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[Oddball]

A complete lack of motivation, drive, and commitment is my weakness. If I had just two of these three assets my games would improve tremendously.

I don't see that being bad, or perceiving youself as being bad, at art, music or programming as being a weakness. Some of those that have posted above saying they are poor at this and that have made some awesome games. In fact I think in some cases their so called 'weakness' is probably what has motivated them to improve and work harder.

[Baltirow]

I don't see that being bad, or perceiving youself as being bad, at art, music or programming as being a weakness.

Second that, you can acquire a lot of music and SFX resources via various sites. You don't need to be an artist to recognise good art. Graphics is a bit more difficult (I hate ripping unless you are making a good fan game), but even crappy graphics can look alright as long as you are being consistent.
I do think that 'being bad at programming' is rather vague, considering there are many levels of complexity in coding (i.e. compare C++ programming with Game Maker GML coding).

Something I'm gradually improving on, but still have a hard time with, is prioritising. I used to make quite elaborate (pixel) art for games before actually writing one line of code. Lately, I have started to appreciate prototyping and (to a certain extent) placeholdering more.

The problem is that I draw a ton of motivation out of my drawing efforts, i.e. adding stuff to your template from a "this feature will be the awesome" perspective. So if I stop making elaborate template sheets altogether, I may loose my drive.

Apart from the above, I tend to overcomplexify my game-goals from the start. Making the VGNG game was a great lesson, since I fixed my main game mechanic really quick in the process and just built on top of that.

[PHeMoX]

I can do everything, but I'm not really excellent at anything.

Same here, I'm able to do most thinks, and I think it averages out a lot in the end in terms of quality, but I don't want to judge my own games. Obviously I think they are 'okey', where some games really weren't. 

Actually finishing games is probably my weakest point of all though.

[DIT]

Interesting thread!

My weak points are:

Lack of traditional art education (I'm self taught). I manage to make art for my games but sometimes i feel my skills are not enough for the results i want to achieve. When it happens is very frustrating.

Lack of deep programming knowledge (I'm self taught). Luckyly i do not code my games.   

Focus focus focus! I need to focus. More. And finish stuff. 

I'm slow. 
 

[Chris Whitman]

My weak point is that, while I can do half-decent art and all kinds of coding and maths and design and I have great ideas, I'm all over the map, and I have absolutely no focus.

This seems to be a general problem for Tiggers. I almost feel like we should have more collaborations happening. Groups tend to lend projects a little more inertia.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Agreed about groups, all the games I've actually finished have been with a group, so I've been doing that pretty exclusively recently. Right I'm working on a game where the total group size is six (basically the Immortal Defense team plus two more of my friends), which is the largest size team I've ever worked with, and it's going well so far.

[deadeye]

My weak point is that, while I can do half-decent art and all kinds of coding and maths and design and I have great ideas, I'm all over the map, and I have absolutely no focus.

This seems to be a general problem for Tiggers. I almost feel like we should have more collaborations happening. Groups tend to lend projects a little more inertia.

At the risk of sounding like a swooning teenage girl, of all the TIGS members hanging around here I'd like to do a project with you and superflat.  It seems to me that we three share the same sensibility when it comes to cartoony visuals and black humor.  The three of us each use a different programming environment though, so logistically I don't know how well that would work.

I also don't know how either of you would feel about a collaboration, but I'm just throwing that out there.

Agreed about groups, all the games I've actually finished have been with a group, so I've been doing that pretty exclusively recently. Right I'm working on a game where the total group size is six (basically the Immortal Defense team plus two more of my friends), which is the largest size team I've ever worked with, and it's going well so far.

I had a whole huge post asking how you overcome problems with working in groups, but it grew to "deserves own thread" status.  I'll be posting it in a second here, and I'd like your input...

[Chris Whitman]

I also don't know how either of you would feel about a collaboration, but I'm just throwing that out there.

I'd be game for talking it over in some sense. Whether I'd be up for collaborating depends in part on the sort of thing you feel like working on. I don't really have any prepared ideas, but I've been thinking for the past little while that I'd like to work on developing something a bit more 'artsy' both in gameplay and content. I'm not sure if that meshes with the sort of thing you're thinking of.

Still, if you're interested in talking it over, fire me a PM or something!

[Klaim]

I'm not sure what are my Weak Points but i can recon myself in a lot of comments here. Perfectionism and idealism seems to be the root of my weaknesses but i kind of fight it.



Too slowly though...

[danlthemanl]

I always think of a too complex idea and end up scrapping it. I really need to learn otherwise 

[Hangedman]

Sometimes I just can't bring myself to work on something, even when I know I should.

If I finish something and leave off there, it's harder to get back into it than if I start something new and then quit partway through it.

[Qbopper]

Um, everything.

Ditto. Instead of failing specifically in one thing, I fail over a wide range of things.

Especially finishing.

[Sir Raptor]

I have ideas, but I give up too quickly on learning how to use programs like GM. I'm betting almost everyone else here has had that problem at some point, but yeah.

[Player 3]

I always think of a too complex idea and end up scrapping it. I really need to learn otherwise 

Biggest one for me and most beginners.

[:^)]

I don't stick to an idea for longer than a week.
I get passionate about something else and move to work on it instead for a while.

So I have a thousand unfinished projects that I still like like as ideas and would very much to complete. Not all of them games.

My other weak point is that I don't have a computer.  or... Well. I don't have a non-Linux, newer than dirt, computer capable of running things like AGS and GM. But maybe I'm being too picky. 

[Konidias]

My weak point like many others, is not being able to finish what I start. But I'm working on that by sticking to this one project until completion.

My reasons for not finishing something:

- I run into a problem that I simply cannot fix (semi-valid reason)
- I get bored (invalid reason)
- I start working on something else instead (invalid reason)
- I think the game is an "ugly baby" and can't be saved (semi-valid reason)

So really I don't have a single solid reason to be abandoning projects...

Oh wait, I did have a reason to quit one game... Back when I was younger I was making a fan game and I grew worried that it would get shut down for infringement, so I abandoned it. I think it was a wise decision.

[knight]

Attention span.

[Nix]

The fact that I can't make good art and I can't motivate myself to create games with placeholder/programmer art. This is a real roadblock for me, and basically means that I can't make the games I want to make unless I work with an artist.

[tergem]

I have to have all the art assets before I start project...

Also I have a lack of motivation to spend more than an hour a day on a project. Good thing that this type of thing is in no way related to my job.

[Coz]

Lack of traditional art education (I'm self taught). I manage to make art for my games but sometimes i feel my skills are not enough for the results i want to achieve. When it happens is very frustrating.

Lack of deep programming knowledge (I'm self taught). Luckyly i do not code my games.   

You mean you learned by practice. Grabbing a couple of books, learning the theory and how to apply it will help you fix the 'self-taught' issue. My other suggestion is to work with other people, I believe that's the best way of learning.


And my biggest weakness is anything sound related. I'm trying to fix it, but since I have to split my time between learning and actually making games, it will take time.

As a side note, I perceive sound to be the most common weakness, not only among indies, but even in FOSS games and mainstream titles. There's a lack of musicians involved with games.