Losing motivation for Game Dev...

hello hello hello alright guys it's gonna be more of a casual video my name is Thomas brush I'm the creator of a game called pinstripe get a free copy of that game by supporting on patreon you can also all show also which lists my game never song it was formerly called once upon a coma now it's called never song which lists that game below and then finally guys follow me on instagram please and thank you that would be wonderful click the link below I post personal stuff on Instagram more personal stuff than you can ever imagine so head on over to Instagram I'll really mean a lot ok I got a cool question in an email I figured I'll just answer it casually in front of you guys in front of this new camera I got ok so basically it's a long email but it said if you have no know as I say Oh without making this email a short novel I'm really just curious as to what motivates an artist such as yourself

what is the driving force after projects initial glimmer fades that's a really good question what makes you keep pushing forward to finish your project I guess in general what is it as an artist above all that motivates you this is a great question and I figured hey might as well just turn on the camera and answer really quickly so basically there's two ways I'm motivated in a project and I think we need to separate these ways into when a project starts when you're excited and then the motivation when you're bored right and you just want the thing to be done so at the beginning when you're really really excited about a project and right now I'm kind of in that phase because I'm working on my third commercial game when you're really really excited what motivates you is I mean it's different for everybody but I guess I can speak for myself there's something going on in

my head it's probably not a good thing most of the time it's probably some kind of illness like if I went to a doctor they would probably say something off I get really really obsessed with games when I'm starting them I'm really really hyper motivated I'm obsessed and my wife will tell you I'm kind of an asshat when I start a project I'm smiling right now I'm like a really happy guy but when I turn this camera off I'm like let's get this game done I don't care what anyone else has to say I don't care who you are leave me alone I want to make this game and it's terrible right but that's kind of where my motivation is it's very obsessive for those of you who program which is probably the majority of my audience it's it's almost like a four loop in my head like there's a regular update going on normal life and then I hit a four loop and it's basically you know get the game done and then I'll

break the loop right so it gets caught in this loop until I actually understand what the game is another metaphor and maybe some of you can relate is well I went hiking like two months ago and the Sun was setting but I wanted to get to the peak right I just kept going and I kept telling myself I really need to turn around or else it's gonna be pitch-black and I'm not gonna be able to find a way back to my car right it's kind of a similar feeling it's it's uncovering in and constantly exploring what the idea is that's a really exciting feeling and a lot of you probably know how that feels well you don't really know what your game is and you just have to get an idea of what your game is what is this thing in my head you can feel it it's like a subconscious feeling something's there excuse me I'm burping something is there but you just don't know exactly what it is it's like an itch that you just got a scratch to figure out what the game is

now the sad thing is is that once you figure out what the game is how it feels what the soundtrack is like what's what are the graphics what's the story what are the game mechanics once you hit that moment where you go this is what the game is and you have a demo or a prototype and it works then it's time to just get it done so that's this next part of the answer to this question what motivates me during the portion of the game's development that when and when it's sort of boring when you're just getting things done man what motivates me honestly is money or reviews positive reviews or acclaim or praise or that feeling of maybe getting a physical copy distributed by a distributor for Nintendo switch or getting a feature very shallow things are I say they're shallow they're perceived as shallow by

purists right people who are purists they look down on us if something motivates us that's very basic and simplistic like money or praise the problem is is that if you're an honest person if you're not living in a fantasy or you know a really unique individual if you're none of that the thing is is that your motivation isn't gonna last forever it's not you're not gonna be excited about your project all the way till the end maybe you will be but if you're if you're like me if you're a normal person you're gonna lose that motivation so don't be worried if you feel like your motivation is something simple like money or praise obviously it shouldn't be that for the majority of the creation of the game but if that's what gets you through and finished to finish your game then I don't care right and you shouldn't feel guilty now the thing is is that if those of you if some of you are watching this video you're thinking well I don't ever really have that motivation like I might be excited

about my game but once I get bored I don't get motivated by money or anything like that well for me the reason one of the primary motivators is money and that sounds terrible but the reason why I have that motivation is actually a good thing which is or a good reason it comes from having a family I have a wife and a daughter I have a dog who's laying right over there and he needs his puppy chow or whatever what do you eat Jen well he lately he eats diapers which those are expensive right Jeff but yeah I have motivation to pay the bills I have a house I have like insurance to pay which that's getting expensive health insurance so there's plenty of things that I have that I bear on my shoulders and I don't have an option to quit my games right the company that I've built requires me to finish my games I don't have a choice

and that's a beautiful thing it's kind of like if you just jumped off a cliff how are you gonna survive the fall what are you gonna do you have no other choice but to survive you know you can't think back about being on the cliff in safety I'm not saying be unwise and stupid right that might be a bad metaphor but I am saying if you have a passion in a excitement to start a company or build a family or buy a house and you have the opportunity to do so but you're scared of that responsibility it's time to go for it you know kind of I hate to say it but grow up mature be responsible you know don't be afraid of responsibility bearing a heavy burden on your shoulders because honestly in my opinion that's what life's all about so learn to bear a burden because when you do bear a burden you don't have an option to quit or give up at least you shouldn't right and so for me I just

finished my games I finished my projects whatever I set my mind to I finished because I got people counting on me I have a daughter and a wife and a dog and friends and family who are counting on me so I don't really have an option to quit maybe that's something you should consider maybe you shouldn't have an option to quit it's always important I think it's more important to follow through and finish something finish your game rather than just live in an abstract foggy world where nothing ever gets done and you have no idea where you're going even if you're going with sightless of what's a good metaphor let's say your dream is to hike up a mountain and get to the peak right well it's far it's a foggy rainy day this might be a terrible metaphor well even if you veer off course and you end up in a trailer park at least you figured out where you're going and you and you learned something oh I learned that I got to a trailer park I figured

out why I went in the wrong direction now let's figure out how to get to the peak right at least you got somewhere and you mate and you learn from your mistakes as opposed to just never ever moving right so that's why responsibility is really helpful it pushes you forward even when you don't want to so don't be afraid of bearing responsibility okay I'm done rambling and that's my answer to that question I'm glad I didn't have to type that up in an email to answer this person's question because that would have taken forever all right my name is Thomas brush leave a like leave a subscribe leave a comment and follow me on Instagram that would be awesome bye guys