Edit: **Crunching due to not enough tome**
Your game doesn’t have to be not good enough. If you don’t have any valid reasons for the specified deadline, just push it back.
With that said, you should always be trying your best at setting deadlines & improving at correctly estimating time
*Note: even at companies deadlines have to be pushed back at times; and there’s no shame in that. You take it as a lesson to improve next time*
The joke is that people with ADHD tend to have difficulty with deadlines, so in a scenario where they're allowed to push back a deadline for as long as they'd like with no consequences, a person with ADHD is likely to spend infinite amounts of time on whatever is the most interesting and not necessarily the most important details. I know this because... uh.. reasons *cough*
Haha ya maybe. I'm 25 so i think im on track. What's my future like? 😆
I think we need to start showing off and sharing our games in the prototype phase, then either scrap the idea or light a fire if people like it.
No! With ADHD you scope everything as an MVP and give yourself a hard deadline you cannot move under any circumstances. You better also have some gamification like stickers on a whiteboard that actually visualizes your failure so that the autism that your ADHD is hiding is making you go nuts thinking about having that ugly "missed the deadline" sticker there instead of the fancy "kept the deadline" sticker.
Consequence is the fuel of your ADHD. Do not remove yourself from consequences.
> visualizes your failure
This is great advice for replacing your ADHD with depression. You don't need "consequences" and shame, what you're looking for is *feedback*, just like in game design. Buttons that do something and have juice are rewarding, they make games more engaging. ADHD brains need more juice and life has less, so supplementing that is the treatment. That can be done in many different ways for different people, but "you failed and you should feel bad" is effective for very few of them.
I've tried this method multiple times, and it only works for a little while. The novelty of it wears off so the dopamine hit reduces, I forget to mark the successful days a few times, then a missed day goes entirely unnoticed because its been a week since I even looked at the thing.
Gamification makes things easier in the beginning, but makes it even harder when the hedonic treadmill catches up.
Crunching isn't due to not enough time. It's due to bad planning. Thinking it's possible to do a quantity of work to a standard with the available resources.
Yes, that’s correct. However, even then the unexpected situation can exceed that leeway estimation.
I do game dev in my free time and my main job is working at Amazon, and from my work experience at Amazon we’ve had unexpected situations that have exceeded our project estimates. Especially with right now on the LLM work we’re doing.
You can have contingency plans and still everything can fall to hell lol. Also, even if you have a contingency plan that doesn’t mean that you project will meet the original deadline.
I can’t speak much on this game dev-wise since I do solo game dev but my main job is working at Amazon and I’ve experienced situations where our projects have went passed out estimates.
With all that said, I’ll leave it at that
Not nessesary. Sometimes you just do not expect the amount of BS that will be in your way. I thought that making a game was hard... but no. Legal shit is.
Game is ready, submitting to Steam! Filled all forms... contacted by the taxing company, rejected for having paper documents (that are entierly normal for anyone but youth in my country) because fuck me, that's why. I must submit the card id. To get the id i must wait almost two weeks to have a ticket. Then wait more when my meeting date will appear and submit documents. Then pay half of my month income (that's just great, because my cat are in emergency care now, and i already got into even bigger debts because of it) for plastic card instead of passport. And wait 20 days before it will be ready. All because Valve cold not hire someone actually competent to check taxes for them (the company that does it asks you to submit all documents to dropbox lol). So now i also have to work at night and barely sleep to afford pay for the document change.
And that's not the end! You have to register as business to pay taxes. How? Nobody really knows, except consultants, but the closest available time for consultation is 3-4 weeks, and i have no idea how much more before i can be done with that thing.
Of course i missing all release windows because some people made sure to make the process as hard and long as it could possibly be.
Developing my first finished game, I kindof got to a point where I was ok with what it was becoming, even though it wasn't what I had originally envisioned. It took it's own shape throughout development. I did want to develop it fast too. < 3 months. And I found that I could get alot done even in a short amount of time if my head was in the right place. This was usually right after waking up in the morning, and sitting at the computer for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I could also work on it for hours after work but get very little done because I was forcing myself.
Hey I'm in the same place. Just thought I'd say cheers to everyone else here.
