Over the years, I've taken an interest in video game development and it has been the most creatively fulfilling pursuits of my life. I discovered the joy of programming and technical problem solving through this medium.
Let's be honest, indie game development is tough, especially when you're solo. For a lot of other people they struggle with writing code and stuff like that, but this isn't a problem for me, the challenge for me is simply just actually finishing a project to begin with and it seems to all just be mental rather than a problem with capability.
I've started a bunch of projects. Like, *a lot*. Some of them were projects I spent a good deal of time and work on that just petered out, and some of them were quick experimental prototypes that I spent almost no time on. However, there is always a common theme when I start a new project: I get this electric excitement, the dopamine hit of a new idea, some core mechanic that feels awesome, something that makes me go “hell yeah, this could be it.” I dive in headfirst, prototype, tweak, get all the core mechanics implemented, and get it to a point where it’s genuinely playable. And then... the buzz fades.
This is where “shiny object syndrome” kicks in and some new idea pops up, or I realize how much content I'd like to add to consider the game actually finished, and suddenly I'm looking for any excuse to abandon ship.
Getting really deep into working on core mechanics or working on a level editor tool? Love it. Building out what I consider the boring bits, like UI polish or 40 more unique levels? My brain just nopes out. To add a little bit more onto this notion, lately, I've come to realize that I just generally struggle with adding content to my games. To address this moving forward, I'm thinking about making content creation a more procedural process. For example, instead of manually designing levels and items, I plan to explore utilizing procedural generation techniques to create them more dynamically...
Anyway, I've got pretty bad ADHD and I know that's also a big part of it. I've struggled with this through most of my life and it has effected me greatly. Hyperfocus gets me through the important and early stuff, but once the novelty dies off, staying "locked in" is a daily battle. I've come to realize that without some kind of structure, like a deadline for example, I spiral into endless tweaking or just straight-up ghosting my own project.
What I've realized is that I probably *need* a deadline. Like, a real one. Self-imposed, sure, but something I treat like it's basically the law. If I say it's due in a month, then a months later it's done, bugs and all, even if it's not perfect. Because if I wait to feel “ready” or “inspired”, I'll never finish a damn thing. And maybe that's fine for some people, but it's killing my momentum and confidence as a dev.
So yeah, this is me saying out loud basically that I'm tired of leaving stuff half-baked. I'm gonna give myself hard a stop. And when that date hits? The game ships. Even if it's rough. Even if it's janky. Done is better than dead, right?