Ok, question for my game dev friends.
I see a LOT of game devs that are always in the middle of side projects.
I haven’t felt like I had the energy or motivation to do game dev side projects in ~15 years, since I was first employee in the industry
How do you all do it? I’m very jealous
I see a LOT of game devs that are always in the middle of side projects.
I haven’t felt like I had the energy or motivation to do game dev side projects in ~15 years, since I was first employee in the industry
How do you all do it? I’m very jealous
Comments
Though, I do try to book off a weekend for a game jam every couple years to work some of those creative juices and expose myself to more stuff out of my wheelhouse
Trying to do something too similar is a quick road to burnout I feel
Conflating « letting yourself be carried by what you want and « indomitable will »
Currently all my stuff is on hold because *gestures at everything* yeah I don't have the energy, but there's still stuff ticking over in my head and if I don't write it down I'll explode
It’s a bit of a different calculus as a designer though
These days I hire friends to do the more intensive engineering parts of my projects because I'd burn out if I do both x.x
Even if I only put 5-30 minutes into my pet project(s) a day, it builds up over time. Sometimes opening the editor and closing it is as far as I get.
I could see myself not doing that if I ever get an industry job.
Yeah
That is a whole other problem. Should be illegal, etc.
And it does describe my new job, which is very unfortunate. Bungie was mostly fine with it.
Game jams help spark it a bit because once you're done it's like ' oh I can just...do this for fun????'
I for sure had a block of time where I wasn't thinking about a single potential side project because life was messing with me
I guess there’s a pattern here xD
finishing stuff is a skill but it was stopping me from doing *anything*
now i just try to enjoy the journey!!! (and im way better at finishing than i was)
At any give time I have 3-4 side projects I’m excited about. But I don’t finish often. The excitement wears off after a while, and I don’t have the actual energy required to get things to the finish line.
Feels like balancing plates for if I ever intend to "finish one". Though even if I never do, I appreciate its worth it for the level creative outlet (near non-existent in career game dev) and small bits of learning.
The real trick is finishing them, that I haven’t mastered yet, but I have fun regardless
1) A fixed and brief window of time to work on it
2) A collaborator I've worked with before and like working with
3) Other collaborators in the jam that limit how much work I personally have to do
Because their names are no where to be seen
If your work agreement allows side work it gets to feel like an obligation. Why wouldn’t you? etc.
At the same time, I have ideas…so I try to record them.
But it’s never been even close
But if I ever try to sit down with a actual game engine my brain skitters off of it like oil on a hot pan
This past week I couldn't touch any of that and do anything meaningful. It was too cold, to be really wobbly and unscientific about it. I'd mediated a conflict between some of my team members over the weekend. There's a lot of concern about stability in general.
That other reply, basically, about needing to alternate between types of tasks? Couldn't agree more.
It was a kind of back-up pressure valve for my game design passion that I struggle to channel towards actual dev
Everything else motivation wise to me is secondary, but I also wouldn't be able to do all this without lesser pressures.
I find that I'm often inclined to work far, far more than I should
But
my partner being around is enough to keep me honest and forces me to Not Work. Not game or relax necessarily, but at least Not Work.
Whereas I find many who do side stuff live alone.
For me, two things help: external accountability and AD(H)D medication 🫣
I'm currently learning to draw (1h a day or more) with my best friend.
We post updates daily to keep each other accountable.
It's not as glamorous as it seems 🥲
I didn't do any side projects for the longest time for exactly those reasons. A combination of being treated for ADHD, the company I work for getting shittier, and a mild
That is the version I don’t want xD
speaking as someone who did two storyboard reels, one of them over the holidays for funsies
But I get it, my guy is in the same boat. Just wants to make a game he likes after all these years. (time/energy/funding/risk-reward)
1- have dayjobs that exhaust one creative side (logic/problems) and their outlets can exhaust another (visuals/writing/pure-creative)
2- have more energy than others, due to nature or habit
3- only work 4 days a week
4- literally side-work ~10 minutes a week to make progress
1. no children (probably the biggest one)
2. my day jobs are fun but not what I would choose to make
3. my partner is also a game dev and he's REALLY fast and talented, plus we can develop ideas together
4. disposable income/financial freedom
5. healthy work/life balance
but a huge part of WANTING a side project is feeling unfulfilled by the creative outlets you currently have -- in my experience that leads to NEEDING to create something. as long as you're not burned out/exhausted, that is
its from trauma though so
im trying to figure out how to work on things in moderation???
I hope you have some luck figuring out a good balance!
as a kid i wasn't to be seen not productive or bad things would happen. so working on games was the closest to play i could get. and now i really do like the process, but...
That sounds like it would be a good change
Note that I'm using heavy quotes at "simple".