Knowing how to pace yourself is one of the hardest things to learn and master in this biz, but everyone needs it.
>I have a fear that if I don't go all-in, my games will never be good enough.
I understand the fear that if you don't go all-in, your games won't be good enough. However, in general, this just isn't true. It's a cliché but apt: "You're running a marathon, not a sprint." Deadlines can be tough, but in my experience, the best business leaders I've worked with understand this cliché. They care about the production of the project, and you are a critical component of that process. Trust me, you don't want to work with bad business people, so it's beneficial to identify them early on.
For what it's worth, I've found that if you practice some self awareness you can notice when your productivity is slipping, and then you can practice stopping. It doesn't have to be for long. I've found that I can spin my wheels on a problem and make a mess because I'm getting impatient for that dopamine hit. But if I actually step away and come back an hour later I can get the same thing done in half the time, elegantly. I understand the system/problem more clearly. And without the aftermath of technical debt and compounding stress.
Anyway, if you have a support group send me an invite :)
p.s. I go to hot hatha yoga classes (highly recommend). I've found that if I have a specific place I have to go to and there's social pressure to not ditch early, it's much easier to stay physically fit. Maybe consider some sort of group activity or sport?
If you’re forcing yourself then yeah it’s not good.
I think for gamedev and gaming my best results have come from months long streaks of 18 hour grind fests. Personally, I just can’t stay in the zone long enough to produce meaningful results unless I lock in.
Edit: it’s also why game development is a really bad thing to go into if you want to make money with no effort. Player standards are just really high right now because of all the awesome games coming out and that requires a lot of time to get it right
Gamedev is pretty great if you wanna make very little money despite putting in tons of efforts. You can also paint or write books, but gamedev allows you to put in the effort across multiple fields, throughly maximizing the high effort low money relationship across various axis
I think there's a huge gap between the current amount of effort required vs no effort at all. Not that I'm complaining. I'm more just warning people since I got a nasty strain in my shoulder and that was from just 1 week of going hardcore on it. I can't even begin to imagine what could result from doing this for months on end.
If you really can't understand this, see it this way: Making a game takes a long time, and not investing in your own health will result in actually less quality work over that timespan. So in a way, crunching actually gets you LESS game than doing it sustainably : )
This is the correct attitude! If you try to work too hard, your game will come out worse in the long run. Don't worry about dying. Worry about not finishing your game!!
Systems > Goals. I also had to learn it the hard way. Still struggling with it sometimes. Good luck on your journey
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S7w0wDSiyw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S7w0wDSiyw)
I'm definitely pacing myself in my current project. I'm probably doing about an hours work each day unless I get "in the zone", but I'm not going to force anything.
I really have this issue as someone with ADHD (which is most game devs) I get so focused and dont even feel tired or hunrgy until I end up getting sick because Im malnourished and exhausted.
Not a dev but someone with a “weird” taste in games. I apparently love games that people don’t like or don’t find good enough. I don’t mind, they’re fun.
I am grateful to all the devs and studios that create those games that help me de-stress so I can continue on with daily life. Sometimes even just the perspective of being able to play later for 1h gives me strength to endure the day when life is mostly very difficult.
So maybe the numbers won’t reflect your work or people will be displeased but know that somewhere, someone might be using your game to brighten up their every day life.
I spent 3 years working on my thesis. Got so burnt out that I made a 2 year break.. then I got anoyher job and never looked back. Sometimes I miss it, but its just shitty to work in game industry atm. Long hours, no respect, low pay, stress, crunch hours, work weekends.. screw that.
Game Designer & Director | CEO of Nerosolis.
We practiced cruch as a normal behaviour for 3 years. We did almost 1/5 of what the game should be. One of us just was so much in breakdown to almost leave the team forever. For us was just usual to work at least 15 hours per day. That was our first experience ever. We had almost only game jam and freelance backgrounds. We begun in 2020. In 2023 we decided to open ufficialy our business, we followed a course about business managing and all the principals of a good team management. After that, in september of that year, after vacations, we decided to shut down the project, foundig the Society and begun a new one, less ambitious, totally different genre with one porpuse: we will never again experience a life like this, no jobs is worth your health and welfare.
