else's resource, I want to make everything on my own. This is my game... this is my game... Thinking like that, I then I question that logic...

"But if I go and change them, then I will have to redo all the maps again." "

"If I make a new sprite style, I will have to go back and redo them for all the characters I have planned, I will have to make new sprites for all the town folk."

"New icons will have to be remapped to every individual resource as well..."

Ugh, it's just too much work. So I settle for using free resources/RTP defaults.

But I cry to myself once I realize there aren't any tiles or sprites for specific objects I REALLY REALLY want. Once again, I could do it myself, but it's not going to look like the RTP default stuff... then I go back and loop to my previous assessments on my world building resources.

Then I also got the nervousness of showing what I've made. It really took a lot for me to make my opening thread when I announced my game... to be completely honest, I actually keep checking my own threads to see if people are looking at them, and I keep asking myself, "Oh gawds, what are they thinking about this?"

Even though this is my first project, I believe I already pumped in over 500 hours of work, the constant testing I do, the amount of undos and redos for the eventing and storyline progress. (I had about 3 different opening scenes before settling with the one I have now) Then I also have even more countless hours into making the cinematic artworks and then the battlers followed by animating them correctly. Even then, I really feel like my animations are really crappy, and I keep fearing not much people will like them.

I just hope I stay motivated enough to finish this. It's been a dream of mine since childhood.

 

[bandkanon]

For me, at the moment it's the monotony of making original charsets (like the above poster) and my complete inability to script.

It doesn't help that I have this constant nagging feeling that nobody would care enough to even begin helping me, that I'm completely on my own and even if I do finish this, I'll have done nothing worthwhile with my life.

It's really hard to fight that urge to stop when there's nobody to encourage you.

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

For me, at the moment it's the monotony of making original charsets (like the above poster) and my complete inability to script.

It doesn't help that I have this constant nagging feeling that nobody would care enough to even begin helping me, that I'm completely on my own and even if I do finish this, I'll have done nothing worthwhile with my life.

It's really hard to fight that urge to stop when there's nobody to encourage you.

I hear that. It's not easy. Not to scare you, but it doesn't get easier, even WITH people to encourage you. Sometimes, self-doubt happens.  Learn as much as you can from tutorials, and if you're stuck, don't be afraid to ask someone willing... for help. (HUGE struggle with me)

I'm currently working on my very first project whenever I have free time from irl.

Because I am a complete idiot, I've decided to try and go big, or to not go at all. You see, the most unique thing about my game is the animated battlers I've designed for it, as well as all the artwork I've made specifically for this title.

I'm doing this all solo...

Because of that, I'm having a nightmare of a time designing unique monsters and then animating them... followed by...

Creating the animated party members.

Coming up with bosses and their designs.

Coming up with the flesh of the story, and trying to make it in such a way that would make sense.

Then, I stare at what I am using as general resources for the world building... everything I've got is RTP for the most part. The tiles, the sprite styles, the icons, the fonts... I keep asking myself if I should go and change it, or look for something else. But wait, no this is my game, I don't want to use someone else's resource, I want to make everything on my own. This is my game... this is my game... Thinking like that, I then I question that logic...

"But if I go and change them, then I will have to redo all the maps again." "

"If I make a new sprite style, I will have to go back and redo them for all the characters I have planned, I will have to make new sprites for all the town folk."

"New icons will have to be remapped to every individual resource as well..."

Ugh, it's just too much work. So I settle for using free resources/RTP defaults.

But I cry to myself once I realize there aren't any tiles or sprites for specific objects I REALLY REALLY want. Once again, I could do it myself, but it's not going to look like the RTP default stuff... then I go back and loop to my previous assessments on my world building resources.

Then I also got the nervousness of showing what I've made. It really took a lot for me to make my opening thread when I announced my game... to be completely honest, I actually keep checking my own threads to see if people are looking at them, and I keep asking myself, "Oh gawds, what are they thinking about this?"

