Feeling like your game sucks

Hello everybody! :)  I like to make games, and to write, but the problem is, I have a lot of issues with both because I start to feel like my game really sucks. Does anybody have any advice for getting over this? It makes me feel like I want to stop working, and it's really tough to keep going sometimes, so I wanted to see if anybody else feels like this sometimes.

Everyone feels this at times and it's 100% normal.  My advice would be to let yourself acknowledge this and move on.  Think "I know I'm feeling like this sucks, but I'll never know for sure until I complete this piece".


Then get yourself to a point where you can get feedback.  As a developer, you are going to "play" your game hundreds and thousands of time.  You can love turkey sandwiches, but if you ate one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for months, your not going to feel the same about eating one, even though they're pretty awesome.  


If in the end there are sections of the game that need improvement, that's fine and great!  Guess what, it would have been worse if you didn't know and could no longer fix it.  Feel discouraged that you don't know how to address it?  Step 1: write the problem down.  I have found that putting my issues in writing often helps me address them as it forces you to coherently identify what isn't working.  If you're still unclear make a post here!  There are tons of people biting at the bit to help!


Best of luck!  I'm almost certain your ideas dont suck.  The thing about game development is that good games don't just have good ideas.  They have well implemented ideas.  The wonderful thing we have at our advantage is that we can take our awesome ideas, and revise implementation until they're perfect!  Keep at it and good luck!

Absolutely, very common. Hey, in a case or two, my game even HAS sucked. :)   Sometimes the flops teach you more than the successes do. I had a game early on (2001 or so) that I spent over $400 on that grossed a total of $21. It taught me a whole lot though.


I think in any creative medium this is a very common affliction. Just keep pushing on, maybe if its ready have a few people test out your game, at least a little of it, and use their feedback to improve it. Compare your game to others of its ilk and type. Be objective.

I have it in a little different way. I do feel my game sucks sometimes, but found the reason, to me is when I play other games I feel my game lose focus. So, while I write my story I try not play any game that has similar approch. I guess I'm so absorbed by other game that I project alot of things in my own game, and well... let's say I'ts hard to compete with "Tales of". >.<

The good thing about programms (and in extension, games) is that they can be improved, always.


If you combine that with an open ear for criticism and the ability to put that critism into your work, then only time will be in your way.

To wash this feeling away you need the opinion of another person, but you need to tell a bit about the game and see if the person feels interested 1st.


If not it's a problem.
If the person tests it and doesn't feel pumped it's a problem.


If the person is into the style of the game and the gameplay sucks it's a problem.

 

This is not really about principles of game making, so moving this to a more general area.  I think if you search that forum, you will find other threads with a similar content which will give you extra ideas/opinions/advice.


I've moved this thread to General Lounge. Please be sure to post your threads in the correct forum next time. Thank you.

I motivate myself with terror at what my project will become if I don't do anything about how bad it is. I even wrote a thread about it. It's super long, so you don't have to read all of it.

simply take a break. When you're constantly coding, testing and debugging, you start to wonder if this sucks and try to "improve things", eventually venturing onto feature creep. DON'T FALL FOR THAT TRAP! 

This! People always get so mad at me because I'm always going back and redoing things because I'm never satisfied. I'd look at a drawing from the day before and be like: :|  What...is...this TRASH?  :o  Then I completely panic because I look at all the rest of the drawings in my book and think: These are all horrible! AAAHHHH! I can't draw anymore! 


But anyway, I really have no way of getting over it other than to have a mental argument with the negative part of my brain to calm myself down. Then, as @kaukusaki was saying, I do something else for a bit. Get my mind off of it. Nothing to do with what I was just doing (example if I was writing I wouldn't go read a book). 

But that moment when you make a crappy game and everyone likes it but once you actually take your time into a quality game and no one looks at it....

Man that alone is a scary thought, what if I sink all my time into making something cool and no one gives a ?

At the same time, I'm proud of myself, this stuff has been getting me into programming which I can put on my resume and man telling people I have a phone game out there will be pretty rad in itself. It's not all bad OP. The fact that you made a BETTER game alone is pretty dope.

Always strive for your best and take breaks when needed so you won't develop crap. Just take your time - it's not a race. I had to learn the hard way to schedule breaks. I've been sick a long time and trying to work while sick just makes things worse (once I screwed up the code and we got a month behind because of my working while sick).


Now I can only work a few hours a day due to being chronically ill and have to outsource (which I hate, since I prefer in-house - it's costing me money!). Don't work so hard that you're overwhelmed, sick, or forced paying out of pocket to fix mistakes that could have easily avoided if you got adequate rest.

I feel like this time to time. I also feel jealous when I realize that I put in so much effort into my project and it ends up being unpopular. Yet, another one with inferior quality gets more attention. It happened before. I guess it's the norm here. :D


Or if I don't feel like my game is completely bad, I would feel like the humor is somewhat... inappropriate? It's because I have a dark and whacky sense of humor. So what's funny to me might be silly, confusing, awkward, and immature to someone else. And then I fear that if the jokes don't work, the players would dislike the game and me as well. Worse if your friends are going to be playing it... :p

No kidding. I've taken ten months to work on my game and I'm nowhere near done!

Honestly, I've considered everything I've done so far, for as short as its been, as a learning experience when it's come to game development. I've received criticism multiple times, but instead of letting it get me down, I took in in strides, and took on the attitude of "Alright, so, this part I can fix. Let's see what I can do." Or "Alright, people are having a strong opinion about this, or that. Let's see how I can make it better."


While we all have that moment when we question our abilities, I find keeping this practice, along with looking back at previous successes and what you've done right, helps me get through those rough patches (though, to be fair, I've had moments when I've wanted to flip tables, but I digress...). It also helps that I have friends that can look at what I've done, and give constructive feedback, instead of letting strangers look at it and just tear things down. 


All in all, learn from it, conquer it, and succeed. Long as you keep your head up and keep on going, you'll be okay. 

Hm... I'm kinda worried about my game now. I'm not sure if I should continue it or not. I intended it to be a gift for a friend's birthday, but I am not very confident about it. :o


I think I dragged things out a little too long, and now I am rushing to get the story flow properly. The beginning is kinda slow and there's quite a bit of reading and walking around. Maybe I should post it in the forum for feedback. >:( Even so, my sense of humor is kinda whack, and there might be little of what I can do. :headshake:

Meh, continue it anyway. You might as well. And I know lots of people here who would probably love to give you feedback. 

I would say do both; submit it to people for feedback. However, in that same token, take it with a grain a salt. I say this, because it's supposed to be a gift, from you, to this person. No one will understand the connection between you two, or anything you convey through it. On a gameplay or development stand point, I'd say be all ears. Beyond that is your choice. Make your gift the way you want it. 

Dude, me too.