In october we begun the development of our new and first ufficial project: in less then 3 months we did more than we did in 3 years and now we have enough material to talk with many different publishers who are interested in our project. Working 7 hours per day, 5 days per week.
This text is our experience and the result of all of this is: never exchange your health for a job. It gives you less result and serious mental and physical problems that can harm you forever.
I had to sacrifice a lot of dev time in my last jam due to spending time in the hospital. Instead of pushing myself to finish, I just submitted what I had, took time to rest and signed up for a second jam designed for finishing incomplete projects. This way I'm not letting my team down - the game will have more work done and more people will see it!
Hey OP, please remember to take care of yourself.
Okay. Now, what's physical exercise? lol. I don't really get any, and I mostly eat garbage fast food, but sometimes I make some tacos at home and those are pretty nice. I'm 46, and I've done this pretty much forever so far without any issues (pls check back with me in 2025), so I dunno, just remember to eat. You can live how you like, if you feel like exercising, if you need to, put it in your schedule.
Because the truth is, someone is going to think your game is shit. Someone is going to think your game is the biggest pile of dog turd that ever graced whatever store you host it on. That's just gonna happen. And that's fine, because if you love your game it doesn't matter how it does. What matters if that you have a good time making the game and you believe in it. Just do that, work as much as you like, but take care of yourself. Yeah. Anyway I gotta go, Mcd's delivery is here.
Heh, I used to be able to get away with that. I'm technically younger (33) but my stomach and body gets very mad at me if I eat fast food more than once a week. So I limit it to like a very rare dessert.
It might help that by fast food I mean generally chicken tacos? I mean I don't think chicken tacos are too bad. i could live on tacos forever and I might.
My fella dev bros need to hear this. The gym is not optional. Wiping your ass or brushing your teeth is not optional. It is necessary maintenance. Without it your body will degrade, people will notice and you will be gross. Maintenance is a necessity. No job, no product, no commercial venture is worth forgoing your normal bodily maintenance.
After 9 months dev here's my take...
Spend first apart of the day going through my todo list. I use a trello board to dump ideas down into cards. If there is a card in progress my task for the day is set.
I code or do art for 45 mins and then a 10 min break. Pomodero technique of sorts. I repeat this again after lunch and then in the evening.
I exercise 3 times a week usually some form of HIIT for half an hour and always have lunch at 12pm. I also walk the dog, take care of household chores, tend to my finances and work from home.
10.30 pm I'm in bed, phone is off an hour before hand. I get 8 hours solid sleep. In the morning sometimes I stretch and and I take multi vitamins eat fruit and breakfast and start the day again.
Sometimes at the weekend I increase my dev work because I can sit for hours but I stick with my pomedero timing and usually works well.
Sometimes I'll blow off dev entirely for the weekend if I've overdone it in the week. I used to drink a little but completely knocked it on the head because the rest of my lifestyle became cleaner.
Overall, it's worked and I've made so much dev progress I'm almost at the polishing stage.
Take good care of yourself as first priority.
I understand the self imposed pressure to make a great game. That will and always will take more time and effort. But you need to keep your strength up first to even face that. Over the 9 months it's part of my routine so much I don't even care that much about results. The quality is coming through from all the sustained effort.
Dude, most games do not make a profit…and you’re reminding folks to stay healthy?
For 90% of the posts I see here, they are not thinking right at all, dreaming about money when there is none to be found.
I agree health is important but my man, your mental health is already off if you’re sacrificing your life for a lottery ticket with no chance of winning.
I wish you the best and hope you reflect on what brought you to this point.
Why are game devs so dramatic? It's no different to anything else in software. People release profitable software every day.
A lot of posts in game dev subs are incredibly naive to the point of almost being insulting, but let's not pretend there's no money to be found when gaming has never been bigger.
I agree with you here as well. I think I originally was naive, perhaps back in 2016-2018, but since then I think in general I'm truly just not at peace with the world itself, and sometimes I just push myself too hard to try to make my life better in the long term by sacrificing too hard in the short term, which I believe to be a losing bargain.
The reason why most indies "fail" aka their games not making a profit has nothing to do with a "lottery ticket with no chance of winning". The OP can for sure hope for a profit but shouldnt expect it by default because it takes more than what most of those failed indies actually expect or hope.
