On Deadlines
October 24th, 2006As you may or may not have already gathered, I’m the kind of person who thrives on deadlines. No matter how driven and motivated I am to do something, I end up procrastinating it forever unless someone gives me a specific date on which to complete the project in question. Then, I’ll do anything and everything in my power to get it done.[1]
One thing that bothers me about my amateur game development methods is that I take too long to finish. As I said elsewhere, the fact that I even finish things at all is something I’m proud of myself for doing; however, with both games I’ve created so far, I’ve spent an average of two and a half years just getting to the point of finished. And when I tell people I spent two and a half years making something, they tend to actually expect quality, when the fact is, my games are about the same quality as other amateur games that were made in only a few months, due to me procrastinating so much.
I want to make more games. Not long, drawn-out, overly-ambitious epics that will revolutionize gaming as we know it, but short, quirky, fun, experimental little things that enable me to turn my abstract ideas into something that people can see and be amused by. If I’m ever going to be the talented professional game designer I strive to be, I’m going to need to practice my craft like crazy, and having more things to show for it will definitely help.
So, here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to set myself a deadline. On November 23, 2006,[2] I am going to release something short, quirky, fun, and maybe slightly experimental on this website. There’s a chance that I may fail miserably, but given my obsession with meeting deadlines, it might actually give me the creative push and shove that I need.
We shall see…
- That’s right, unlike the late Douglas Adams, I don’t particularly enjoy the whooshing sound that deadlines make as they pass me by. I always have the sudden urge to hop into the speedy vehicle of my choice and chase after them. Sadly, because I’m not all that great of a driver, I tend to run over a few innocent pedestrians in the process. It’s not good. ↩
- Which, coincidentally, happens to be the twenty-first anniversary of my umbilical cord severance. ↩
October 24th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
I’ll be looking forward to it!
October 24th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
I also recognize myself quite a bit in your description. Sure, I have plenty of good and valid excuses to why I don’t get more work done (the work I get paid to do and a nasty cold currently combine to make my current game developing close to 0), but when I look back on the making of Frasse I find that getting the ball rolling may have been the largest part of the two-year development time. The “figuring out how to do these things I’ve never done before” (such as animating, or making images with colour that could work as backgrounds) was another time-consuming part of it, but procrastinating? Guilty without reasonable doubt. (Or is it within reasonable doubt?)
It’s odd that we procrastinate on something we love doing so much.
October 24th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
November is National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org), started in America but apparently something of a global quest now. It sounds like you are attempting something of a “Personal Game Writing Month” (PerGaWriMo?). Good luck with that.
October 24th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Actually, NaNoWriMo is definitely an inspiration (I thought of doing it last year but didn’t because I had too much school stuff to attend to), as is MAGS (AGS’s monthly game-making competition). What I’m planning on doing is sort of a hybrid of both, seeing as I like to run away from the pack and would rather set my own deadlines and constraints than have them dictated for me.
October 24th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Marking it on my calendar! And it’s not an arbitrary date anymore. If you don’t have something by the 23rd, I’ll be complaining and whining like a real fan!
October 24th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
BTW, you’re still better than Apogee and Duke Nukem Forever…
October 25th, 2006 at 2:29 am
I’m exactly the same, I need deadlines too.
One problem is that there are so many things I’m working on and I want each and every one of them to get finished. That means I’m usually constantly busy working on one of them, but that way it takes ages for each individual project to make progress. And having little spare time doesn’t help either
Good luck with the deadline, let’s hope you don’t let down your cord.
October 25th, 2006 at 4:13 am
I’m not even going to comment on this topic. Just pretend I didn’t write this.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Erwin! Shouldn’t you be working on Bad Timing?
October 25th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
I’m not here!
October 26th, 2006 at 3:53 am
Hey, anyone else hear that sound? I could’ve sworn I heard something (and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a deadline) *suspicious smiley*
October 27th, 2006 at 1:03 am
I’d have to agree with you on the importance of deadlines, I can’t get anything done without them as well. I would also like to point out in your first footnote that very few pedestrians can actually be classified as “innocent.”
October 27th, 2006 at 1:21 am
Whoa! ComradeNarf! Seems like all my favourite internet buddies from back in the SCRAMM days keep finding their way to this website. Cool.
Regarding the pedestrians, yes, it is true that not many pedestrians are innocent; however, given my luck with driving, it is very likely that the ones I’d end up killing would be the ones who are, in fact, innocent.
Also, I am now very, very curious as to what is going to be on getjovial.com…
October 30th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Tim Schafer recommends TV when procrastinating. And doing the dishes, because that’s useful. Walk around aimlessly and get a little exercise. Stare at the ceiling. That looks really thoughtful to others.
(I’ve been re-listening to his talk on characters, available at Gamasutra.)