To all the Teenage-Game-Tycoons out there :)
Someone posted on the XNA Forums about how all of his projects gradually slowed down and finally ground to a halt far from being finished and far from being anything like what he was striving for.
The original post was deleted while I was responding - but since I know there are many TGT's out there I thought I'd post it here.
If you're a TGT - this one's for you!
"Well if you want to hear my solution:
Do a little and do it well
Start out simple - but finish it!
If you have to create XNA-tic-tac-toe or XNA-Pong for you to finish a complete game including titlescreen, options and help, then by all means DO THAT
Better to have a fully finished game to show off, expand and learn from than 20 barely-begun projects laying around.Be proud of what you do - because YOU did it!
This has worked for me in many endeavors.
Continually praise yourself saying "well done - you finished another sprite/method/class/level" and remind yourself of how far you've gotten on this project.
It is really a benefit to have high thoughts about what YOU produce - even despite what others may think or compare your games to.Join hands - it just makes for better results
Only start something by yourself if you are content with failure or another "draft-gone-prealpha-gone-stale"
Find someone on the forums to make your first little game with. All gameprogrammers started small, but very few got to where they are today without the moraleboost of being in a group.Go get'em tiger!
Kind regards - Jakob "xnaFan" Krarup"
January 29th, 2010 at 19:17
Don't forget the final rule here... specifically for XBLIG
Just becuase its finished doesn't mean it HAS to end up on marketplace... finishing is the important thing, not actually publishing or making money.
February 5th, 2010 at 03:33
I need to start listening to these rules myself... 😛 I have been programming for 5 years in c++ and one year in xna, and I have never finished a game. Really sad right? 😛