I even get a lot of messages about how Sally Face has helped people get through dark moments or helped them be more comfortable with themselves. Another great motivator is the fans and how much they’ve connected to my work. “If need be, I’ll switch tasks for a while or even work on another project for a little bit, in order to build up the energy for the less desirable tasks ahead. Sometimes even little moments like when a character has all their animations and then it starts to feel like a real game.” For one, I think about how satisfying it is to see the project come to life. There are a few things that keep me motivated to push through the challenges and boring parts. Be that working on a challenging bug or some technical hurdle or just tasks you don’t like doing in general. “There are definitely days when it’s harder to make progress on the game. How do you stay motivated through (years of) development? I rely heavily on my own intuition when developing games.” I also like to do some concepts early on to get a feel for the soul of the game and refine a direction that feels right. Then I’ll take that little plant and water it with more consideration, brainstorming, research and lots of little notes on various ideas. I think about game concepts a lot so there will likely be a nice seed to start with that’s been planted a few years ago and already starting to sprout. When I’m ready for a new project, I look over all of the game ideas I have (too many) and see what’s resonating most with me at that time. “Generally, if an idea really strikes me or sticks with me long enough then I’ll jot it down in my notes. Some things may just be completely out of reach and you’ll need to narrow your scope accordingly.” Sal uses his handheld video game system to speak with the dead and learn their stories. ‘Simple’ tasks could end up taking a long time for you to first learn the skill required to do said task. The need to learn new skills, new programs, tools, etc also feeds back into the time issue. You’re only one person and only have so many skills to lean on. “The other pitfall of limitations can be seen as negative or positive, depending on the situation. You’re only one person, so you need to narrow your scope accordingly I did that for years before I finally got a burn out and adopted a more healthy work / life balance.” At least for me, in the beginning I was a really bad workaholic – working like 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week. To the point of neglecting your personal life. It takes much longer to complete a game on your own, for obvious reasons, and it’s often easy to become too absorbed with the work. “Two of the biggest pitfalls of working solo are time and limitations. What are the biggest pitfalls of working solo? So creating the soundtrack was a lot of fun and something new for me.” For example, I had never really created music before, outside of some high school metal bands. Another thing is exploring new territory. It’s also nice to jump between whatever task you feel like working on that day and having your own schedule in general. I think having one person create every aspect of the game really gives it a unique quality or feeling that’s maybe more difficult to replicate with large teams. “You have complete creative freedom and control to fully realize your vision. What are the biggest advantages of working solo? We only have so long on this planet and I didn’t want to waste any more time not creating the things I wanted to be creating.” I founded a small indie team several years prior to this and I quickly realized I had too many ideas I wanted to bring to fruition and time was ticking. I was ready for the challenge of handling every aspect of development and excited to build something bigger and more personal. “It came at a time in my life when I really needed a creative outlet that I could call my own.
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