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[Skeledork]

Post your opinions below.

mine would be if the game failed ultimately and everyone was trashing it

[grayger]

There are too many ideas and discussions at the beginning, but the schedule is delayed so got frustrated. Finally, the game is not released.

[swordofkings128]

For me the scariest part of game making is not being able to make a cool feature because it's beyond your skill level. Something that you think players will remember fondly and really enjoy about the game.

A example is an in-game Mario Paint Composer like puzzle in Frog Days that I thought was beyond my skills but I'm 2 days into making it and it looks like it will be in the final game!  best of all it saves and loads .txt files so you can save a funny song and load it back later if you go the world in game where the music puzzle is. But I was very afraid it was beyond my capability... and there wouldn't be a fun music puzzle in the game.

Programming something you've never programmed before can be scary! But trying and doing your best can work out very well. Even if you fail, the fact of the matter is that by trying you've gained more experience and knowledge, and maybe try again later after that information has marinated in your mind.

[DuskedSky]

I'm with you on the thrashing. I get worried that people will hate the game after having spent much time and effort making it. Or if its an idea you really love but people hate it. That's the scariest part for me.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

the scariest part is all the time you're wasting not making your game because you're afraid

[Skeledork]

the scariest part is all the time you're wasting not making your game because you're afraid

Currently having something similar to this. unfortunately.


I'm the designer of the game and the person who is helping me problem is starting to get busy alot.

[rav10li]

Feature creep. "If only this were in there, my whole project would start to make sense..."

Repeat to infinity, never finish game, be sad.

[SHARKvince]

Feature creep is definitely one of them. Another is time investment — deciding to make a game and completely going through with it is a big thing.

Not something I’m scared of, but think about a lot anyway: Wondering how many people are going to be interested in playing what I make.

[0xDEADBAAD]

My biggest fear is to release the game and never have a single sale/play. I fear that even more than people playing it and hating it.

Question for those who fear their ideas being hated: have you try playtesting your early prototypes/MVPs?

[Joh]

the scariest part is all the time you're wasting not making your game because you're afraid

Never thought of that, but that is beautiful.

Ill have to go with time investment -> sunk cost fallacy.
I mean its really terrifying and includes other elements such as the feature creeping.

The terrible thing about it is the more time you put in, the more giving up represent a loss.
And the more you refuse to give up because of that, the worse it gets.
Until you either do give up and claim all that loss.
Or you break through (YAY) only to go face the two next challengers: being ignored or trashed.
(or become the next chosen one, but this is about the scary stuff right?)

[JWK5]

I wouldn't call any part of it "scary", but something that is unsettling about the process is the constant feeling like you should be doing something else and then when you're doing something else feeling like you should be working on your project. I notice it is a common issue even outside of game development for people who have ADD/ADHD or mental ailments with similar features to them.

It is like having an alarm clock in your head that tells you when to do tasks and just as you start one task it goes off and tells you it is time to start another, and then another, and so on. It becomes a constant internal battle to fight these repetitive urges and in my case I only tend to win half the time or less. It's not scary, but it is exhausting, frustrating, and inflicts more than a little anxiety.

[Photon]

Ill have to go with time investment -> sunk cost fallacy.
I mean its really terrifying and includes other elements such as the feature creeping.

The terrible thing about it is the more time you put in, the more giving up represent a loss.
And the more you refuse to give up because of that, the worse it gets.
Until you either do give up and claim all that loss.
Or you break through (YAY) only to go face the two next challengers: being ignored or trashed.
(or become the next chosen one, but this is about the scary stuff right?)

I think we tend to underestimate the fact that loss is, in fact, often a normal part of the process. Its insanely rare that we get things "right" on the first try. Sometimes the answer is found by elimination and/or deduction. If you try four different things and only one works, you still have one more success than you would have had by doing nothing. Arguably the latter is a greater loss than the first in the overall scheme of things.

I guess it just depends on what matters most. If you value time well spent (and I can definitely relate to that,) then scrapping code can feel like time wasted. But on the other hand, you also don't want to be too one-dimensional in how you weigh benefits and costs, as time is only one aspect of the greater equation.

[Muz]

I think it's somewhere in the middle, where the game is exactly as you designed it, but it's just not fun. Then you go through this dilemma whether to improve the mechanics or just scrap it.

[MartinBousquet]

For me, the scariest part of making a game is to gather a team, start working on some features, be very exited about it at the beginning, and then a few month later, realize that you spend most of the time talking about making the game instead of just doing it. Then everyone start losing their motivation, and the project gets buried without anyone daring to officially say it.

It happened to me a few times when I was a fresh game developer, I wanted to create my own 'Limbo' or 'Braid' or whatever, and this was a very unpleasant experience... Of course it only concerns games that are made on free time, but still.

[uthamon]

For me, it's when early in development you decide that certain feature will work in specific way, and you're afraid that in the future, this very feature will stand in a way to implement different crucial feature.

[skaz]

Personally, it's just not being able to finish it. Sink time into oblivion, and being left with nothing.

[shellbot]

Personally, it's just not being able to finish it. Sink time into oblivion, and being left with nothing.

This. 100%.

I raise you the pressure of not having put out anything to the level you want.

For example, I've only released a few jam games and I'm constantly afraid that I'm incapable of finishing anything that would require more than a weekend of dedication... so basically everything I actually want to make :/

[diegzumillo]

Scariest part of making a game is not finishing it. At least for me, that fear extends to any project I work on. You know? talented people are everywhere, but my utmost respect and admiration goes to anyone who finishes what they start.

[Peltast]

There's fear of making something bad, broken, not finishing it on time or at all, making something people don't like, getting your game pooped on...

But for me the biggest fear is that people don't give a shit what I make and I'm just wasting my time

[star-pie]

I'm with you on the thrashing. I get worried that people will hate the game after having spent much time and effort making it. Or if its an idea you really love but people hate it. That's the scariest part for me.

This