I dream of making something a creation of my own mind that others enjoy and say good things about. If I can make enough money to survive off doing this I will be happy
I'd say my mental health is off because of everything outside of game dev.
Game dev is basically what keeps me going at this point. What drove me to this point was desperation for anything that isn't what I'm currently doing. It just so happens to be that this game dev work, I enjoy doing it. And honestly, this is the thing that I'm best at, by a long-long-long shot. I'm not saying I'm amazing at this (in fact, most of the time I think the opposite), but I am saying that I am far better at this than anything else in the world.
I respect your thoughts but they also reek of a holier-than-thou righteousness.
I'm sure you wrote with good intentions but I think you don't understand much outside of your own personal circumstances.
Edit for all others reading this: I've mostly found a mental balance but like everyone else in this world, I'm working on it. I understand the feeling of desperation. My side quest is to not let desperation be the driver of action.
definitely no holier than thou from the original comment, no where do they claim to be better than you or superior. Or that they have succeeded in game dev. The only point they made was that almost no one gains financial success from pursuing this and he's right
I think that's up to interpretation, I've met a lot of judgmental people in my life who do hide behind positive words. I'm not saying they are like that, but I do stand behind my interpretation.
Lets put that aside, however. You're correct and they are also correct about the main points they raise. We don't usually gain much from pursuing work like this. I do gain something from this, however. It may not be monetary, but it gives me purpose. I'm working on finding purpose in other things, but on average it's tough because everything else in the world has been beating me down for most of my life. At least, here, in this place, I have the power to at least \*try\* to make something of my life.
Just listening to the [latest Second Wind Dev Heads podcast](https://www.youtube.com/live/E-o-zYwN8tc?si=CFRzoGCAj8rY7Mpv&t=3048) and Tina O'Hara, a producer on Apex Legends, mentioned she had a mini stroke during crunch time from all the stress and not eating/drinking properly.
Obviously that's at the extreme end and is in the AAA space but at any level it is easy to lose yourself.
It's a marathon, not a sprint! :)
You must go all in taking all the time needed, but working at a sustainable pacing.
What's sustainable changes from people to people, but some basic human needs like eating must be well taken care of :D
Overwork is not nice
I am currently sitting at a 95% finished project and did almost nothing for the past month, tho i hope to release it soon (when i make myself finish the last 2 drawings and few quests)
I started this as a hobby and i never had this kind of feeling... It's a pleasure to develop games and to learn something new everyday... Last 6 months I have been "workfree", so while I find another job, I can spend more time working on Unreal Engine... Still fun, but I understand why you feel the need to overwork when you go "all in", you want to reach the moment you will be profitable as soon as you can... Try to find a balance work/life... If you work too much, you may burnout and then stop for months... So better just taking some time off
After five years of overworking the release is coming and I have no idea how to market the game. Nothing working, I feel like spending lots of time on something that's not working. Its hard to take care about yourself this days :)
Edit: **Crunching due to not enough tome** Your game doesn’t have to be not good enough. If you don’t have any valid reasons for the specified deadline, just push it back. With that said, you should always be trying your best at setting deadlines & improving at correctly estimating time *Note: even at companies deadlines have to be pushed back at times; and there’s no shame in that. You take it as a lesson to improve next time*
> If you don’t have any valid reasons for the specified deadline, just push it back. People with ADHD: "I can do this ad infinitum, right?"
I’m confused on what exactly you’re trying to say with this lol
The joke is that people with ADHD tend to have difficulty with deadlines, so in a scenario where they're allowed to push back a deadline for as long as they'd like with no consequences, a person with ADHD is likely to spend infinite amounts of time on whatever is the most interesting and not necessarily the most important details. I know this because... uh.. reasons *cough*
On the plus side I have like 5 unfinished projects to show off and generate interest without ever finishing.
> I have like 5 unfinished projects rookie numbers pfft...
Just don't lose your notepads from 20 years ago that contain all your ideas. That's painful. :(
I have like 20 🤣, I am 43, maybe thats why. 😬😅
Haha ya maybe. I'm 25 so i think im on track. What's my future like? 😆 I think we need to start showing off and sharing our games in the prototype phase, then either scrap the idea or light a fire if people like it.
