next »

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

Lessee... GenRogue, DoomRL, DiabloRL, Berserk!, AliensRL, Valkyrie, StarDreamer, Desert Planet, Darkness, Atomic, Starline... and a few minor ones.

No wonder I can't finish any of them .

[Paul Eres]

Yikes. 11.

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

Yikes. 11.

And that's only the list of those that have code and/or graphics started for them and are not abandoned :/. There's a big directory of abandoned projects, and a big lump of no-code/gfx design doc's :/.

[fish]

im working on 6 projects. 2d/3d game, a series of 4 prototypes/minigames, and a game event.
with the eventual addition of a 7th in due time.
but RIGHT now im only working on 2.

you'll see.

[Sharpfish]

Same as 2 years ago, I still have 5 "main" projects that will be done (in time), but I only work solidly on ONE game at a time. I then use 'spare' or 'hobby' time to work on the other game ideas (prototypes, designs). It keeps the fun there and the incentive to finish the current game so that you can get to the next one. If I started to dev the next one too soon I may get more excited by it (superficially) and dump the current project. Ok I admit this happened once, but never again. I now choose carefully which game I'm going to be spending the next year on before starting.

Games take so long to make that you need all your attention focussed on one project imo. However, as I said, weekends/spare time can be used to get other stuff started but don't try and seriously finish two projects if they are both more than mere 'mini games' or quick projects. Moving to a new project (on the side) can feel very exciting and give a sense of forward momentum that may be lacking from the 'main' project but it's a very long path to take and will only slow down the release of the main game.

Well that's what i've found anyway.

[Ryan]

I am mainly posting just to say I think your avatar is hilarious, Icedemon :D.

On a more serious note, I think 1 project at a time is best. That's all I can handle, anyway, without getting side-tracked. Yeah, if you have crazy ideas I think it'd be beneficial and refreshing to stop your main project for a few days while you hammer out a quick and simple prototype (no graphics, just primatives / quick programmer art) to get a gameplay idea down.

But yeah. Anyone who can manage multiple projects at the same time (while finishing any of them) is an indie god. I'm having trouble getting progress done on my single project. Lack of coding experience and the time it takes to learn as you go really hurts productivity.

Er...final thought. Based on your posts, start with something very, very simple. Get something completed under your belt. Maybe something with the depth of Ikiki's Games?

[SurplusGamer]

Reviving this since I came here from a link from 'How to start an indie game business.'

I thought I'd just share some of my early experiences. I'm no expert by any means, but we're just finishing our second game, me and a friend, and we've definitely learned that ideas are cheap. We can come up with some idea for a game any day of a week. One of my favourite things to do is look at the list of upcoming Ludum Dare competition themes and coming up with a game idea in 30 seconds.

The important bit: Don't hold ideas like they are some sort of precious thing. Hold them very lightly and be prepared to drop them in favour of what will actually get done. Of course there are some ideas that are simply irresistable, but most aren't, really. Don't get seduced by them!

Surprised Man (that's the name we go by) keeps a wiki where we have a list of game ideas we may or may not one day develop. But as a rule, we are only actively working on one at a time. Next time we make a game, we may grab one of those ideas or we may come up with an entirely new one. If we thought we had to make every one of them, we'd go CRAZY.