Comments on: Developing Games In Your Spare Time http://bantamcity.com/blog/game_development/developing-games-in-your-spare-time/ An uphill journey of a struggling game developer Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:30:22 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Aiursrage2k http://bantamcity.com/blog/game_development/developing-games-in-your-spare-time/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Aiursrage2k Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:40:56 +0000 http://bantamcity.com/blog/?p=124#comment-20 Part time game developer with no job here! Seems good advice. Part time game developer with no job here! Seems good advice.

]]> By: Bruno Campolo http://bantamcity.com/blog/game_development/developing-games-in-your-spare-time/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Bruno Campolo Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:12:29 +0000 http://bantamcity.com/blog/?p=124#comment-17 Yeah, I thought about that when I wrote it... for some people thinking about a problem just keeps them up. I think the key is not to <em>stress</em> about a problem. What I do is just relax as I normally would when I'm ready for sleep, then just as if it were a fun logic puzzle, I try to come up with possible solutions and think about why one solution might work or why another one wouldn't work. I do this for about 5-10 min as I lay on my back, eyes closed, and when I feel like my thoughts are becoming too unfocused to solve the problem, I let the problem fade out of my mind and turn on my side. Turning on my side is kind of a mental trigger for me to say, "Its time for sleep now". It takes some practice to think about the problem in a relaxed mindset and not stress about the problem. I almost find that it's what gets me to sleep some nights :)... sadistic, I know. Yeah, I thought about that when I wrote it… for some people thinking about a problem just keeps them up. I think the key is not to stress about a problem. What I do is just relax as I normally would when I’m ready for sleep, then just as if it were a fun logic puzzle, I try to come up with possible solutions and think about why one solution might work or why another one wouldn’t work. I do this for about 5-10 min as I lay on my back, eyes closed, and when I feel like my thoughts are becoming too unfocused to solve the problem, I let the problem fade out of my mind and turn on my side. Turning on my side is kind of a mental trigger for me to say, “Its time for sleep now”. It takes some practice to think about the problem in a relaxed mindset and not stress about the problem. I almost find that it’s what gets me to sleep some nights :) … sadistic, I know.

]]> By: Htbaa http://bantamcity.com/blog/game_development/developing-games-in-your-spare-time/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Htbaa Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:12:22 +0000 http://bantamcity.com/blog/?p=124#comment-16 I recognize every point you've written down here, and agree with all of them. Except for the last point. Thinking about a problem whilst trying to sleep prevents you from getting to sleep. At least it does for me. Afterwards I don't wake up with the feeling I've had enough rest. Task switching does indeed consume a lot of time, so I notice on my daily job. You need to make preparations, focus, charge yourself up for the task and then get to it. Switching halfway means you need to properly postpone finishing your current task, and then follow the whole process again. I hate nothing more when I'm on a go and making lots of progress, to get suddenly sidetracked because of a manager or something. Doing this at the daily job consumes a lot of energy. So just like you when I get home I don't have much energy or motivation left to start game development. It's not that I don't like it, I'm just drained. And usually when I think about getting something done after a hard day of work, I can't decide which task to choose and thus I start browsing the internet... Grrr! So the time I do have for game development gets totally wasted on doing nothing :-). It would be a lot easier if this was the only hobby I had, but it's not. I recognize every point you’ve written down here, and agree with all of them. Except for the last point. Thinking about a problem whilst trying to sleep prevents you from getting to sleep. At least it does for me. Afterwards I don’t wake up with the feeling I’ve had enough rest.

Task switching does indeed consume a lot of time, so I notice on my daily job. You need to make preparations, focus, charge yourself up for the task and then get to it. Switching halfway means you need to properly postpone finishing your current task, and then follow the whole process again. I hate nothing more when I’m on a go and making lots of progress, to get suddenly sidetracked because of a manager or something.

Doing this at the daily job consumes a lot of energy. So just like you when I get home I don’t have much energy or motivation left to start game development. It’s not that I don’t like it, I’m just drained. And usually when I think about getting something done after a hard day of work, I can’t decide which task to choose and thus I start browsing the internet… Grrr!

So the time I do have for game development gets totally wasted on doing nothing :-) . It would be a lot easier if this was the only hobby I had, but it’s not.

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