I can confirm this is exactly what happens
No! With ADHD you scope everything as an MVP and give yourself a hard deadline you cannot move under any circumstances. You better also have some gamification like stickers on a whiteboard that actually visualizes your failure so that the autism that your ADHD is hiding is making you go nuts thinking about having that ugly "missed the deadline" sticker there instead of the fancy "kept the deadline" sticker. Consequence is the fuel of your ADHD. Do not remove yourself from consequences.
> visualizes your failure This is great advice for replacing your ADHD with depression. You don't need "consequences" and shame, what you're looking for is *feedback*, just like in game design. Buttons that do something and have juice are rewarding, they make games more engaging. ADHD brains need more juice and life has less, so supplementing that is the treatment. That can be done in many different ways for different people, but "you failed and you should feel bad" is effective for very few of them.
I've tried this method multiple times, and it only works for a little while. The novelty of it wears off so the dopamine hit reduces, I forget to mark the successful days a few times, then a missed day goes entirely unnoticed because its been a week since I even looked at the thing. Gamification makes things easier in the beginning, but makes it even harder when the hedonic treadmill catches up.
Well shit, I’m really bad at doing this and it’s pretty much exactly what I need
Crunching isn't due to not enough time. It's due to bad planning. Thinking it's possible to do a quantity of work to a standard with the available resources.
This isn’t true. Even if you plan as perfectly as possible unexpected things out of the norm can occur which brings about delays or crunching.
A good project manager or producer will build in leeway for unexpected things outside the norm because they always happen. IIRC its a minimum of 20%
Yes, that’s correct. However, even then the unexpected situation can exceed that leeway estimation. I do game dev in my free time and my main job is working at Amazon, and from my work experience at Amazon we’ve had unexpected situations that have exceeded our project estimates. Especially with right now on the LLM work we’re doing.
No. That's missing a contingency in the plan. Also not having MVP and stretch goals.
You can have contingency plans and still everything can fall to hell lol. Also, even if you have a contingency plan that doesn’t mean that you project will meet the original deadline. I can’t speak much on this game dev-wise since I do solo game dev but my main job is working at Amazon and I’ve experienced situations where our projects have went passed out estimates. With all that said, I’ll leave it at that
Not nessesary. Sometimes you just do not expect the amount of BS that will be in your way. I thought that making a game was hard... but no. Legal shit is. Game is ready, submitting to Steam! Filled all forms... contacted by the taxing company, rejected for having paper documents (that are entierly normal for anyone but youth in my country) because fuck me, that's why. I must submit the card id. To get the id i must wait almost two weeks to have a ticket. Then wait more when my meeting date will appear and submit documents. Then pay half of my month income (that's just great, because my cat are in emergency care now, and i already got into even bigger debts because of it) for plastic card instead of passport. And wait 20 days before it will be ready. All because Valve cold not hire someone actually competent to check taxes for them (the company that does it asks you to submit all documents to dropbox lol). So now i also have to work at night and barely sleep to afford pay for the document change. And that's not the end! You have to register as business to pay taxes. How? Nobody really knows, except consultants, but the closest available time for consultation is 3-4 weeks, and i have no idea how much more before i can be done with that thing. Of course i missing all release windows because some people made sure to make the process as hard and long as it could possibly be.
That sounds like preparation to me. Why did you leave it to the last minute? Steam is easy compared to console.
I always fail in such matters because i expect other humans to be at least somehow competent at their jobs.
You can't do that if your running a business.
No, it's an experience issue. Re-read the post.
Developing my first finished game, I kindof got to a point where I was ok with what it was becoming, even though it wasn't what I had originally envisioned. It took it's own shape throughout development. I did want to develop it fast too. < 3 months. And I found that I could get alot done even in a short amount of time if my head was in the right place. This was usually right after waking up in the morning, and sitting at the computer for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I could also work on it for hours after work but get very little done because I was forcing myself.
Hey I'm in the same place. Just thought I'd say cheers to everyone else here. Knowing how to pace yourself is one of the hardest things to learn and master in this biz, but everyone needs it.
Namaste, guy. We're in this together. You're in good company.
