Throwing The Towel In

[TheMinder]

I have very little time to myself due to the demands of real life, but the GP2X got me enthused enough to want to do a few little projects from start to finish

I had never used SDL before so knocked something together fairly quickly that although very limited did work, and so you then start to think of the next thing and the next thing and the next ......

Made a conscious decision not to start 100 things and never finish any of them and planned something out in my head, started on it, made decent progress and then the inevitable happens - FREETIME VANISHES

Just a general conversation thread this really, but when do others decide it's time to abandon a project ?

Do you give up as soon as a new idea pops into your head or do you battle on to the bitter end even if it takes you 4 years to make something that is pretty much going to end up unused anyway ?

Although it pains me, here's a glimpse at the source of my frustrations :

I'll go back to banging my head against my desk now - thanks for listening :blink:

 

[gaterooze]

For me, an unfinished project is never abandoned... just put on hold

 

[Wite_Noiz]

For me, an unfinished project is never abandoned... just put on hold

I agree.

I have so many unfinished projects, it's not even funny.
Mostly it's because a new project comes along that takes my interest, but I find I stop putting time in to projects once they reach a functional stage if I don't get any feedback.
I code the core functionality until it works, if nobody mentions anything else and nothing bugs me about it, I stop. Sometimes I go back, but I've generally got another hundred projects by then

Since my GP2X projects are still young, and it's a challenging system to code for, I'm hoping the same won't happen with them.
The fact the sceners are so eager to try new things and give feedback will help a lot.

 

[clarky2o2o]

you could always pass your "work" onto somebody else. and let them report back to u what progress has been made after all the gp2x is based on a community.

 

[DaveN]

I usually have a lot of unfinished projects on the harddisk. Usually they're abadoned and then never touched again until they're getting lost on a killed hard disk which has to get reformatted.

And in the last time, I'm more like "Come On! Finish That Project!". But it may be hard to actually sit on infront of your screen for three hours without having any idea where that bug comes from. But as soon as you've got that, it's a really good feeling. So I'm just trying to concentrate and not to give up.


Edit: What's really helpful not to give up is to a) work in a team or B) do all by yorself and change the work. Like one day on the music, the other day the graphics, then write the readme, then code, then make some good screenshots etc.

 

[skeezix]

Time can be _very_ hard to come by, so it depends on you .. myself, I have a half dozen homebrew things on the go from small to large; the important thing for me is to keep organized 'enough' so that when I do get scraps of time I can use it effectively. For homebrew I find it is sufficient to keep a change-request log..

ie:

All of my projects I keep a running "CHANGES" file (just a text file in the main project directory, wherever the makefile or project-file is.) that lists all changes applied, by category; FIX, CHG, NEW, REM (remark), and also "INT" (for internal or private stuff that is so fiddly no one else cares); this log is required so when you get back to something you know what you have done recently "editted audio callback" is enough to let you know that three weeks later when you play with it and the audio sucks, you can say "I must've broken it last time".

Also keep a TODO file (or at the top of your changelog) with ideas, requirements and suggestions, and prioritize them.

So when you do get a scrap, open up your log(s) and say "I know what I want to do next" and "heres what I did last time".

Goal:
1) Easier to pick up
2) Don't keep crap on your head; as a time management nerd who works 80+ hours a week, (2) is vital

jeff

 

[Dzz]

when do others decide it's time to abandon a project ?

When I start to dread working on it instead of looking forward to it.

Finishing and releasing something is a pretty big boost, so near the end of a project even if the tasks are not really that much fun at least you know there will be a reward soon.

For a hobbyist, unless you have amazing focus, I'd say that if you don't think you'll finish a project in a month or two given a realistic estimate of your free time, don't even start it because you'll start to hate it before it's half done.

 

[TheMinder]

I've been ill so it's given me a bit of extra time to myself and so i got a wriggle on

Needs a menu, music, hiscore sorting and then tidying up but at least i feel i've made some progress

I know DZZ mentioned in another thread how he likes to know how projects are getting on and i know other folks are just plain nosey so if you want a sneaky looksee the current state can be downloaded from http://www.getrighteous.co.uk/SO_FAR.rar

The whole thing may make more sense with the finished readme but you can use the joystick to slide or Y/X/A/B as up/down/left/right and a couple of presses of SELECT should dump you to the memory. Oh and for anyone wanting an easy ride if you alter the settings.cfg to be #0#05#30# even your granny could complete the whole thing

Wouldn't normally post something unfinished but the screenshot had sort of let the horse bolt already

 

[Magnulus]

In the undying words of Captain Taggart:
Never give up!
Never surrender!

