I have a problem (and maybe you do too)

hello my name is john staskoll and i have a problem i'm a new game idea junkie you're an animal hey what's up guys so recently my addiction for indulging in new game ideas came to a bit of a tipping point and i was forced to make a dramatic decision to ban myself from having new game ideas and i imagine many of you out there if not most of you can relate to this affliction of abundant ideas both a curse and a blessing you know so what is this affliction well quite simply every time you step into you know a hot shower or go for a walk or exercise or something like that you have a flood of new ideas come to you you know and you scramble for your phone or for your notebook so you can start jotting down the great new idea and normally this wouldn't really be considered a problem because you know good ideas are good ideas but when you have an existing game project that's open that needs critical attention well you know it's a bit of a different story i went for this late night run the other week and it was just awesome you know my blood was flowing my brain was lining up with ideas and this one particular game idea came to me and i was just like whoa this idea is amazing there's like a beat em up rogue and i was like holy crap i need to make this game so i went home and i started like um drafting game design documents for it and the next day i reached out to my game developer buddy oliver joyce and we kind of talk and exchange ideas sometimes and i told him i got this great new idea and i gave him the synopsis and i was like man good but um you know add it to the pile right and that's exactly what the situation was you know add it to the pile add it to the growing pile of extracurricular game ideas that may one day be made maybe there won't be the funny thing is with these ideas often if you let them sit long enough you come back to it in a month or two months or even a year you look back and you think it's a bit weak you know i'm not sure this would have really worked out you see there comes a point of diminishing returns with game ideas where you have more game ideas going in than game ideas that are being actioned or as is often the case no ideas being actioned and that makes sense because game ideas are the easy part that's the easy fun part right it's the action that is and always has been the difficult part all practicing game developers know this and i love these ideas guys that will approach you you know because they have some great new groundbreaking idea and they know you're a developer so they need your help to develop it right quite often for free because the idea is so amazing and valuable that why not you know clash of candy saga league groundbreaking because the value is all in the ideas right no how does the saying go one percent inspiration 99 perspiration yeah so anyways i had to officially close the door on new ideas coming in at least until blood and meat is wrapped up and it's been hard and painful because one of my favorite pastimes has always been zoning out and indulging in new game ideas you know it's a lot of fun but when you start drafting up game design documents for new game ideas when you have a existing project that needs critical attention well hell you know it's a yeah so now simply when any new idea comes to me i'm kind of prepared for it and i just say no all right know that the faucet of new game ideas isn't going anywhere you know when the slate is clear and the time is right it'll turn back on we solo developers and designers often get this feeling of fomo where we don't want to miss some incredibly potent new idea that has popped out of the ether and it's usually not an issue but you know when you already have uh filled notebooks or lists of new game ideas then that's another thing you know there is a mental cost to having new game ideas they can absorb a lot of our attention and motivational currency that can often be better spent on an existing project solving existing problems and worst case scenario you might actually derail your main project completely i'd love to hear some of your stories too kind of if you've had run-ins with this situation of having too many game ideas and maybe how you approach it or deal with it yourself so leave a comment down below and tell me a bit about your situation or better yet come visit on the lost relic games discord and we can have a discussion about it it's always a bit more fun as developers we really need to focus on our existing open projects and make them as good as they can be you know dragging them out for too long we risk growing out of love with them is the best way i can think about it and you know that's often where the new sexy ideas start seducing us into a new romance here's the thing i've come to realize about every single game project they always start out hyper exciting and looking very exotic we think this will be the one the idea is so novel and captivating that it's going to be an absolute treat to develop all the way through but after that initial honeymoon phase they always become that same familiar grind that all game projects ultimately become and then yet again you might be drawn to yet another new game idea and the vicious cycle of perpetual prototyping continues and we see this often in the public indy dev space with a lot of developers constantly prototyping and dabbling but rarely committing to that you know long-term marriage why because you know marriage is hard there's a lot of compromise to be had believe me i know hey what are you talking about nothing but in the end it's that long-term marriage that will pay the dividends people aren't going to pay money for a prototype or an idea not really you need to give them a complete experience so if like me you suffer from this same affliction of having too many new exciting ideas become aware of it that's the first thing i can recommend for you guys and try to redirect your focus into finding solutions to existing problems not creating new ones i've been asked before you know what's my main motivator driving me forward with my current project and as much as i'm motivated by you know profit and sales and glory and whatever you know i'm even more motivated by the prospect of having a clean slate so i can comfortably work on a new game idea that's the funny thing you know we always want the next thing that's um that's a creative thing i think we get bored you know we want to keep moving forward over the years i've filled notebooks with new ideas they they've i've got them hiding in every corner of this room and a younger foolish me might have leapt onto one of those ideas by now you know but no i'm committed to making blood and mead the best viking adventure rpg side scrolling combat puzzle platformer it can possibly be but the only way i can do that is if i continue to give it the attention it needs which at times admittedly can be limited you know because of family work hobbies showering don't forget to shower guys if there's one thing you take from this video let it be to shower regularly this year i did kind of um take a bit of a a slight step back with the youtube you might have noticed but only so i can focus in and work on the game and get it out and you know kind of lead by example and um take you guys through the whole process and then to the launch and eventually talk about the launch and you know the marketing i did and all that stuff so um expect that that i will get back to being having a more regular upload cycle where i talk about all the different things that i discovered and realized throughout the development process of this project so oh and by the way please do wishlist blood and mead it's going to be pretty cool i think i've put a lot of my heart into it you know a lot of um i put a lot into it so please do give it a wish list i'll really appreciate it and it would really um help this game when it comes to launch and finally i will say dabbling in mini side projects is not a bad thing sometimes it all depends on the state of your current main project you know and how involving development is because sometimes we might need a bit of a sea change or a change of scenery so we don't start resenting the grind too much you know you've got to have kind of a push-pull cycle tension and release kind of thing so you've got to have some milestones where you can reward yourself in some ways and sometimes that means to kind of experiment with a new prototype or something just to keep yourself entertained and happy you know and i do that sometimes you know i build a few of these different um kits through the process of making those kits yes they're very useful for other people by the way if you want to learn how to make either car games or platformers you can check those out but they gave me a way to also kind of express myself in a different way you know play with some new mechanics absence makes the heart grow fonder or so they say but it should be done with planning and intent not a whole you inadvertently roll into and then you can't get out of you know because that's what often happens we get tripped up in some new game idea and before we know it that's our new main project and we've kind of forgotten the other one and we don't want that to happen right so anyways i hope this video has been useful and given you a moment of reflection on your own journey and with your own current projects thanks to all my patreon supporters who are supporting the channel you guys are awesome and you are big motivators uh for this channel and my work you primarily drive it because you know youtube itself does very little to kind of incentivize small channels like mine so anyway thank you guys see you all in the next video and as always good luck on your game dev adventures [Music] you

Channel: Lost Relic Games

Views: 13,104

Keywords: indie dev, game dev, motivation, learn game dev, indie dev motivation, tips for beginner game devs, lost relic games, john stejskal, advice, game dev tips, indie dev advice, game development, how to make games, how to get into game development, game development beginner, game development college, how to make first indie game, how to learn game dev, tips for beginner game dev, tips for starting game dev, starting first indie game, game design for beginners, game devlog

Id: gOxCUmy28zQ

Length: 11min 17sec (677 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 30 2021