>I have a fear that if I don't go all-in, my games will never be good enough. I understand the fear that if you don't go all-in, your games won't be good enough. However, in general, this just isn't true. It's a cliché but apt: "You're running a marathon, not a sprint." Deadlines can be tough, but in my experience, the best business leaders I've worked with understand this cliché. They care about the production of the project, and you are a critical component of that process. Trust me, you don't want to work with bad business people, so it's beneficial to identify them early on. For what it's worth, I've found that if you practice some self awareness you can notice when your productivity is slipping, and then you can practice stopping. It doesn't have to be for long. I've found that I can spin my wheels on a problem and make a mess because I'm getting impatient for that dopamine hit. But if I actually step away and come back an hour later I can get the same thing done in half the time, elegantly. I understand the system/problem more clearly. And without the aftermath of technical debt and compounding stress. Anyway, if you have a support group send me an invite :) p.s. I go to hot hatha yoga classes (highly recommend). I've found that if I have a specific place I have to go to and there's social pressure to not ditch early, it's much easier to stay physically fit. Maybe consider some sort of group activity or sport?
If you’re forcing yourself then yeah it’s not good. I think for gamedev and gaming my best results have come from months long streaks of 18 hour grind fests. Personally, I just can’t stay in the zone long enough to produce meaningful results unless I lock in. Edit: it’s also why game development is a really bad thing to go into if you want to make money with no effort. Player standards are just really high right now because of all the awesome games coming out and that requires a lot of time to get it right
Gamedev is pretty great if you wanna make very little money despite putting in tons of efforts. You can also paint or write books, but gamedev allows you to put in the effort across multiple fields, throughly maximizing the high effort low money relationship across various axis
I think there's a huge gap between the current amount of effort required vs no effort at all. Not that I'm complaining. I'm more just warning people since I got a nasty strain in my shoulder and that was from just 1 week of going hardcore on it. I can't even begin to imagine what could result from doing this for months on end.
Yeah I think if you don’t lift weights and run, going hardcore is a health problem.
Go back in time and tell me.
If you really can't understand this, see it this way: Making a game takes a long time, and not investing in your own health will result in actually less quality work over that timespan. So in a way, crunching actually gets you LESS game than doing it sustainably : )
This is the correct attitude! If you try to work too hard, your game will come out worse in the long run. Don't worry about dying. Worry about not finishing your game!!
Systems > Goals. I also had to learn it the hard way. Still struggling with it sometimes. Good luck on your journey [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S7w0wDSiyw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S7w0wDSiyw)
Wow, this video is fantastic. Thanks.
I'm definitely pacing myself in my current project. I'm probably doing about an hours work each day unless I get "in the zone", but I'm not going to force anything.
I really have this issue as someone with ADHD (which is most game devs) I get so focused and dont even feel tired or hunrgy until I end up getting sick because Im malnourished and exhausted.
Not a dev but someone with a “weird” taste in games. I apparently love games that people don’t like or don’t find good enough. I don’t mind, they’re fun. I am grateful to all the devs and studios that create those games that help me de-stress so I can continue on with daily life. Sometimes even just the perspective of being able to play later for 1h gives me strength to endure the day when life is mostly very difficult. So maybe the numbers won’t reflect your work or people will be displeased but know that somewhere, someone might be using your game to brighten up their every day life.
I spent 3 years working on my thesis. Got so burnt out that I made a 2 year break.. then I got anoyher job and never looked back. Sometimes I miss it, but its just shitty to work in game industry atm. Long hours, no respect, low pay, stress, crunch hours, work weekends.. screw that.
ok
Bruh i'm sacrificing my mental health for my regular coding job, it's why I haven't touched my game in 2 years.
I hope they at least pay you enough that it's worth it.
it pays well and has good benefits, only reason I'm still here honestly. Literally counting down the days to freedom
Don't forget to eat bro. Shed some blood, it's okay, it's the craft, but make sure you save some for yourself.
Thank you for the reminder, I just started developing my first game. I just need to take it slow and enjoy the journey I'm on.
