Month: June 2016

Distractions

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Distractions can be devastating.  Distractions can turn a whole day with a clear schedule for getting a lot of work done into a day wasted on Reddit. One downside to being your own boss is that you have to be your own boss… If you’re not a good self motivator, not having someone nagging constantly to get back to work or direct concentration can cause wasted days. A few wasted days here and there can quickly stack to make for wasted weeks, and weeks can turn to months.

At times I have the attention span of a goldfish. Just after writing that I got distracted and looked up the attention span of goldfish, apparently goldfish have a longer attention span than me.
Even when I write about not getting distracted about something I get distracted. I’m honestly surprised I ever get anything done, no matter how small. I can get distracted by anything, the paperclips next to me are distracting, it’s crazy. Alas, I do have some tips to stay on track.

For me, music selection can be a huge distraction. If it’s too interesting, It makes me lose focus because I end up thinking about the music more than the task at hand. Music that works for me seems to be something I can put on and forget about. A pair of headphones with Infected Mushroom on seems to work wonders for me. Podcasts or tv shows are the worst for productivity. At best you get some of what needs to be done and have partial knowledge of what’s happening on Game of Thrones. At worst you spend all day watching tv and get nothing done.

Before I saw the light I would scoff at making to do lists, but they really do work. They work for me because I’m forgetful and constantly need reminding. I can start working on something and completely forget what I was doing and end up staring at a screwdriver for 5 minutes. Lists are also helpful because they show progress. Even if you get only get a couple of little things done, just the act of crossing the items off the list can boost morale. Having lists help direct the important work that needs to be done instead of aimless, non important work.

Having scheduled forced breaks help clear the mind. Often time’s I can be stuck on a problem that I’ve been working on for hours. After  taking a break and coming back I fix the problem in minutes. Even if I’m focused and in the zone, if I’ve been working 8-10 hours my brain will be fried and any progress I make will be trash. My brain could be fried and I wouldn’t even realize it.

These are a few ways to stay focused and I’m sure there are many more, but I just found a video on how floss is made.

Starting a Game Company

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So you want to start a game company and you think you have what it takes?  Great! I will be going over just some of the skills involved.

Assuming you are starting from scratch(like me) and you are planning on being a one person dev team, here are some many jobs that go into making just one game:

  • Programmer
  • Graphical artist
  • Audio engineer
  • Game design
  • Level design
  • Producer

And that’s just to name a few. That’s a LOT of work to put in for just one person and one game. There are also other things involved many might not consider:

  • Social media
  • Accounting
  • Advertising
  • Web design, web hosting, SEO,ETC.
  • Setting company up/legal info

Every one of these categories one could spend hours upon hours upon hours in a rabbit of of research and work. For example, to set up this website I had to buy a domain, pay for web hosting, learn how to set all of it up, learn WordPress and set it up. Just the website alone could be a full time job by itself, but It’s just one small aspect of the company for me right now. Once I start bringing in money I can probably afford to pay other people to do the work for me(if I choose). As of right most of my skills aren’t where I want them to be(this site included) but they are already much better than they were even a year ago.  I believe it’s a “jack of all trades, master of none” deal, But I honestly believe will make me a valuable asset now/in the future.

One good thing about all the work involved is that if i get burned out one one aspect of the company, I can switch gears and work on something else. There are a lot of things involved that I can obsess over. For example, if I get tired of trying to perfect the UI, I can get on the website and try  and figure out how to get more than -7 people a day to view it. I like the freedom involved knowing I can work on what I choose. So far the extra work seems worth it.

I’m not trying to discourage anyone to try their hand at game making, just trying to give a realistic view. That being said, this is a great time to be in the “game” (heh). Most things you will have to learn already have established communities meaning there are plenty of people wanting to help you through your problems.  I am always amazed that how weird or obscure my problem seems to be, I can almost always find a solution by making a quick google search. And if I can’t find what I need, asking a question in my community of choice will land me a quick solution.

While I currently feel pretty burdened with everything involved in creating a company I think it will get much easier because one only has to start a company once and overcome the hurdles involved once. After that, it’s just using the knowledge already gained.