The Struggle of making a Game alone.

As you probably know, I made some games here on this site, but often i end up not finishing them because i stuck somewhere and now i don’t know how to continue. It’s a constant problem i have, and i think the major problem here is that i often try to make those games all by myself and end up failing because i would need to acquire so many different skills and abilities from completely different branches of game development (especially front end vs back end, I am not experienced with graphics and aren’t an artist.) that i am just not able to force myself to learn. its all just a bit too much for 1 person. My ADHD isn’t an help either, because i am basically only productive if i am in a hyperfocus, but to reach that state, i need to be able to solve something on my own without constantly asking why something doesn’t work and waiting for an answer.

Currently, I think about making some kind of economy simulator, but for that i really think i need to change the engine away from the RPG maker and i simply don’t know anything else so far. Maybe unity, but i don’t have much experience with it. I thought about doing it in stellaris, but it turns out weight gain there is probably one of the most complicated things to do there, and i simply currently lack the steam to learn that.

Maybe the narrative could be about some gods who you do sacrifice stuff to them and get permanent passive buffs depending on your devotion? Something like that? i really would like to make that, but i really think i cannot do it on my own. if someone would like to help me with that, i would really, really appreciate that… :pleading_face:

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As a fellow brain with ADHD, hello! Also, I understand your struggles. I am currently suffering burn-out on my project due to people leaving me high-and-dry.

I set out to create a team for LITWTMH because I knew I wouldn’t be able to accomplish it on my own, but with that comes the flakiness of others. You are reliant on another’s determination and dedication, and when that fails, you are left with taking over their role and duties, which is where I am now.

It’s hard. Very hard. I 100% understand your struggles and you should know you are not alone. Try different ways to stimulate your brain in the game-making process to keep the motivation going, or try to create a team. :slight_smile:

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Do you have a deadline? How about goals? Maybe we can talk on Discord?

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I have no deadline :,D i already should be on your discord as Hellinfernel, i think DMs are open :smiley:

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As someone with ADHD as well I can relate. The way I “trick” myself into working on things is to tell myself I’m going to fix a small bug or work on the terrain for fifteen minutes. I’ll look up and a few hours have passed. I think the hardest part is just getting started so if you set a small goal to accomplish then you’ll be in it from there. Everyone has their own quirks though so you gotta find what works best for you.

As for engine swapping, I personally love unity since it can do a LOT. Swapping from something as accessible as rpg maker can definitely be daunting though and you’ll have to learn a new language. Unity does have something called playmaker though, which is visual scripting (unreal has this, it’s called blueprints). There’s the store you can access for art stuff if that is not your jam.
A while back I made a post roadmapping a way to get in to unity if you want to check it out.

So you want to make a game but don’t know where to start…

Hope it helps and good luck with whatever you end up working on!

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Thanks :smiley:
the thing about the art is mainly the addition of the, well, WG stuff, so i probably arent able to avoid commission stuff entirely. I always thought about asking them if they want to see their OCS in my game, but i am a bit shy to ask about that. i guess for the prototype i can use stuff from the shop.

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For prototyping you can just use the standard assets. In unity it’s all gray blocks and stuff. In terms of art you can use daz to render some models and play around with sliders. You could also just use a 2D outline of a person and draw a number on them to indicate the stage. I wouldn’t recommend spending money on a project until you have the foundation in place and are committed to the final product. Once you have something that you think will work and you’re excited to work on, then I’d start commissioning art and buying asset packs from a store.

Just my two cents from past experiences lol.

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Being a one-man dev team is definitely a two-edged sword.

On the one hand, knowing it’s all your own work is an amazing feeling. And you have complete freedom to produce the game that you want. If you want to add something, you can just do it, rather than have to run it past everyone else you’re working with. You can, of course do what I do and sometimes post your ideas on the forum to gauge opinion, but ultimately, regardless of what other people may think, you can do whatever you like.

On the other hand, working on a game by yourself, even if it’s quite a small project, can be incredibly daunting. When I started work on my game, I envisaged maybe 4-6 months of relatively hard work. If I’d known that four years and thousands of hours later, I’d still be nowhere near finished, I’d have run away screaming. I had a lot of offers to help out when I first started work on my game, and in hindsight, Idd have probably accepted some of them. Of course, I’d then probably have the problem that poor @anon82925365 is experiencing. People dropping out, new people coming on board and spending far too much time and effort trying keep the continuity with all the comings and goings…

I think the best advice I can give is quite simply don’t push yourself. Work on it when you you’re in the mood and ignore it completely when you’re not. If you force yourself to work on it, you won’t enjoy it. And if you are enjoying it, you’ll almost certainly produce a better game in the long run.

And whatever you do, definitely don’t set any deadlines, realistic or not. Back when I was producing public versions of my game, I had to try and hit deadlines and the pressure was nuts at times. I was working until well after midnight almost every day trying to meet targets, and really wasn’t enjoying working on the thing as a result. I was seeing it more as actual work rather than something that I was doing for fun. And if you’re not enjoying working on it, what’s the point? I’ve now adopted the “It’ll be done when it’s done” method of working and enjoying it a hell of a lot more now that there’s no pressure on me.

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Idk if this add anything to this conversation but maybe it will help someone here.

I’m working alone, but I’m also working together. My game is my project, I decide what is happening and how its going to happen. I create my own art, do my own programming, advertise the game by myself and do some of the writing. But I do have writers help out with the games writing. The writers working on my game are basically commissioned to write stories for it and I pay them. This means that the burden and responsibly of finishing the game falls solely on me. I also carry all the financial risks, the people I commission still need to be paid. But in return I’m not completely reliant on other people, if it ever came to it and the writers no longer wanted to write for the game, I can commission new writers to finish the work.

I’m sure you can use the same approach to commissioning artists or programmers.

But besides the teaming part, everything that @tiggertoo said hits the nail on the head.
Try to keep it fun for yourself, don’t go push yourself to work harder/faster

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I set a deadline . . . I now agree. However, the deadline has forced team members to make progress.

I don’t think people care or understand how stressful it is for the lead dev when they walk away from a project.

I just wish I could find dedicated individuals who would stay with the project and do what is asked of them.

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Hey, if you need an artist DM me

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