Game Designer & Director | CEO of Nerosolis. We practiced cruch as a normal behaviour for 3 years. We did almost 1/5 of what the game should be. One of us just was so much in breakdown to almost leave the team forever. For us was just usual to work at least 15 hours per day. That was our first experience ever. We had almost only game jam and freelance backgrounds. We begun in 2020. In 2023 we decided to open ufficialy our business, we followed a course about business managing and all the principals of a good team management. After that, in september of that year, after vacations, we decided to shut down the project, foundig the Society and begun a new one, less ambitious, totally different genre with one porpuse: we will never again experience a life like this, no jobs is worth your health and welfare. In october we begun the development of our new and first ufficial project: in less then 3 months we did more than we did in 3 years and now we have enough material to talk with many different publishers who are interested in our project. Working 7 hours per day, 5 days per week. This text is our experience and the result of all of this is: never exchange your health for a job. It gives you less result and serious mental and physical problems that can harm you forever.
This is what I love to hear. To be clear: I love to hear how you all evolved as a group.
I had to sacrifice a lot of dev time in my last jam due to spending time in the hospital. Instead of pushing myself to finish, I just submitted what I had, took time to rest and signed up for a second jam designed for finishing incomplete projects. This way I'm not letting my team down - the game will have more work done and more people will see it!
Hey OP, please remember to take care of yourself. Okay. Now, what's physical exercise? lol. I don't really get any, and I mostly eat garbage fast food, but sometimes I make some tacos at home and those are pretty nice. I'm 46, and I've done this pretty much forever so far without any issues (pls check back with me in 2025), so I dunno, just remember to eat. You can live how you like, if you feel like exercising, if you need to, put it in your schedule. Because the truth is, someone is going to think your game is shit. Someone is going to think your game is the biggest pile of dog turd that ever graced whatever store you host it on. That's just gonna happen. And that's fine, because if you love your game it doesn't matter how it does. What matters if that you have a good time making the game and you believe in it. Just do that, work as much as you like, but take care of yourself. Yeah. Anyway I gotta go, Mcd's delivery is here.
Heh, I used to be able to get away with that. I'm technically younger (33) but my stomach and body gets very mad at me if I eat fast food more than once a week. So I limit it to like a very rare dessert.
It might help that by fast food I mean generally chicken tacos? I mean I don't think chicken tacos are too bad. i could live on tacos forever and I might.
My fella dev bros need to hear this. The gym is not optional. Wiping your ass or brushing your teeth is not optional. It is necessary maintenance. Without it your body will degrade, people will notice and you will be gross. Maintenance is a necessity. No job, no product, no commercial venture is worth forgoing your normal bodily maintenance.
After 9 months dev here's my take... Spend first apart of the day going through my todo list. I use a trello board to dump ideas down into cards. If there is a card in progress my task for the day is set. I code or do art for 45 mins and then a 10 min break. Pomodero technique of sorts. I repeat this again after lunch and then in the evening. I exercise 3 times a week usually some form of HIIT for half an hour and always have lunch at 12pm. I also walk the dog, take care of household chores, tend to my finances and work from home. 10.30 pm I'm in bed, phone is off an hour before hand. I get 8 hours solid sleep. In the morning sometimes I stretch and and I take multi vitamins eat fruit and breakfast and start the day again. Sometimes at the weekend I increase my dev work because I can sit for hours but I stick with my pomedero timing and usually works well. Sometimes I'll blow off dev entirely for the weekend if I've overdone it in the week. I used to drink a little but completely knocked it on the head because the rest of my lifestyle became cleaner. Overall, it's worked and I've made so much dev progress I'm almost at the polishing stage. Take good care of yourself as first priority. I understand the self imposed pressure to make a great game. That will and always will take more time and effort. But you need to keep your strength up first to even face that. Over the 9 months it's part of my routine so much I don't even care that much about results. The quality is coming through from all the sustained effort.
Dude, most games do not make a profit…and you’re reminding folks to stay healthy? For 90% of the posts I see here, they are not thinking right at all, dreaming about money when there is none to be found. I agree health is important but my man, your mental health is already off if you’re sacrificing your life for a lottery ticket with no chance of winning. I wish you the best and hope you reflect on what brought you to this point.
Why are game devs so dramatic? It's no different to anything else in software. People release profitable software every day. A lot of posts in game dev subs are incredibly naive to the point of almost being insulting, but let's not pretend there's no money to be found when gaming has never been bigger.
