Why making games is so hard

Comments · 98

• RE

  @redsunpro · 8 months ago

  Sometimes these videos sound like he's pep talking himself into continuing 😀

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• JA

  @JasonChampionGamedev · 8 months ago

  Gamedev is an incremental game, but it has a very weird skill tree.

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• ZO

  @ZoosheeStudio · 8 months ago

  I put out the the 1.0 beta version of my  first game. This channel has been my motivation.

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• LA

  @LapsaDev · 8 months ago (edited)

  I clicked on this video without expecting anything special - thought I’d scroll for a bit and move on. <br>Instead, I didn’t miss a single second. Thank you for the valuable advice! <br> <br>I’m a solo indie developer working on my first game, going through everything that everyone who has shipped at least one game has already been through. <br>And today I caught myself thinking that I have to do content - boring content for me - but without it, my &quot;5 minutes of interesting gameplay&quot; means nothing. And honestly, my hands just drop. <br> <br>I keep a list of things that need to be done and when, I look at it… and I really don’t feel like doing any of it. <br>But after watching this video, I’ll try to keep going and apply your advice. I hope it works out. <br> <br>I got a real boost of motivation - thank you! 💪

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• PH

  @PhoenixDSteele · 8 months ago

  My appendix burst on New Year&apos;s, and I&apos;ve already released 3 jam games.<br><br>Releasing my 4th in 4 days.<br><br>I actually finished 1 game, without realizing my appendix burst. I thought it was just weird slight stomach pain; and I took some ibuprofen and made the UI, and multiple 3D models, as well as finished coding a state machine for the enemy AI. My gf saw my eyes were literally turning &quot;yellow&quot;/jaundice. So I went to ER and they said, &quot;Brother your appendix burst&quot;. Praise my gf, cause I actually would of just not gone in, and just straight up died.<br><br>I&apos;m fine now; slight hiccup, great story for years from now, but I&apos;m slamming games out back to back each month in 2026.

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• D.

  @D.Rapha3l · 8 months ago

  Its a process

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• IN

  @ineap09 · 8 months ago

  It feels like this video was made for me.<br><br>I worked on my game for so long and got all of the mechanics and systems made and refactored for scalability and got it in a really good playable state.<br><br>But when I made the playtest build it had 5 minutes of content.<br><br>I had everything set up for making new enemies and levels but I felt a bit burned out now that I couldn’t work on mechanics and systems anymore.<br><br>So I ended up taking a break and writing a time loop fantasy academy novel. As I finish the final three chapters I’m getting excited to work on my game again and this video was good for giving me direction and mindset.<br><br>Thank you!

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• 1L

  @1LastGameStudio · 8 months ago

  After spending four years (instead of the planned two!) developing and successfully releasing a game on Steam, I agree 100% with what you&apos;re saying: 1) content takes longer than expected to make (especially narrative content for me), and 2) it&apos;s really important to keep a list of &quot;quick wins devs&quot;for when you feel like nothing is moving forward. It really helps to stay motivated over the long term.

  1

• TR

  @trueblaw8062 · 7 months ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fso2VMMoF-c&amp;t=9">0:09</a> <br>Custom Multiplayer Engine Works -<br>Modular pieces -<br>Working on the MVP now 🎉

• MA

  @mandisaw · 7 months ago

  Ah, many yrs in, you get better at disciplining yourself to finish, or to judge when you need to switch gears for sanity. But the motivation challenge never goes away 😩 Stuff that has worked for me:<br><br>+ Version control. Looking over the logs reminds me of what sub-goals I&apos;ve finished. Esp good for &quot;invisible but necessary&quot; stuff.<br><br>+ Playing with a &quot;kit&quot; project, like the Unity Learn minigames online. Gives a little mental break, while boosting the game-dev endorphins.<br><br>+ Talk about your game. Cannot overstate how important it is to talk to people - potential players, coworkers &amp; friends, folks at the bus stop, whoever. Enthusiasm is infectious.<br><br>There is no greater ego-boost than, &quot;That game sounds awesome! When can I play it?&quot; 🥰

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• LO

  @louis-philip · 8 months ago

  I&apos;ve been testing micro-concepts of games. If you break a game idea down to smaller concepts, like a certain way to interact with characters, navigation around on a map, trading resources, etc. and you make each of these into a smaller concept game, you can end up having a lot of fun with these as you progress, and you&apos;re able to tweak smaller parts into really solid fun and interesting things to do. After you filter out what worked and what did not, then can you start to assemble the larger picture of a game with what you have on the table.

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• MO

  @morgan0 · 7 months ago

  i’ve actually had a lot of motivation working on modeling my game environment, both making the models and making textures for them. not something i have done a lot before and i switched to it in part to see if i could do it decently enough, and it’s been enjoyable.

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