 

[thebooboo]

I always start projects with an overly ambitious feature list, then when I can't stand working on them anymore, I work out what the minimum amount of work I would need to do is to make a release-version of the game, then do that work and release it.

I personally find than once you've released something you can get feedback and also take a break from the project yourself without having that nagging "must finish project" feeling. Then you can come back to it later with a fresh perspective.

This approach is the reason why all my games are unbelievably amazing, of course.

 

[Blah]

Yeah, I never give up on my projects, unless I find something cool that does the job. I just put them on a "vacation schedule" as in if you feel like it, work on it.

My problem is that I look at the best, and the best isn't good enough. So I try to make something better and it gets nowhere fast.

 

[darkman]

In the undying words of Captain Taggart:
Never give up!
Never surrender!

Hey! Those are my lines. I said them first. Captain Taggart copied them from me. :lol:

 

[FlowNeppets]

Learn to finish your projects and you will get a winner spirit.

 

[Guyfawkes]

my advice is take a break from it and come back to it when your ready. you dont have a deadline to reach for your own homebrew so it doesnt matter how long it takes as long as it eventually gets finished.

i have the same problem when writing games, while you are coding you start thinking up new ideas for the game. set a limit either for a first release with an aim for future releases with new ideas or a final limit for the first release otherwise you will never finish it

a good example is my deal or no deal game, it started off as a couple of week project six months ago as a break from another game I worked on. its now turned into a massive game that is totally different from my original plans. its good to have new ideas but it can add alot of unplanned work, for me this is what shortens my attention span when working on the game.

hope it helps and good luck on your decision. dont forget, your first release is always the best

 

[muphicks]

Finishing projects is a very good habit to get into, although to do so you need to firstly set realistic goals. By finish I mean compleatly finish, polish the game, add menus, highscores tables the works.

I've been given lots of advice over the years and the vast majority of it has always been, "start small", "push yourself a little at a time" and "finish what you start".

Its amazing how within a month you can have 80% of your game done and still be working on the initial motivation rush, only to see the 80/20 rule kick in and motivation start to drop. Working through that to get the project finished though is really good practice, it gets you into the mindset of always finishing things.

Although as GuyFawkes says, this is a hobby afterall, don't push yourself to the point of breaking, have a break, work on another project if need be.
However, be careful you don't fall into the habit of always taking a break and working on a new project, before you know it you could find yourself 2 years down the line with a boat load of unfinished projects behind you.

I've got many but since taking all that advice onboard I've now also got several finished projects sadly none for the gp2x, but then I've only had it a few days At the end of the day, even when motivation is at an all time low, I now like to keep plugging away on a project. Usually my motivation picks up again and when it doesn't I still get an awesome rush from finally compleating a project...

 

[dedeibel]

I usually stop a project, when I got the feeling it will work.

It seems like there is no more challange and there is another idea inside my head wich
wants to me realized. Wich will also result being dumped after the "core" is written.

Finishing a game is damn hard.

 

[bacteria]

I find it is best to start a project and not start another one until you either finish the last one or give up on it. Define the stages you need to persue for a project - the critical ones are "make or break", overcome these and move onto easier tasks, then put them all together. If you can't do the critical parts of the project, no matter what, then give up. It doesn't matter how long it takes, you know how long you are prepared to devote to it after all.

I am a tenacious person, if I don't succeed one way, I try another until I get the result I want; if I can't find an answer no matter what, I give it up and forget about the project, put it to experience (saves a lot of time) and move to the next one. If I subsequently find the answer, I may pick up on it again from afresh. Better that than a load of unfinished projects (now that is a waste of time!)

 

[Parkydr]

Why are you digging up this old topic.

It's dead! It's an ex-topic ...

Just let it rest in peace

 

[shrubberyrobbery]

Why are you digging up this old topic.

It's dead! It's an ex-topic ...

Just let it rest in peace

nah. it was 80% complete and then the fun went out of it, so it just got put on the shelf for a while