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[joulimousis]

If you make games you are likely to have had this feeling, it's a common fear but a powerful one anyway. It's that moment when you start working on a project and don't know if the freaking thing will be fun. There's a prototype that went trough some iterations, had been tweaked and modified, some stuff were left out and some new ones added, and you start building the actual game. But you feel the sweat running down your back, it's a cold stream that tells you "this may go wrong, oh very wrong".

So, how do you fight this thing? How?! I'll tell you. Here is my Top Three things to get the fear out of you.

1-Remember that it's a game, it's not important and nobody cares.
2-You can't control it, a game is much more than a basic mechanic. Working hard day after day and looking at details is all you can do and it takes a lot to do it right.
3-Once it's done, you can always claim the "art game defense".

Do you have any more tips?

[ink.inc]

Alcohol and/or antidepressants.

[jotapeh]

I hate to say it but I am working on a game like this right now. I am sweating bullets because it's for my day job and the only person actively developing it is me. So really it's my fault that this thing will come out like a twisted freak of nature.

I'm trying my best to make it as fun as I can but it's just not what I hoped it would be and now the deadline is 2 weeks away.

[Fallsburg]

So, I thought that "ugly baby" referred to the concept that because you, the maker, are so closely involved with the game you won't realize that it isn't fun, i.e. you don't realize that your baby is ugly.

As for the problem that you mention, it's what stopped my first N projects in their infancy.  I'd have an idea for a game, get it coded up, play it, say "Well, this sucks.", and would drop it.  I've since learned that the hardest part of a game is to make it actually fun. My suggestion would be to keep iterating, trying to make it more fun, and things will get better.

[joulimousis]

The thing, for me, is that you never know about it until pretty deep into the development. You can think you know, but then the history can turn out to be quite diffrent.

Anyway, I'm not saying "drop out" but the opposite. You have to work hard on your games, iterate a lot, because you'll never now how it will end.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

put the game in playtesting; if it's not fun, change it until it is. when playtesters can't stop playing it and are eagerly asking for the next version, and when you can't stop playing it just for fun yourself, then you know it's fun.

[Defsan]

My suggestion would be to keep iterating, trying to make it more fun, and things will get better.

This. There have been times where I had to think "Well this is crap, but I really don't want to scrap it because I like a certain element about it/I need it done/it would be too much work to start over, so what can I do with this poor excuse of a game to make it pleasant?"
That, and recruit a lot of testers.

[moi]

I've been working the last 4 years on an ugly baby (with side projects). Yes it's heartbreaking when you realize little billy will never be a rocket scientist.
But it makes you feel extra powerful when you manage to accept the wasted time and raise your head and accept to move on.
That said, next time, I'll prototype the bitch to death.

[AndroidScholar1]

Really it's all about presentation of the gameplay TO the user, not direct interaction with the gameplay itself. A lot of people didn't find Assassin's Creed fun, but as soon as it was presented with a series of elements unrelated to the gameplay (other than the weapon additions, I mean), such as a funner story and better variety of level structure (yes, I'm not counting that as the same as gameplay), people began flocking to the series in waves.

It's also generally why people can't get into certain genres or specific games, due to very poor (despite the developer's efforts) presentation - personally, I never got that much into RTS', because they never explain well enough for me how exactly the game is played. Of course, some people grow used to that, but that just creates a fairly small audience, and any attempt in sequels or patches and the like to better present the game can have tremendous backlash from the original players. I imagine Starcraft 1 is very hard to get into, yet a lot of people still play it - mainly people who have been playing since it's release.

A more recent example, again from Blizzard, is Diablo 3 - I never really got into the past games, but their work it has got me very interested in buying it upon release. And yet, lo and behold, when I went to certain forums to discuss newly release information, you get one person who speaks like an actual gamer who enjoys games and doesn't judge them based on their past adventures, and the rest are people screaming (via text) how "casual" the game has become.

Back in the day, developers could afford to appeal to niche audiences, but nowadays that's just not an option - people are going to have to cope with mainstream audiences loving their oh so special series.

Back on topic, how fun a game is is generally based on it's presentation. Think Portal gameplay versus Darksiders' portal gameplay.

[Sorano]

Add more stereotypes and game design tropes.

[handCraftedRadio]

So, I thought that "ugly baby" referred to the concept that because you, the maker, are so closely involved with the game you won't realize that it isn't fun, i.e. you don't realize that your baby is ugly.

