I am halfway through my Game Design Document and I am consistently struggling with how much I believe I’ve given myself, how small a timeline I have, and whether I am equipped to complete this work.
I have the skills to be able to complete the work I have set out, but it is very easy to be ambitious about what I could attain. It is very easy to bite off more than I can chew. It is very easy to fall because I flew too close to the sun. I end up feeling like I am not meant to do this. That I don’t know what I’m doing. and I start to over think things.
This terrifies me.
How can I maintain focus when I’m worried about whether I’m skilled enough to handle the task?
“Am I doing this right? Should I really add this feature? Do I really think I can code this AI as I describe it? Do I really think I can do this? “
As someone working on this on his lonesome, I have to walk the difficult tightrope of what is (and isn’t) a useful addition to the game.
(Photo Credit: Murilo Foglosi)
At this point my anxiety flares up. A mixture of uncertainty of purpose and impostor syndrome.
Scope is what you must include in your project.
Boundaries are the limits to what you are allowed in your project.
In order to maintain focus as a solo developer, One must ensure that your scope is rigid and within one’s capabilities. Your boundaries only ensure that what you wish to include does not affect your ability to complete the project you have set off for.
The problem I’m facing is this: my boundaries are far more porous than I intended. There is always the chance to tweak a proposed feature that may allow for more complications than I initially planned. What started out as simple Ludo board game has turned into a game in the same vein as Civilisation.
Having a simple core set of features that will work will obviously bring a sense of accomplishment, but more features are a better draw (or so folks assume).
Core gameplay being good on it’s own can make game play fun. A perfect example would be Super Mario 64 where months of development time was spent ensuring the movement mechanics would be so precise to the point of being used as a measuring stick for future Mario games, and 3D platform games in general.
On the flip-side, being a feature rich game (say Elder Scrolls Oblivion) may make gameplay enjoyable purely due to how expansive play is… even though that leaves your game a bug ridden, constantly re-patched and modded mess
I don’t have an answer to handling feature-creep as of yet. One solution I have is a “Cursed Earth” principle where I throw away ideas I categorically will not add to the game.
I don’t have an answer to deal with my anxiety about it. I may just have to power through, as scatterbrained as I am right now.
HomeKick Games 
You can do it, Teddy!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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