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[Woodledude]

Hey, everyone. I had been working on a game for about a month or so, but a week or two before today, I stopped short. It's still been on my mind, and I have plenty I want to go back and do, but I'm on the fence about it for a reason I don't fully understand. This happens a lot to me, and I figured maybe I should talk to some fellow game designers/developers about it.

Before I go on about this, I want to alleviate some misgivings I have with making this post, and invite anyone having a similar problem into the discussion to talk about their own games, and their own hesitations. I don't want this to be all about me, even though I'm starting this thread for myself. I think it would help me to see other people talking about it anyway, so consider this a public resource for confessionals on game development hiccups or uncomfortable pauses, or just being on the fence about going public

So, I'll try to be brief about this. I think it might help me to post about my game in Devlogs, but I'm uncertain for a few reasons. I've flaked on public personal projects in the past, and I'm afraid of that happening again. I'm not actually sure if the pressure would help or hinder me.

Second, my game is in an awkward stage right now. I have things to show, but they're only really exciting to the guy who spent weeks working on and refining them. What I have right now is only representative of where I want to actually go through explanation. In other words, it wouldn't make sense to put out a playable demo of the features I have right now, because there isn't enough there to show much off. I'm still at least a few features away from that.

The other reason I want to post is for advice, and maybe the ability to find and recruit some help. What do you guys think? Should I post a devlog, or a post elsewhere? I'm not sure if I would actually log my progress too much, but that still feels like the best place to do it to me, if I decided to pull the trigger.

[Superb Joe]

is it any good

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

you can start a devlog and put screenshots of what you've done so far. (Avoid starting a devlog with text only if you want feedback.)
If you don't get any feedback, don't give up, just means that people aren't interesting in the lack of content or just uninterested by your game. You'll have be able to update your devlog over time, and online presence is important even with low content.

Don't be afraid of pressure, the pressure is only in your head because no one cares (unless there are people who gave you money for the yet inexisting game.)

[Woodledude]

is it any good

Well, that depends. Do you like ants, fungal agriculture, egg tending, and insect-based tactics? Are you a fan of ascii-based overlays? If yes, then possibly, in the future. Otherwise, no, not even a little bit.

you can start a devlog and put screenshots of what you've done so far... Don't be afraid of pressure, the pressure is only in your head because no one cares (unless there are people who gave you money for the yet inexisting game.)

This actually helps a lot. Thank you! And yeah, it does make sense that you kind of need screenshots for feedback, that's a good tip. I'll probably make the devlog later tonight, maybe. No promises.

Can I ask you to elaborate on online presence? I know what you mean - Posting, replying, checking the thread and keeping people up to date on what's happening. But I think that's part of the pressure I've felt with some of my past projects, and getting some tips on what I should be doing to that end would help, I think. Especially since this thread isn't just for me, in theory, it would probably be good to condensate as much information as I can here, for me and others.

[Schoq]

Hello
I'm immensely interested in a good ant colony simulator. I feel like one is way way overdue. (post your devlog)

[JWK5]

Post your game when you feel it is ready to be seen.

By that I mean if you are at a point where you have something to show and feel that it is worth showing then by all means do. However, if you are on the fence about it then that might be a sign that you see it still needs work before it is ready to show and maybe it is just impulsiveness making you eager to want to show it off right now.

Don't worry about where you think everyone else's thoughts are on your project (besides you won't know that for sure until your game is out there), worry about where your thoughts are on the project. Only you know if you are ready to show it or not.

If you are wondering what to show, basically show anything that you think isn't giving away any surprises. The more you put out there the more invested you let everyone get.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

Can I ask you to elaborate on online presence? I know what you mean - Posting, replying, checking the thread and keeping people up to date on what's happening. But I think that's part of the pressure I've felt with some of my past projects, and getting some tips on what I should be doing to that end would help, I think. Especially since this thread isn't just for me, in theory, it would probably be good to condensate as much information as I can here, for me and others.

sorry didn't use the right definition of online presence. It's more of your game online existence because at some point marketing will become an important part. The earlier your game shouts its existence then progressively you'll have an audience and potential gamers.

yeah i understand the pressure you're talking about. It depends of people. In my case i try to be neutral and separate "me" as a person and "the game". The less personel i get involved with the audience the better, as with time you won't be able to handle everything.

[Woodledude]

Hello
I'm immensely interested in a good ant colony simulator. I feel like one is way way overdue. (post your devlog)

Good to see a fellow fan of ants! If and when I put up my devlog, I will definitely put it here. I'll leave in-depth discussion about the game for the log, but I will put a small disclaimer and say that I'm aiming for authenticity, as opposed to realism. It's a small but important distinction to make; accuracy is incidental in the pursuit of interesting and unique gameplay, but I am drawing more inspiration from real-life ants than I feel some other ant-based games are or have in the past.

