How to find motivation to work on a project or game dev in general

[GrumpyGameDev]

Hi, I decided to post this as I'm growing up and slowly starting to lose motivation with game dev, I've been making games since I was 8 yrs old. Possibly being in quarantine is a cause to losing motivation but, I just wanted to get insight on others on what you do when you lose motivation on a project or game dev. I'm working on a project right now and I'm losing motivation on it and just want to quit it but, at the same time, I don't want to.

One more thing post any music genres/tracks/whatever you listen to while working on your game. I have never been too good at finding the right music but, it seems others are the best lol.

[jeanfabre]

Hi,

 Funny you mention this, I just replied on another thread and felt the need to explain the difference between motivation and discipline.

https://hutonggames.com/playmakerforum/index.php?topic=22387.msg98138#msg98138


Motivation is only temporary, due to excitement of a new project or new tool or new encounter. Discipline is what going to make you successful and complete projects and achieve your goals.

You must not rely on motivation to get you anywhere, you must rely on discipline. Motivation is the spark that you need to get started. Discipline is the character you have built in you over the years that will get you to finish a project and get somewhere in life in general. It's the clock some put every day at 4am in the morning to get a chance to do all that they want to do ( I can't...)

 I am by nature very subject to motivation and I had to work hard on my discipline, because I am a freelancer working remotely. Waking up every morning when no one is checking on you is hard. Switching between projects for various clients is very hard. Being strong enough to open the project that needs your full attention because there is yet another bug from unity, while you could work on your latest baby project with some cool graphics and great gameplay is even harder...

Some people ( based on their characters ) will be disciplined by default, but probably lack motivation and need to be working in an office from 9 to 5 and that suits them, but they won't necessary be pro active or creative. The other way is true as well, some people can't take orders, but they will be very creative, only to find themselves stuck for completion because they lack discipline and no one is there to kick their ass to get it done. I assume you are a grown up, if you are a teenager, then you will most likely need the bump from time to time like we all do at that age, that's the role of parent to push their soon to become adult so that they get a chance to realize their full potential, and quit being so entitled, selfsish etc etc... it's not pleasant, but a necessary transition from innocent childhood to responsible adulthood.

I suggest you watch Jordan Peterson lectures and various talks, I know he is controversial to some, and I don't mean to stir up anything here, only that his view on how to accomplish anything in life is eye opening, especially when you are not aligned with yourself.

Basically, there is no easy way out of this, you must be strong and increment yourself one step at a time. Eat better food to being with ( if you don't already), quit chronophage activity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Clock  ( easier said then done), allow yourself to get bored instead of being in front of your mobile phone screen all the time so that you give your brain a chance to work it out. Out of boredom, your brain will kick in. I listen to music when I am out of energy ( I am very low in energy which doesn't help discipline as well), that works very well, no latter then yesterday when kitchen needed a good clean up, as I just came back home after a long day at work and the headache that goes with it... it's better than taking a pain killer and works just as good : that's what got my headache and energy back yesterday:

Level 10:

Level 1000:

Level 100000:

Level Final Boss:

( he played with a broken finger and broken hip on that concert, put things back into perspective... I strongly advice you watch the documentary on his life:

you might not enjoy the above, that's ok, find what you enjoy and explore, no problem here.

Surround yourself with people that are inspiring, that's a great motivator, sometimes it's depressing, because it seems unachievable, but that's the kick we need sometimes to deeply ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve in life.

Also, a great tip is to divide your goals into small tasks, make a plan that list what you need to do to achieve something ( your unity project, anything), and divide it into small chunks, small enough to fit into an hour or a day, then train your discipline that you will do one of these task as a way to get you closer to your goal, then big things seems achievable this way. don't look at the sum of all tasks, take the one that needs to be done to move to the next step in your project, that's all you need to do today. And if along the way you find you have more energy to do another  task, even better but not mandatory.

This quarantine mess is a great stress test for our character, make the most out of it and come out stronger with clear goals. It's hard and it will have many people down as a result. The fact that you are able to communicate on this is a clear sign that you are not willing to settle for that and that's already most of the job.


Bye,

 Jean

[djaydino]

Hi.
Setting task is very important and for my i use Trello and check lists.
and have grouped check lists, as this motivates me to get the list done.
And when all is done on a list it gives some kind of satisfaction.

Also certain type of task i tend to do early in the day and other Late at night.

Same for music, depending on the task to do, sometimes i play some slow back ground music or some 80's music.
And other times i put on some hardcore techno or Retro house.

Also for some task i turn off discord/skype/messenger etc.
Sometimes even disconnecting the internet so i wont get distracted by 'social media'

But it does happen to me as well that i open a project and Feel stressed already.

[GrumpyGameDev]

Hi,

 Funny you mention this, I just replied on another thread and felt the need to explain the difference between motivation and discipline.

https://hutonggames.com/playmakerforum/index.php?topic=22387.msg98138#msg98138


Motivation is only temporary, due to excitement of a new project or new tool or new encounter. Discipline is what going to make you successful and complete projects and achieve your goals.

You must not rely on motivation to get you anywhere, you must rely on discipline. Motivation is the spark that you need to get started. Discipline is the character you have built in you over the years that will get you to finish a project and get somewhere in life in general. It's the clock some put every day at 4am in the morning to get a chance to do all that they want to do ( I can't...)

 I am by nature very subject to motivation and I had to work hard on my discipline, because I am a freelancer working remotely. Waking up every morning when no one is checking on you is hard. Switching between projects for various clients is very hard. Being strong enough to open the project that needs your full attention because there is yet another bug from unity, while you could work on your latest baby project with some cool graphics and great gameplay is even harder...