I thought it was either that, or the fact that people don't want to tell you that the game is bad because you are the one who made it. I feel like that happens to me a lot whenever I show games to friends who aren't really into game development, I'll get the sense that they don't like it but also don't want to tell me.

I said that is some SNUGGLY baby.

[Jared C]

I am suffering from this exact same thing with my game. I don't have a real 'prototype', so I can't really tell if the game will be fun (though the majority of the mechanics are derived from other games). I am working so hard on the project, but there's no telling if I am headed in the right direction or whether the final product will even be good.

[droqen]

how fun a game is is generally based on it's presentation. Think Portal gameplay versus Darksiders' portal gameplay.

and I rarely hear anyone say anything bad about Portal.

~

If the game isn't fun, how did you let yourself get this far?

But seriously, play around with it -- and let others play around with it (preferably those who you think should be interested, if there is anything interesting to find). If nothing feels right, then fight or scrap it. If something feels right, try to keep that element. Get suggestions from people if you need inspiration. Find inspiration, ideas, wherever you can.

What I'd advise:

1. If you don't know if it's fun, get a second (and third, and fourth...) opinion.

2. If it's not fun, try to fix it.

3. If you can't fix it, don't waste your time trying desperately.

[pixhead]

This has always scared me about game development, I know it will happen to me eventually I just hope I catch it early on

[the_dannobot]

Yeah, designing in a bubble sucks.  To pop the bubble, you need to hit the street and expose your game to some biomass.  Make a party out of it, buy a few cases of beer and throw a mix on the ipod, invite over all your friends and make them play it and give you feedback.  

The beer is really important though, no one will say anything bad while sober because they wont want to hurt your feelings.  You need to liquor folks up if you want some reeeally honest feedback.

  Cheers!

edit:  Make sure you invite some girls too.  Nobody likes a sausage party.

[tsameti]

The best way to get over the Ugly Baby is to finish! Get it done, get it complete, move on to the next one. Maybe you reduce the scale of the project, cut back on extraneous features, tighten it up so 'done' comes a little quicker, sure.

Failure is necessary! Failure is inevitable! Failure is the sun-bleached bone of atrocity on which you build the Manifest Destiny of success!

Then, two years from now, someone much like you will dredge up your unforgivable mistake and realize it would have been fun with a different camera control system, or kinect support, or what have you, and alchemize a catastrophe into a conquest.

Success, my friend, is a profitable copyright lawsuit against someone with a great idea who forgot to pay you a fraction of a percent for your crappy idea.

I hope I've helped you today. :D

[namre]

The best way to get over the Ugly Baby is to finish! Get it done, get it complete, move on to the next one. Maybe you reduce the scale of the project, cut back on extraneous features, tighten it up so 'done' comes a little quicker, sure.

Failure is necessary! Failure is inevitable! Failure is the sun-bleached bone of atrocity on which you build the Manifest Destiny of success!

Then, two years from now, someone much like you will dredge up your unforgivable mistake and realize it would have been fun with a different camera control system, or kinect support, or what have you, and alchemize a catastrophe into a conquest.

Success, my friend, is a profitable copyright lawsuit against someone with a great idea who forgot to pay you a fraction of a percent for your crappy idea.

I hope I've helped you today. :D

I don't know if you have helped him. But you have certainly helped me. Thanks.

[joulimousis]

Yeah, designing in a bubble sucks.  To pop the bubble, you need to hit the street and expose your game to some biomass.  Make a party out of it, buy a few cases of beer and throw a mix on the ipod, invite over all your friends and make them play it and give you feedback.  

The beer is really important though, no one will say anything bad while sober because they wont want to hurt your feelings.  You need to liquor folks up if you want some reeeally honest feedback.

  Cheers!
edit:  Make sure you invite some girls too.  Nobody likes a sausage party.

The beer and the girls may let the assistants believe that they must say nice things about the game in order to get invited to the next party. So, it's tricky. I'll throw the party anyway, just whiteout the game.

About your other comments. Even when you've made lots of people play the game, if it's on an early development phase, it's scary. But we are making games here, so, there's no problem.

[Fluff]

Yeah, I'm definitely suffering from the ugly baby syndrome now.

Failure is necessary! Failure is inevitable! Failure is the sun-bleached bone of atrocity on which you build the Manifest Destiny of success!

This is worth printing out and sticking to the monitor. Thanks :D

[tsameti]

:D