Thank you for your interest! It's very encouraging

Post your game when you feel it is ready to be seen... if you are on the fence about it then that might be a sign that you see it still needs work before it is ready to show and maybe it is just impulsiveness making you eager to want to show it off right now.

This has made me reconsider putting the devlog up tonight. You make a very good point, and while I do feel like I have a number of things I could potentially showcase, my thinking now is that I aim to put up the devlog sometime this week, and before then, at least try to get my head back in the code and make sure I'm ready to make more progress. Ideally, I'll be able to squeeze in a few more features so I can get nice screenshots. Thank you for the advice! 

Can I ask you to elaborate on online presence? -snip-

sorry didn't use the right definition of online presence. It's more of your game online existence because at some point marketing will become an important part. -snip-

Ah, that makes sense - I've been following Rainworld for a while, and I think it's an interesting case to examine for what you mean. So my game having online presence is more important than me having one. I actually think that makes things a little easier for me. Obviously there's still work to put into that - You don't get up to a 300 page devlog by eating pizza and passing gas.   Still, I'm happy to let my game do the talking for me, in some respect. Thank you for clarifying!

[Superb Joe]

theres a russian piracy website named sim ant

[Capntastic]

Post an ARG that leads to finding your game

[mtarini]

Short answer: DevLog!

Longer answer: well, that depends on what are your motivations/objectives for making the game, but for each possible answer I can think of... DevLog is a good thing, for different reasons.

[ProgramGamer]

I have a devlog and all I post is doodles of the main character every few weeks. Do it!

[bittwyst]

I say go for it.

I'm also feeling indecisive about when I should start posting stuff about my game. A devlog thread on this site might not have this problem because I think it can be renamed, but also thinking about stuff like Twitter, I don't want to post under my real name or a silly made-up handle, and I definitely haven't settled on a final name for the game yet, plus the name I'm currently using for a "studio/company" name I'm not 100% set on yet either.

Also I'm using opengameart sprites which I may or may not completely replace, and etc and etc.

[michaelplzno]

Worst case scenario no one notices your dev log which is a pretty low penalty to trying. 80% of victory is showing up.

[//BARCHboi]

It sounds like you are asking the wrong question.

The question we should ask - and I invite all of tigsource is to ask themselves.

What is success? can we define measure and measure it, can we tie success in a knot and divine it for runescape gold? Indeed. The problem that you are having Woodledude is you have many words - as all tigsource users do - but you do not have a measurement system for your success. I'll explain

             - Lets listen to tigsource users and what they define as success;

"My success is the sharing of my wise thoughts and good discussions; as well as communicating"-gimymblert

Because gimymblert knows what his success is - he can seek it out whether or not he is on the right path.

Let us bring up another member

"My success is to make sure tigsource is functioning at its best and everyone has the resources to find what they are looking for at tigsource"-Dragonmaw

Ahha! so Dragonmaw can work out whether or not Dragonmaw is on the right path,

BARCH IF YOU EVER QUOTE ME AGAIN ITS GOING TO BE A 2 DAY BAN, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE

So what is it that you want Woodledude? What is the measurement of your success? Views?, Positive comments?, Downloads? It can be measured and pursued and a man who knows what they are looking for in life - well that man travels very far.

[Capntastic]

Don't invoke the "D" name, it is a sore subject

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

what is the measurement of your success Barch?

[bittwyst]

The measurement of my success is eleven inches (erect).

[//BARCHboi]

what is the measurement of your success Barch?

At the moment the game I'm working I have defined Barchian success as the following;

• +30% Yes to no ratio on Steam Greenlight and passing
• On QOG, Humble Bundle, & Itchio
• Built up a following of people interested in the project & future projects (via mailing lists, twitter, itchio followers,) *
• Meet new interesting people.**
• 5000+ Sales of game
• Being able to Move out of my parents house & finally have a person in love with me
• A E S T H E T I C
• Keep my mental & physical health
• Keep a 1-5/100views for my sites where applicable
• Get good feedback during developement and create a good project
• In a place where I can help other people make their own games better/more effective

Look at that! Whoever follows Barchian success sure has ambition. So when I am not happy, or uncertain about the direction of the project I can easily cross compare what I am doing and compare it with the Barchian Model. Im hitting many of the  goals in that list and the ones Im not - Im pursuing.

If you are reading this I strongly encourage you to make a list of what you want in your projects/life, its going to help you so much