How do you motivate yourself?

Title says it all.

To motivate myself, i work on two projects at once. Right now I have a project in VXA and a project in Godot.Really keeps me motivated to do some real progress on both. (Think this is a bad idea?)

i watch trash games, it motivates me and makes me feel like my games dont suck, but i also watch good games, theyre inspiring and i might learn something new.

i did that too once, due to lack of free time i had to put one project on ice though

Progress is always motivating, however this is a circular thing and I can't get much progress without first having motivation. I have about 7 unfinished games because of this. It's too easy to quit when I'm working for myself.

I like to take script requests for something big that nobody else would work on, and I can stay busy on one thing for weeks, and I never get the quits, because I'm working for someone else. I've done two things like this here, so far.

Btw. I like your custom title @gub . That takes me back to 2003.

This is now my new game making motto. Consider every game as though you're working to give that experience to someone else. So pumped right now.
Thanks! I thought of something that'll fit my avatar of a dog in a destroyer plane, and my mind went to Zero Wing.

I put post-its in my wall. I organize tasks in days. When a task is done, I remove the post-it. It helps me keeping in mind the job I need to do, and also feels good to have a clean wall!

I think why this is effective is that you can feel yourself checking tasks off of your to-do list,it's very fun. I think I'm gonna start doing this.

Well, this may sound strange, but I take breaks. I go for a walk, listen to music and such things. I get the best ideas when I don't push myself. And with new ideas in mind motivation comes.

@VicWhite
I didn't mention this, but seeing you post it, I should add that I do this too, though instead of post-it notes, I have a dry-erase board with my goals written on it.

It's currently blank because I just finished my one big project yesterday and my little project last night.

I have a friend that gets the best ideas when driving. Me myself it happens me in the metro or train. Sometimes as you say the best is to disconnect. I am having a lot of ideas when I lay in the bed to sleep, so I have my notebook close. They say Freddie Mercury slept next to a piano for the same reason.

For every 1 hour of game design, I get half an hour in Breath of the Wild. :guffaw:

This looks surprisingly effective.

I do the same thing. I NEED to finish this game.

I look at really garbage RM games and think, "I can do better than that in my sleep." Or the exact opposite. Sometimes I throw every insult in the book at myself too. Like, "Is that a menu? It looks like a drawing my dad's customers sent to him to be turned into actual art!" Or "You call that a katana? I wouldn't use that thing to clean my teeth, let alone in battle!" Or my favourite, "Are you trying to kill people? I could stab someone with that chin!"

I really need help in this area to be honest.

@Blinn @ Everyone else

I wrote an article on this =]
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/12-tips-to-stay-motivated.67418/

I like to watch letsplays of good games which motivates me to make my games just as good, I try to avoid copying them of course.
I also look at terrible games, which motivates me to not be that bad! But I don't really do that often, cuz it makes me feel bad...
Did I also mention that when I'm feeling not so motivated I look at kitties, makes me feel happy and ready to work!:kaopride:

I have a guy named Bruno come in, rearrange my furniture, and leave horse heads on my doorsteps. Wait...are we talking about game dev motivation? :)

In all seriousness, what I do is I have a list of things that need to be done for the game (usually noted as I do a playthrough), and I pick one or two things on the list to focus on getting done. Once that is done, I call it a day and go play a game or watch a movie instead.

@GoodSelf : In college I used to do something like what you are doing, though in reverse. For every x hours of game playing, I had to do at minimum y hours of game design. Though since I was just starting out the rule was for every game I finish I have to put in 2 hours of game design in return. Yeah, it went really slowly, for obvious reasons.

Hmmm...

The fact that Rift Chronicles is NOT my brainchild and the beautiful woman who came up with the idea is teetering on the brink of mental collapse because Real Life is slowly killing her, which means getting the completed game back to her is motivation enough.

As far as dev in general...

Hmmm...

I won't list the 100+ reasons, but a few I will.

1. Sanity (even though I wonder if I have any left after all the f'd up crap I've been through); a lot of my focus is taken from the drivel that tries to make me collapse on a daily basis when I do concentrate on any developing.

2. Because eventually, I want to PLAY the game I'm making.

3. Rainbow Valley; I am really at my happiest when I am able to fly away with Hendrix on the dragonfly and spend time developing characters, story line, and yes, all with the influence of 'just a little bit ah' Spanish Castle Magic (well if I'm listening to Hendrix while in dev mode).

Typically, I won't force myself to do anything in dev mode unless I'm ready with ideas that are not wildly running about like children hyped up on Pixie Stix (don't try sniffing this stuff)...

I play friends games, and that is pretty motivating in itself to make my own. I watch LPs of game dev and streams, as well as randoms. It worked so well that I opened the WS and started to help make other people's games which in turn gave me more ambition.

The best way to stay motivated is to actively critique and help others. It's something others look for endlessly, so you never run out of fuel.

Creating assets, scripts, and resources individually is a pretty way to encourage productivity as well and is immensely fun. That was also productive so I started with Restaff and got even further with my work. Look at friend's games to make suggestions for what is lacking, or provide what isn't there so they enrich the experience. Game play is the next major thing lacking from most RPGs. People get so engrossed with telling a story they forget it's about what the player does.

The next best advice I can give you is to stay organized.

When I worked in a project it's easy to get distracted, so keep a master file offhand. Don't stray from the materials, and if you are researching make sure to keep everything tidy. A quick tangent can eat up 10-50 minutes of time and waste what you were trying to accomplish which in turn makes you feel guilty and can be demotivating.

Appreciate your own effort. Recognize when things are good enough, and move on.

This is why having the side project helps. It gives you a relief and clarity. Having it in a different engine can help too.
Don't think more time equates more quality. You can really set a destructive tone for your work if you feel you have to make an epic.