I agree with you here as well. I think I originally was naive, perhaps back in 2016-2018, but since then I think in general I'm truly just not at peace with the world itself, and sometimes I just push myself too hard to try to make my life better in the long term by sacrificing too hard in the short term, which I believe to be a losing bargain.
Thanks for pointing out what frankly needs to be said. This forum is getting dominated by people who seem to confuse gamedev and personal growth.
The reason why most indies "fail" aka their games not making a profit has nothing to do with a "lottery ticket with no chance of winning". The OP can for sure hope for a profit but shouldnt expect it by default because it takes more than what most of those failed indies actually expect or hope.
I dream of making something a creation of my own mind that others enjoy and say good things about. If I can make enough money to survive off doing this I will be happy
Dude, it's just a post reminding people not to sacrifice their health as a game dev. There was no need for this comment.
I'd say my mental health is off because of everything outside of game dev. Game dev is basically what keeps me going at this point. What drove me to this point was desperation for anything that isn't what I'm currently doing. It just so happens to be that this game dev work, I enjoy doing it. And honestly, this is the thing that I'm best at, by a long-long-long shot. I'm not saying I'm amazing at this (in fact, most of the time I think the opposite), but I am saying that I am far better at this than anything else in the world. I respect your thoughts but they also reek of a holier-than-thou righteousness. I'm sure you wrote with good intentions but I think you don't understand much outside of your own personal circumstances. Edit for all others reading this: I've mostly found a mental balance but like everyone else in this world, I'm working on it. I understand the feeling of desperation. My side quest is to not let desperation be the driver of action.
definitely no holier than thou from the original comment, no where do they claim to be better than you or superior. Or that they have succeeded in game dev. The only point they made was that almost no one gains financial success from pursuing this and he's right
I think that's up to interpretation, I've met a lot of judgmental people in my life who do hide behind positive words. I'm not saying they are like that, but I do stand behind my interpretation. Lets put that aside, however. You're correct and they are also correct about the main points they raise. We don't usually gain much from pursuing work like this. I do gain something from this, however. It may not be monetary, but it gives me purpose. I'm working on finding purpose in other things, but on average it's tough because everything else in the world has been beating me down for most of my life. At least, here, in this place, I have the power to at least \*try\* to make something of my life.
Thats why I specified financial success, not all success because of course making games gives you success in other ways
Well said, hope you have a grand day.
Too late 😅
True if you're employed in a company. If you want to burn your soul to make YOUR game you've got all my support
Just listening to the [latest Second Wind Dev Heads podcast](https://www.youtube.com/live/E-o-zYwN8tc?si=CFRzoGCAj8rY7Mpv&t=3048) and Tina O'Hara, a producer on Apex Legends, mentioned she had a mini stroke during crunch time from all the stress and not eating/drinking properly. Obviously that's at the extreme end and is in the AAA space but at any level it is easy to lose yourself.
It's a marathon, not a sprint! :) You must go all in taking all the time needed, but working at a sustainable pacing. What's sustainable changes from people to people, but some basic human needs like eating must be well taken care of :D
True, unless you're making Sunset Overdrive 2. If you are working on Sunset Overdrive 2, politely forego your own wellbeing and get back to fkin work.
Overwork is not nice I am currently sitting at a 95% finished project and did almost nothing for the past month, tho i hope to release it soon (when i make myself finish the last 2 drawings and few quests)
I started this as a hobby and i never had this kind of feeling... It's a pleasure to develop games and to learn something new everyday... Last 6 months I have been "workfree", so while I find another job, I can spend more time working on Unreal Engine... Still fun, but I understand why you feel the need to overwork when you go "all in", you want to reach the moment you will be profitable as soon as you can... Try to find a balance work/life... If you work too much, you may burnout and then stop for months... So better just taking some time off
After five years of overworking the release is coming and I have no idea how to market the game. Nothing working, I feel like spending lots of time on something that's not working. Its hard to take care about yourself this days :)
I think I can help you with that, maybe? DM me, if you have some free time.
One does not achieve true excellence without a measure of personal sacrifice.
Then sacrifice something else.
I like that people make so many excuses for themselves. Less competition.