Even though this is my first project, I believe I already pumped in over 500 hours of work, the constant testing I do, the amount of undos and redos for the eventing and storyline progress. (I had about 3 different opening scenes before settling with the one I have now) Then I also have even more countless hours into making the cinematic artworks and then the battlers followed by animating them correctly. Even then, I really feel like my animations are really crappy, and I keep fearing not much people will like them.

I just hope I stay motivated enough to finish this. It's been a dream of mine since childhood.

Don't you dare give up. If you lose motivation, work ANYWAY. Do little things. Best of luck, yo!

 

[AvarinaSkye]

I've read a couple of the posts here already, and I can see bits and pieces of me in it too.

I think for me it is the learning, tutorials, the anxiety when I look at the script editor, and anything that seems to be out of my comfort zone. I guess I am still pretty new, and I've been proud of what I have done with my first game so far, like really proud. However, when I go on to my next task, the lack of initial understanding, and thinking about the process of learning something new (especially if I think it will be a long, arduous, tutorial), I am afraid of just giving up or getting frustrated at nothing. I do step back and draw or continue writing about the storyline, which cools me down a bit before jumping back in to the fray. Compared to my other half, he absolutely loves to program, to the point that he can do it all day, just as long as he takes care of himself. You can say he's just at a different level of programming, and I don't wish to be like him, but I aspire to not be afraid and to push through tutorials. I might think I learn differently from RM-made tutorials and 10 page long explanations, however I have not seen anything other than those two at the moment...

Still hanging on though! 

 

[Another Ned]

It doesn't help that I have this constant nagging feeling that nobody would care enough to even begin helping me, that I'm completely on my own and even if I do finish this, I'll have done nothing worthwhile with my life.

About the last part:

You will have finished making a game. That's an achievement. Many, many people start games, but rarely finish them. You'll have gained insights into different processes, solved problems, and created something that in this exact form wasn't there before.

I do think that is indeed wortwhile.

Plus, completed game projects don't look too shabby on a CV (shows that you're able and willing to bring something to completion).

 

[Blinn]

Scripts.

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

Time to bring this puppy back.

My biggest block is mapping.

This, too. I have spent many a restless night marveling at what others can do and, I'll be honest... sometimes I get insanely jealous.

... Which leads me to another block: Envy.

It's not an easy thing to admit, because envy leads to hate when you don't stop it in its tracks. And that's the last thing I want to feel or cause. My own lack of confidence makes me out to be my own worst enemy, which leads to me getting torn apart where had I kept my cool, I'd have been fine.

Yup. Adding lack of confidance and envy... Ugly, ugly things, they are.
(Remember, I said NO JUDGMENT.)

Scripts.

this, too...
I've torn my hair out, SCREAMING, because of scripts.  Some people say "This is so easy to use!" but that literally DOESN'T matter, because some people (like me u___u ) have a terrible, terrible time with even the simplest of scripts. That's just the reality of the beast. Some people just can't...

 

[metronome]

Money.
The cruelest mistress of reality. The top 5 source of evil. If only I have more money.......

 

[Dragnfly]

That's the big one. Money. I either need money for whatever talents/time I lack, or I need money to cover time I'd rather spend working on my game instead of working at a job to pay rent etc. And all having money does is increase how much money I use. 100% gets used if I have $5000 I use $5000, if I have $5 I use $5.

Another thing that causes me block is when I get discouraged by the amount of resources I already have that I can't use.
 

It's not an easy thing to admit, because envy leads to hate when you don't stop it in its tracks. And that's the last thing I want to feel or cause. My own lack of confidence makes me out to be my own worst enemy, which leads to me getting torn apart where had I kept my cool, I'd have been fine.

You've identified it so you'll likely be fine enough to carry on. It's when you don't see the monster in your closet that it gets you.

 

[Fernyfer775]

Knowing when to stop having to literally fine tune EVERY SINGLE THING and just finally finishing the project.

 

[lolshtar]

l can't script, l always get an error. That's a big block for me.

Another one is the lack of testers so l have to spend 10x the time for balance issues and making sure everything is perfect.

