I struggled for a long time with any creative endeavor. I would have an image in my head, full color and vivid, then put pencil to paper and out would come the scribbles of a little kid. Despite being a little kid, I expected more. It took me a long time to understand the thousands of hours of practice and developing of skill and knowledge that goes into being proficient. Even now, as I am older and wiser, I still find myself with overly ambitious ideas that often lead to frustration.
Now, there is nothing wrong with ambitious, imaginative ideas, but that isn’t the place to start. Now when it comes to my plan to make my first video game, I found some great advice from a YouTube video by Extra Credits. #1 – keep it simple; make any game and play it. #2 – avoid going in with specific ideas. Like I said above, there isn’t anything wrong with having an imaginative idea, but save it for a later effort when you can do it justice. #3 – understand your own limitations and constraints. While I am confident that with the time and motivation, I could learn how to illustrate a game and write music for it, I need to focus on just the game. It is ok to use the work of others (with permission of course). #4 – finish it. Don’t let days drag into weeks drag into giving up. Finish.
So, I want to do something simple. An Endless Runner. Something with few controls, maybe just a jump key, and something that can be played online. If I get a first ‘draft’ going, I’ll post it so people can try it.
Techno Tom 