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[LuisAnton]

I guess many of us suffer from this problem. We have a nice idea about a new game, or game mechanic, but we never get it done. I'm not talking about 'I'll program the next MMORPG', nothing like that. Just simple ideas, small games. I keep looking for the engine or the language that satisfies my need for fast or easy development... I've tried a few, both 2D and 3D: TGE, SDL with C++ or Python(PyGame), Panda3D...

I used to program for the fun of it since I had my first Spectrum. But the truth is that right now, after eight hours working in front of a computer, most of time programming in C++ for my PhD, I don't feel like sitting in front of my computer back at home and start programming "my game" from scratch.

But then I see people like Cactus, who is able to hack a nice game in about six hours with Game Maker. Is that the solution, Game Maker, Quest3D or one of those 'drag&drop' frameworks? I guess we all have somehow the same problem: find the strength or the willpower to stop thinking about what we could do and just start coding: how do you overcome this situation? Do you have a solution?

[Sar]

I guess we all have somehow the same problem: find the strength or the willpower to stop thinking about what we could do and just start coding: how do you overcome this situation? Do you have a solution?

I have three solutions, and all of them begin with 'D'.

Determination:
If I really wanted to make a game, I'd make a game, right? So sometimes, I do.

Deadlines:
Competitions are good for these. Stick a deadline in front of me and I'll realise that I can't sit around reading forums or whatever all evening 'cause I have to be done by X.

Drink:
If all else fails, alcohol dulls my interest in shiny things and lets me concentrate on the same task for far longer without getting bored.
Seriously.

[Melly]

Indeed, focus is imp- oh butterfly!

[FARTRON]

This looks interesting, definitely going to read this thread later.

[Tanner]

This looks interesting, definitely going to read this thread later.

Oh man, I laughed HARD.

Intentional or not.

[Farbs]

I find the best trick is to have two projects running simultaneously. That way, when you can procrastinate over one by working on the other. Polychromatic Funk Monkey was made entirely as a way of procrastinating over Fishie Fishie. I finished Fishie Fishie as a way of procrastinating over starting a new project.

[Inane]

I find the best trick is to have two projects running simultaneously. That way, when you can procrastinate over one by working on the other. Polychromatic Funk Monkey was made entirely as a way of procrastinating over Fishie Fishie. I finished Fishie Fishie as a way of procrastinating over starting a new project.

Yes! That's my method! :D High five!

[Melly]

I find the best trick is to have two projects running simultaneously. That way, when you can procrastinate over one by working on the other. Polychromatic Funk Monkey was made entirely as a way of procrastinating over Fishie Fishie. I finished Fishie Fishie as a way of procrastinating over starting a new project.

Or when one of the projects is giving you major headaches.

And when you can't get either one of those anywhere, you work on a third.

Or something.

[Shambrook]

Stop going to this forum.

Seriously I keep trying to do work and end up just surfing the net here playing others games.

[mewse]

I listen to music.

To break through procrastination, I make a deal with myself;  I'll put on an album I like and will code as much as I can until it finishes, at which point I can stop.

In practice, once the album has finished I'm usually right in the middle of a coding task and don't want to stop midway through it, so I put on another album.  And before I know it, it's two in the morning.

[Ivan]

I find alot of the time my problem is actually starting doing something. Once I'm into it, I'll just keep going, but I will fuck around for hours before I write a single line of code. Sooo, alot of the time the solution is to just open up the editor and start writing. Sometimes I'll write out a class definition or the skeleton of something that I want to get done, and then spend some time implementing it. So yeah, very specific to me, but the most important thing for me is that first line of code.

[Lazer]

the big problem for myself (and why I haven't finished a game to date) is that I keep remembering what a pain in the ass coding is for me, in any language.

also doing the art for games is alot of work sometimes and I'm just a very lazy person.

[Melly]

the big problem for myself (and why I haven't finished a game to date) is that I keep remembering what a pain in the ass coding is for me, in any language.

also doing the art for games is alot of work sometimes and I'm just a very lazy person.

That's why they invented obstract graphics.

[cyber95]

I would do more work if the internet was uninvented.

[Melly]

I would do more work if the internet was uninvented.

I can't live without the internet.

[Michaël Samyn]

Start working!  :D

It sounds silly, but if you are like me, you like to work. The hard part is to get started. Once you are on a roll, it's fun. Just start working. Open your programming application and make it do something. Doesn't matter what. Once you started, you're good.

Another trick is to work on something else, like the marketing for the game. Then you'll get so bored with that and start procrastinating in your game authoring application.

And, yes, stop visiting this forum. Or at least limit your time of visting forums and browsing (or whatever it is you do when you're procrastinating). Limit it do "only after 8 PM" or "only in the weekends". Or create a period of x weeks where you forbid these things for yourself and only allow yourself one thing: work.

Lastly, work in an office with somebody else, if you don't do that already. Having a witness really helps, even if they don't know what you're doing.

[LuisAnton]

I agree with you: if you manage to start working on something, then it's much easier to get something done. That's why I thought the solution would involve a nice SDK or engine, because you have many things already working for you. But none of you pointed in that direction, so I guess that if you really enjoy programming (like I do), then it's just a matter of DOING it.

Starting from scratch is not always the problem. From time to time an idea is powerful enough to make you work. But then many times I start programming and when I have the main mechanic working, I feel like 'yes, this works as I expected' and I forget the project. My last attempt was a Patapon-like game in PyGame (without the rythm thing. Just the side-scrolling army). I managed to hack a nice 2D infinite-scrolling terrain randomly created using Perling Noise and a bunch of soldiers (squares at that point) running around. I thought it would be nice to be able to throw them through the air with a mouse gesture, and when that worked... I stopped programming the dammned thing. But it's there! It's a matter of finishing it! Adding enemies, some combat rules, some levels and voilà. But that's the hardest part for me - way hardest -.

Four days ago Derek posted  "Dr. Petter's 116 Unfinished Games of Delight and Madness", which reminded me my own "Unfinished game projects" folder.

What the hell, stop crying! I do this just for fun, and I get that fun just programming these things even if I never complete them! All Hail Procrastination!  :D

[Corpus]

Top tip: Never, EVER think, "Well, I'll just sign on to IRC while I work..."

[Greg Game Man]

Zohny Zuper sums it all up.

Just start working and get off facebook. Once your in your game making it, your focused on it and wont be distracted so easily.

Oh wait, ive only ever finshed one game.. -__-

[Sar]

also doing the art for games is alot of work sometimes and I'm just a very lazy person.

I have the opposite problem, to be honest; I enjoy creating the art too much, so sometimes I'll get distracted drawing far-too-shiny work-in-progress roughs and not working on the game that needs them. I have more unfinished-game-graphics than unfinished-game-code. Hell, I have graphics for games I've not even started coding.

(Curiously, the opposite is true for my PGC entry, which is looking dangerously like it might be abandoned if I don't get some shiny graphics together soon. I've written a fair bit of code for the generation part of it, but no real graphics at all so far... :/)