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[SpaceGoat]

Who here has, as sleep sets in say, 12 or 1 in the morning has the best and greatest idea for a game only to lose it through the night?
Who writes it down or wakes up to write lengthy treatises on their idea? 

[DanglinBob]

All my best ideas come to me while I am in the shower. True story.

Apparently this is not unusual (the shower or as you are falling asleep). Our brain uses certain downtime routines to clear, process, and organize data. Basically when you're working or living your life your brain is busy dealing with all the things in front of you. It doesn't have time to simply wander into the fertile soil of creativity. When we're doing routine actions our brain doesnt have to dedicate any resources to them and instead gets busy being creative without us even telling it to. There was a segment about it on either TED or RadioLab, I forget which

[Jordgubben]

Anyone who has taken a shower has had at least one good idea.

[SpaceGoat]

Anyone who has taken a shower has had at least one good idea.

This is the quote of the year. 

[ProgramGamer]

Anyone with insomnia as well. Or any kind of situation where you're left alone with your thoughts. Spooky.

[Mark Mayers]

Who here has, as sleep sets in say, 12 or 1 in the morning has the best and greatest idea for a game only to lose it through the night?
Who writes it down or wakes up to write lengthy treatises on their idea? 

Story of my life.

I actually take most of my game design ideas from my dreams, hahahaha.

[DXimenes]

The creative center of your brain is inhibited by stress, which for most adults is a reality during most of the day.
Then when you relax - taking a shower, being alone at home late at night or even in the bathroom - it is stimulated again and you get great ideas.

I often go to sleep at 3~5 a.m., so yeah, I know the feeling all too well.

[Jordgubben]

The creative center of your brain is inhibited by stress,  ...

Does the creative center have a cool latin name? Just curious, is there really a special part of the brain that handles this?

[baconman]

The best shit comes in the middle of the night, because it's not cluttered with obnoxious everyone-elses.

[DXimenes]

Does the creative center have a cool latin name? Just curious, is there really a special part of the brain that handles this?

Shit, you got me there. I don't know if there is a specific part that handles creativity.
But what I meant was that stress and anxiety trigger "fight or flight" reactions in your brain. This inhibits lateral thinking and experimentation because it's in the "get me the fuck out of this situation fast" mode.

[Orymus]

Who here has, as sleep sets in say, 12 or 1 in the morning has the best and greatest idea for a game only to lose it through the night?
Who writes it down or wakes up to write lengthy treatises on their idea? 

For the past 10 years, I've been sleeping next to my notebook just in case. At one point, I used to wake up at night only to record melodies for song ideas (and it paid off) but lately these are text-based.

Body craves for "stops" but I also get decent results with shower and simply going out to run a few laps.

[hmm]

Most of the brain is involved in the creative process, since it is a process that requires making connections between unrelated ideas. The theory is that in more relaxed states of mind, when the brain is not focussed on a specific task, it is more free to make these associations.

So, there's some science behind the idea that you're more creative when sleepy.

[Sik]

Who here has, as sleep sets in say, 12 or 1 in the morning has the best and greatest idea for a game only to lose it through the night?

Happens to me but with music, which is probably why I'll never get to compose anything: by the time I can get around sequencing it I will have forgotten what I was thinking on =P (and if not, then I'll forget it while I'm fighting trying to get the right instruments)

[Jordgubben]

Most of the brain is involved in the creative process, since it is a process that requires making connections between unrelated ideas. The theory is that in more relaxed states of mind, when the brain is not focussed on a specific task, it is more free to make these associations.

So basically the way to intentionally solve a creativity oriented problem is to intentionally not try to solve the problem.

...

     

[hmm]

@Jordgubben unfortunately, yes. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of people solving tough technical or creative problems in their sleep. Hence the phrase "sleep on it" or the common advice of taking a walk when something stumps you.