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[Photon]

I hear of a lot of indie developers hanging themselves on their own expectations. They don't get shit done in the time they thought they would, things are harder to create than they thought they'd be, their ambition doesn't match their goals, etc. (I've suffered from all of the above all at once) and they get stuck and overwhelmed and eventually give in to avoidance and the project dies. I've always found expectation to be a creativity killer.

I'd recommend giving yourself a general direction but stay flexible and be okay with things not going the way you imagined they would. Roll with the punches, be willing to take alternate paths and less-than-ideal options. Focus on momentum, not perfection. (Emphasis Added)


Also, bear in mind I don't give this advice as a successful indie developer. I give this advice as someone who has failed to make anything substantial for well over a decade due primarily to the problems I mentioned above. I don't know how you go about succeeding, that is just what I know about failing.

+1

[Drean64]

I've just given in to the fact that my mind refuses to do anything in any kind of reasonable manner [...] that is just what I know about failing.

Thanks, it's a great advice, and failure is a great advisor.

[Photon]

Perhaps the only thing worse than failing is doing nothing at all.

[JWK5]

If you fail long enough to figure out why you might be failing then you have a much better shot at succeeding.



It probably also helps to not stick your head in a self-made guillotine. A lot of people (including myself at times) seem to give themselves this artificial and vague point of time somewhere in the future where calamity is sure to strike and all hell breaks loose so they absolutely must do X before Y happens.

The biggest one I see in the game making scene is that they think they must (and somehow will) make a living off of their (often first) game because if they don't they will be destitute. This is usually brought up before they've even started or when they've barely started, so already they've added this monumentally crushing pressure that they probably can barely handle.

Despite whatever bad shit you think can happen to you sometime later in the future worse shit could happen to you just moments from now. Living with your head in a self-made guillotine is not going to change that. Focus on the shit you want to get done, not what you think might possibly maybe happen if you don't. You're not guaranteed success (most people are guaranteed to fail, at least initially) so don't bank on it. Shoot for it, but don't bank on it.



For the record, I've likely failed so many times because it turns out I really am not all that enthusiastic about actually creating games and probably never was. I think I mostly got hung up on having to create a game because I wanted to participate in the communities rather than it being some deep set goal. I just mostly like sharing art techniques I've learned and creating and refining game ideas (which I sprinkle around the forums now and again). For whatever ironic reason, the more I've moved away from the need to create a game the father along I've actually come in creating one. I just create to explore, "success" is not really a concern for me anymore. I'm good with "failure".

[Drean64]

Perhaps the only thing worse than failing is doing nothing at all.

<3

And that's exactly my problem now. I'm doing worse than utter failure.

[Drean64]

...For whatever ironic reason, the more I've moved away from the need to create a game the father along I've actually come in creating one. I just create to explore, "success" is not really a concern for me anymore. I'm good with "failure".

Ha you should end that advice with young grasshopper

About facing failure and living out of making games, that's not my concern at all. For me publishing a game would be the success, not whether people like it or not.
Just starting, finishing and publishing games is my goal, non other.

[JWK5]

Start somewhere, anywhere. Even if you don't know what you want to make, make something until you do. You said you made an emulator to run roms rather smoothly, so why not make an engine/framework for other people to use for making games? You'd get some practice in while you figure out what kind of game you want to make and everyone else would have a new tool available to them. Maybe try some kind of Metroidvania or overhead Zelda type setup?

There's also things like rom hacking tools, RPG Maker, Game Maker, etc. that you could just dabble with until something comes to mind. You could go on a emulator-spree and play a bunch of games until something hooks you. Maybe team up with someone who has the ideas and direction you don't.

Keep attacking this from every angle, you'll find your point of entry soon enough.

[_glitch]

Start somewhere, anywhere. Even if you don't know what you want to make, make something until you do. You said you made an emulator to run roms rather smoothly, so why not make an engine/framework for other people to use for making games? You'd get some practice in while you figure out what kind of game you want to make and everyone else would have a new tool available to them. Maybe try some kind of Metroidvania or overhead Zelda type setup?

Starting very low would be probably the best: make something like pong. In my opinion it is a good practice if you are using a new framework/engine. After that, go for more difficult projects. While practicing you may find something you like, or so, what you want to put in the game that you want to publish.

(I did it the other way around: I started with a "hard" project [hard for beginners] and then did a game like pong for a school project. It worked wonderfully.)

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

"No matter your passion for something, without skill, you can never make it as a professional." Ryukishi07

[Superb Joe]

I can't leave without my buddy Superfly