between your job and rpgmaker

. . .how do you set your time for both?

. . .game developing is a somewhat serious hobby and the result worth the time spent

. . .so, how do you balance them?

. . .i got a call for a new job and took the offer. . .it was after I started my project. . .and now it took most of my time. . .

. . .how do you feel about this change if it happen to you?

I work full-time (40 hours+ a week) and also am developing an RPG Maker game. The way that I make this work is through dedicated time management. If I finish my lunch on my lunch break early, I brainstorm game stuff on my phone. Once I get home, I set a time for chores/cooking dinner/hobbies, then once I'm done, I work on my game. Weekends especially are a good time to set aside for me, and I spend ideally 5-7 hours a day on the game. It's just all about maximizing your time (not stopping to read facebook or browse 4chan saves me a lot of wasted hours) by doing exactly what you need to and NOT multitasking. Despite what most people say about multitasking, it's been proven over and over that you're more efficient when focused on a single task with dedication.

Besides that? Passion. If you really love your project, you'll find any way you can to squeeze it in.

There is a program called Freedom that blocks your internet access for a certain amount of time to help you stay productive. It's a good tool and I use it sometimes. There is also f.lux, a screen tinting program that filters out the harsh blue lights that keep you awake at night so that you can work at night and still be able to fall asleep after.

well RPG maker is my job....... at the moment

not a hobby....

by that i mean i plan on making my living using games i make with RPG maker... 

though i do have a good job working software for the father in law's company

Fortunately for me, I work a job that allows me to work with my project as well as gather resources while I am at work (2 birds with one stone!)

Realistically, 98% of jobs out there don't work that way.  I would say even doing just a little at a time is still progress.  Occasionally set aside a period on a day off to "Grind out" a bunch of the project at once.

The one advantage you have, is the forced break between design periods that can allow you to contemplate new ideas etc.  so on one hand yes, you are at a slight disadvantage compared to before... but on the other hand, the added contemplation time could make for a better overall project!  BD

Answer: Part-time.

Working is boring. I want to make gamez so instead of buying a nice car or travel to Disney I just simply... buy time! How much is your time worth? Life is time. Time I can use to do what I like.

I guess I'm lucky (and a bit of a loser xD) to live in a house with my parents so it's a bit easier (more time!). Gotta set one's priorities straight.

But yeah... basically that, and passion! Though I gotta admit I get a bit lazy from time to time :$

Agreed.  (I am actually at work right now!)   >_>

I too do not actually work with my project directly while here (though I do have my steam copy of Ace here with me on my laptop)... but I take advantage of this time for community participation (obviously) as well as in-depth resource searching and gathering.

I write chunks of game dialogue on my breaks on my iPod, and on particularly slow days I'll brainstorm all sorts of things (character bust poses/expressions, title screen/logo layouts, dungeon layouts, character designs, point form versions of scenes, whatever) on the back of scraps of paper between customers. But really, the biggest key, I think, is what Azura said - learn to get good at time management.

You're going to have to make some sacrifices of your other hobbies though; that's a reality of it. Do be responsible and know your limits and not overwork yourself TOO much - because burn out is no fun at all and can make you lose a lot more time than you'd ever want to lose.

I have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD for short) and because of it I struggle to go out. So I don't actually have a job. But in the new year my Dad and I are going to start buying classic cars to restore and then we'll sell them so that will be my job :) We restored his own classic car earlier this year and now it is in working order again so that's what we'll be doing in the new year.

When I was helping my Dad work on his car we used to start work on it early in the morning and finish about 4-5pm. That gave me plenty of time in the evening to do game creating or anything else i enjoyed in the evenings :) So I guess when we're fixing up classic cars full time my RPG time will work something like that, so mainly in the evenings  :)

I don't sleep much, even now it's around 4:00am over hear in the eastern U.S. I sleep more than I used to (6 hours rather than 5) the other thing is that I can multitask a lot, so I tend to do things like watch youtube while playing hearthstone and working on RPG Maker.

MV games are only webpages, so i have a test project at work and code a bit, when i get the time. I'm more productive at later hours, so i spend some of my early time for MV and my productive time on work.


The downside is, obviously, that i have to work with the JSON files directly, instead of having an editor, but this also helps to learn the internals of the engine more.

The boss of my team - my boyfriend - has trouble balancing work/gaming/developing.

He'll work from 8 - 5 and come home to play a game to relax. It's a physical labor job, so he's always tired. Sadly, he's the main force of the team, so we can't do much without him.

On the other hand I don't work because of Bipolar Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Of course having those two makes it different to work on anything and finish it. ><

I'm a student with a second income of the size of a pocket money.

I hope that at one point in my life I might be able to make my living with my art and comic project, and with my game project. Until then, my priorities lay with the webcomic, as it is the source of my second income. however i always try to find at least one day a week where I spend three to four hours working on my game.

As a full time web developer, I just didn't get any RM done on weekdays beyond bugfixing. As a part-time one now (and uni student again), I get a lot more done.

I try to dedicate one day of the week to do nothing but RM as much as I can until I can't sit at the comp anymore. Usually that day is Saturday for me, though since I don't work regular M - F days sometimes that day can be a Thursday instead. As for the other days, thankfully one of my jobs is all online so I can work on the game and work my job at the same time, as long as I stop what I'm doing when a client logs in. As such, I find that time is good for little tasks like touching up a map, making small edits to the skills, etc.

My work week is usually 60-70 hours per week.

I have a daughter and wife that also net a lot of my availability as well.

Then there is being an adult and adulting (paying bills, chores, etc.)

I volunteer to teach Hyperstream at the local high schools, which is usually about 3-6 hours a week.

There really isn't a plan for when, and how, I use RPG Maker. It just happens, sporadically, without much planning or intent. I do little things here and there and over time it accumulates and becomes something grander.

It's not an easy thing to explain, but ultimately you'll just have to take my word for it. At any moment, while doing pretty much anything, my brain might suddenly click over into game-making mode. I tend to memorize the concepts, or vocalize them with my wife to get a second opinion, and then when I have access to my personal laptop and I'm inbetween meetings / work items / chores / etc. I work on it.

I agree with the working parttime-part, or other forms that steer away from the classic 40 hours 9-to-5 and follow your passions instead. Partiming is slowly escaping it's social taboo and for me it has only advantages. I work part time as a marketeer/webdesigner for a company where i love to work but i have plenty of time to dive in my own passions too. I started a web agency with a friend and though we are still small we have some interesting clients with fun projects. I also have the time for my rpg maker projects and the legal side is taken care of as well this way.

. . .i read all of your replies. . .and i learn something. . .

. . .when you really want to do something you'll always find a way. . .

@gRaViJa: It gets uncomfortable when they offer you more hours to work and you have to say no :p It's not like the pay is big anyway.

 

I think this is pretty much it :p