 

[Foron]

Lack of motivation and flood of ideas... and oh, lack of time coz I'm a busy person.

Pretty much me...

 

[Alistair]

Mapping.

It takes forever for me to map and then make it correctly, because I seriously can't map for my life. I just go, "why don't I add this stuff" and then vualah I'm done, I often think.

Gameplay.

Oh, don't even get me started here. Countless times I've had where my characters become too broken or the enemies are too broken, or some random missing error or the enemies aren't interesting at all.

It's just so true. Mapping always takes an eternity to do, just so that you look at the whole thing and you're like "Ok... from scratch. And this time you could at least try."

 

[hian]

Personal development/Perfectionism :

Because I am still learning and developing, while also being obsessed with making the best possible product I can, this slows down development process.

I start working on something, and as time passes, and I finish with one aspect, I've grown better at what I do. When I go back to look at the things I previously

finished, I feel they're not up to par considering my progress, and I end up going back to rework and improve things.

This constant back-tracking and revisionism, makes it very difficult to finish anything.

Too many ideas :

My mind is constantly churning out new ideas for game-play, plots, settings, characters, worlds, and so forth, and each new idea seem more

appealing and better thought out than the last, leading me to quickly abandon previous works for "new and more exciting prospects".

 

[ArcaneEli]

Too many ideas :My mind is constantly churning out new ideas for game-play, plots, settings, characters, worlds, and so forth, and each new idea seem more

appealing and better thought out than the last, leading me to quickly abandon previous works for "new and more exciting prospects".

Dear god This. just This. Like I start a game, get like 1hour into it. Stop rethink stuff and realize this entirely different plot would be fun to do. And so forth and so forth ;-; Anyone need a pool to fill up I got some fresh tears for u.

 

[Yui]

I have a habit of writing myself into a ditch, I have a very depressive writing style to begin with, but it gets worse when I really get into a story, sometimes I wonder if I'm a sadist, but theres really no way I can really know that. But yea, because of this I end up tearing down my characters too much and I just get bored of continuing the story :\

 

[Kuchiku]

-Finding the perfect size of my maps

 There is always too much space with a low number of items.Maybe it happens when I don't know what else to put.

Spoiler

-Sprites

 Yes.The thing that the player always have in his eye is my weakness

-Lazyness to draw with mouse

 >.>....and then things turning out bad....

 

[Miss Nile]

I suppose my biggest block is moving on with the plot. Like I can come up with a great idea, and I plan just the beginning, get excited, open the editor and go on mapping everything. Then once a good amount of mapping is done, and I have to start eventing, that's where the problem starts. It doesn't help also that I was never good at making opening scenes, or giving my cutscenes a suitable atmosphere. So I realize that I can't do it, and my motivation keeps going low. Even if I end up making the first couple of scenes, the ones I originally planned when I made the story, I'm then like, "Ok, what to do now?"

One more thing is that I keep comparing my game (or what I have of it XD) to the amazing games we have in the forums here. Some have really cool art, or some cool stories or some really fun gameplay or creative ideas. They usually have resources I don't have (I really am capable of mapping well and doing a little pixel art, but that's all,) but anyways, I end up losing all confidence in myself and telling it, "I would never make something as great as that."

Yeah, that's it. :'(

 

[Iavra]

Uuh, i think i'm the sort of person who needs someone to tell me what i have to do I like solving problems and i'm experimenting with script stuff all the time but it's like i have no incentive to start mapping or building a story. Whenever i start doing so, i think by myself "Hey, what if..." and start scripting stuff again. So at this point i have a stamina system, can push/pull crates, automatically jump over gaps, can walk/jump on crates which dynamically function as pillars depending on the player's height and notetags (still a lot of stuff missing, though), have pixel positioned bullets with vector-based movement and (so far) static collision detection, etc etc, but my story starts and ends on the same map

 

[Tigersong]

Maths. One of my greatest ambitions is to make a game with a minimum of stats.

Story. I really need to stop with the whole "can't do anything else till there's a plot" attitude.