Some people ( based on their characters ) will be disciplined by default, but probably lack motivation and need to be working in an office from 9 to 5 and that suits them, but they won't necessary be pro active or creative. The other way is true as well, some people can't take orders, but they will be very creative, only to find themselves stuck for completion because they lack discipline and no one is there to kick their ass to get it done. I assume you are a grown up, if you are a teenager, then you will most likely need the bump from time to time like we all do at that age, that's the role of parent to push their soon to become adult so that they get a chance to realize their full potential, and quit being so entitled, selfsish etc etc... it's not pleasant, but a necessary transition from innocent childhood to responsible adulthood.

I suggest you watch Jordan Peterson lectures and various talks, I know he is controversial to some, and I don't mean to stir up anything here, only that his view on how to accomplish anything in life is eye opening, especially when you are not aligned with yourself.

Basically, there is no easy way out of this, you must be strong and increment yourself one step at a time. Eat better food to being with ( if you don't already), quit chronophage activity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Clock  ( easier said then done), allow yourself to get bored instead of being in front of your mobile phone screen all the time so that you give your brain a chance to work it out. Out of boredom, your brain will kick in. I listen to music when I am out of energy ( I am very low in energy which doesn't help discipline as well), that works very well, no latter then yesterday when kitchen needed a good clean up, as I just came back home after a long day at work and the headache that goes with it... it's better than taking a pain killer and works just as good : that's what got my headache and energy back yesterday:

Level 10:

Level 1000:

Level 100000:

Level Final Boss:

( he played with a broken finger and broken hip on that concert, put things back into perspective... I strongly advice you watch the documentary on his life:

you might not enjoy the above, that's ok, find what you enjoy and explore, no problem here.

Surround yourself with people that are inspiring, that's a great motivator, sometimes it's depressing, because it seems unachievable, but that's the kick we need sometimes to deeply ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve in life.

Also, a great tip is to divide your goals into small tasks, make a plan that list what you need to do to achieve something ( your unity project, anything), and divide it into small chunks, small enough to fit into an hour or a day, then train your discipline that you will do one of these task as a way to get you closer to your goal, then big things seems achievable this way. don't look at the sum of all tasks, take the one that needs to be done to move to the next step in your project, that's all you need to do today. And if along the way you find you have more energy to do another  task, even better but not mandatory.

This quarantine mess is a great stress test for our character, make the most out of it and come out stronger with clear goals. It's hard and it will have many people down as a result. The fact that you are able to communicate on this is a clear sign that you are not willing to settle for that and that's already most of the job.


Bye,

 Jean

Thanks so much for this long reply. I'm def. gonna check out the stuff you have mentioned and thanks on bringing up discipline into the topic I never had a thought of it.

[GrumpyGameDev]

Hi.
Setting task is very important and for my i use Trello and check lists.
and have grouped check lists, as this motivates me to get the list done.
And when all is done on a list it gives some kind of satisfaction.

Also certain type of task i tend to do early in the day and other Late at night.

Same for music, depending on the task to do, sometimes i play some slow back ground music or some 80's music.
And other times i put on some hardcore techno or Retro house.

Also for some task i turn off discord/skype/messenger etc.
Sometimes even disconnecting the internet so i wont get distracted by 'social media'

But it does happen to me as well that i open a project and Feel stressed already.

Hi, yea I should be using Trello more for my projects to help motivate me when needed, and thanks for letting me know what music you listen to on a certain task. I never did that b4 so I might try it.

[LordHorusNL]

I suggest you watch Jordan Peterson lectures and various talks, I know he is controversial to some.

Great post Jean.

Love that you mentioned Jordan Perterson by the way. Someone like him is only controversial to Communist sympathizers and other wack-jobs. I don't agree with all his viewpoints but his content is awesome and highly motivational.

[jeanfabre]

[quote ]and thanks for letting me know what music you listen to on a certain task. I never did that b4 so I might try it.
[/quote]

Hi,

 I actually work in complete silence, I listen to music to relax and do something like cleaning the house or some activities that don't require my brain to work at its full potential. I can't listen to music and do something else... my brain is not multi-task unfortunatly

Bye,

 Jean

[BlizStudio]

Jean, definitely a great reply!!!  I'll have to check out Jordan Perterson's videos.  I use Trello for all of my client work, game dev tasks, etc... Too many hats and jobs to not be organized.

TotalHavoc, I have a few Spotify lists that I like to work too.  These are a few of the ones that I listen to when I work on my games.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0HeTxu4eI39F73EPs4PJKJ?si=cVmBwMCWRLe2PTCqI8p6NQ

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWZeKCadgRdKQ?si=SZsJpFyEQZSHWx9wsi2wxg

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/50YpbKrT1iqlXEoqMi1c9Y?si=4Z8_eFbkRFe40VvpF9N_Nw

[Broken Stylus]

I'd say the love of your own project AND micro-rewards, i.e. small steps achievements in the production cycle, in completing a task, overcoming a problem, testing a new yet humble little function, etc.
For any new idea, perhaps even start a small project just to test the idea, or create a all in one project that is going to be your sandbox to throw in some tests on physics, graphics, animations. It's going to get bloated over time but it doesn't matter at all because it grows and lives as your progress.

Also–a vastly underestimated aspect–being the experience on a tool and the plugins.
I have been hit many times by a wall of absolute desperation when I realized I needed another plugin that I would have to learn while crossing fingers until they'd cut through each other, hoping any new integration would work perfectly. That's cross-compatibility issues for which you might spend hours if not days looking for a solution. And man, trust me, you are going to test a lot.
That is a main issue when one cannot produce key content in the tool's programmatic language: you become utterly dependent on a wide range of extra tools and it can become quite stressful.

So the best way to avoid this is to start small, make very simple projects first, and learn from this. Only increase your own ambition in small steps until you feel confident and experienced enough to tackle on a greater projects.