That horrible thing called a 'block'

I have this happen to me everytime I began making a game for RPG Maker, my earlier projects/incarnations understandably went no where especially when I wasn't capable of doing what I am now with MV. But the real problem is creating a story-line that sticks and sounds unique in it's own sense that could possibly bring a large an interesting fan following.

I always struggle with the core plot and how the beginning unfolds, it's currently happening now for Archtross and I'm freaking the hell out thinking all my hard work and time devoted to making it is going to end. Especially wasting everyone time here as well in particularly the ones who helped me with plugins and coding. It's increasingly depressing feeling that what you have in mind is unoriginal but many say original ideas make it great as long as you change them into your own way of doing it.

I have had various ideas and in alot of cases a full fledged core plot and after many MANY quests and lore made- it felt unsatisfying and during a loathsome process re-doing almost every piece of dialogue or mission to fix it to a new idea.
It drives me nuts.

How do you guys cope with this? I can't stick to a single idea and when I'm developing my ideas I feel that I could do better but not knowing how.

Discipline and alternating.

On one hand you need to be able to call yourself to the work, because otherwise you'll never complete any project. And in every project there are parts that are less interesting than others, you just need the discipline to get through this.

On the other hand, if there really is a "writer's block" and you can't think of a solution, it helps to pause the project for some time while working on another project that has nothing to do with the first.
But it is important that you have only one such other project (if you have ten, neither of them will ever get far) and that it is quite different from the first one to allow yourself to handle other ideas instead of variants of the first (stuck) idea.

Another suggestion (One that I've only thought about, but never tried) would be to get some people together to form an accountability group, of sorts. Get to know someone(s) who can keep you working, even when you don't want to. Someone who can ask "Hey! What'd you work on yesterday? Cool, do X today!"

There's a Progress thread here on the forums, but that doesn't really push people to keep going. Sometimes people need a push!

Usually, when I get writer's block (it happens a lot) I usually do writing prompts (look up storyshack's generator). And take my mind off my current project,then the ideas just,flow.

You want a powerful story, something that will resonate with people and acquire a following. Then, don't look at the story, the words ,the twists, etc. Look for a theme. That theme will hold everything together, choose something resonating, that anyone can understand and relate with, and build your game around that, the UI , the towns, the tone, everything. (advice for characters make them variations of the theme,not just draw them out of a hat and throw them in.)

Stick to one idea. There's always a story feedback thread. What you might just throw away might be a great thing, that you didn't like.

Finally, please, don't freak out. That's the main reason why projects get canceled. Game development is hard and stressful. Say, this game you're making might be bad or just not appeal to particular people. Don't take it personally. We're not perfect. Take every criticism as a learning opportunity. You're just starting out. You can't be the best developer ever with your first game. Take it slow, as long as you won't lose any money,
every bad game is a learning opportunity. Keep what works, and cut what doesn't. The secret to this is iteration. I see that you have a demo out.
Add new features every once in a while, no panic, nothing has to be perfect (i know i sound like a broken record) and learn from your mistakes by demanding feedback. (leave what works and...you get it already).

Hope this helps.

Personally, I have more than one project. Now I have it clear in my mind the order the projects are going to be completed, so their priority is determined by their order in the que.

However, when I am completely stuck on my primary project, & can't seem to focus on it, or can't seem to decide what needs to come next; I switch to one of my secondary projects for a change of pace, & tinker with it for a couple of days to a couple of weeks, until I am ready to dive back into my primary project.

Sometimes I find just the answer I was looking for while working on a secondary project, sometimes taking a break from my primary & doing something different is enough to get me moving forward again.

I find in those cases it's often best to just step back from the project for a while. Don't work on it at all for a few days or even a week. I often find that after a couple of days of not smashing my head against the wall a really nice idea will just come to me out of the blue. Also if you have friends who you can trust to talk about your projects plot details with that helps. As sometimes even if someone makes a suggestion you don't like it can help to highlight how you DO want things to go. Or be close enough that it triggers a eureka moment where you know how you want things to play out.

That's what helps with me anyway.

I also find that when I face a block it's often because I'm just trying to let things "continue" I've been told that if you can ever insert the words .. and then .. in any of your plot points its a boring part of the plot. Most of the time you can't really avoid a few of these. However the words you WANT between all of your plot summary bulletins is "Which causes" Or "However". Try putting those words in there. Make what's happening in the plot cause something to happen or introduce a foil that changes the circumstances up.

For example.

The hero trained hard and then defeated the dark lord. (Boring)

The hero trained hard however he could not defeat the dark lord because of that he got imprisoned and had to escape. However during his escape he met a brave kind hearted demon who teamed up with him and together they defeated the dark lord (Not so boring)

I took a peek at your project. It is going very well. It reminds me of Ian livingstone and Steve Jackson´s story in the book "The rings of Kethler". His also happens in a outerspace planet, and a drug starts entering the planet and it´s a role playing book game where we can be the hero and save the day...:p
There is nothing better than take a break when you are with a block, and go do something else. I´m sure you will like reading this book, and libraries have it.:wub
Do things that inspire you... food, sleep, read a little, exercise, long walks at the beach or at the country, paint, swim, play with pets, make some yoga, cook...:popcorn:
Take time for yourself and the block will go away naturally ....:kiss:

I usually struggle with that feeling of not being able to stick to one idea, followed by a writers block. There are a couple things that help me with it, maybe some of them is useful for you:
First I try to explain the plot/story/characters to a friend, not for that "is this original or not" feedback, but to recognise the main parts of it. When so many ideas fly around is easy to forget the focus of the story: what is the thing you want to tell? What is the kind of game you want to play? When you want to explain your story to someone, even if you struggle with the beginning of your game or don't know how to continue, you will have to start somewhere to explain it to your friend (the setting, the characters, the problems...). It is interesting to listen the questions the other person asks you about the story too, because maybe you haven't thought it from that perspective, and it helps you to identify plot-holes.

It also helps to write different settings for the hero or characters, even if its not going to be included on the game, just to see how they interact with each other or how they react to different circumstances. For me their motivations are what help me move the story forward when I get stuck. What would this character do? If they leave their house to travel, what happens to their house? What was their life up to that moment? Does it even make sense that the character do this or they would never do it? If i want them to move from A to B I need a reason for it.

I guess in general what works for me is think outside the game mechanics, in everything surrounding the plot, the world, the random npc lifes... it gives me more ideas to work with, and usually one of those ideas catch my attention more than others and sticks. And what blocks me more is precisely thinking: would people like this? Is this original enough? Because is something that can't really be answered easily, and for me is more important the consistency of the plot that its originality. You have to be interested in your own story first and believe in it.

Quite alot to read through here- don't think that I haven't read through each and everyone's comments :)

Alot of interesting points to go about- I feel I should elaborate a bit on my game's plot and story line including past incarnations with the older engines.

Archtross is a massive city on a small planet roughly in the center of the bordering powers of the known universe and is considered the centeral hub of intergalactic trade and commerce- a mega city that eventually gained independence and became neutral ground granted immunity from conflicts. It used to prosper but eventually due to corruption- numerous gangs and criminal enterprises decided to take hold and turn the city into a hell hole. As a result of political unrest- the city had become increasingly polluted, the air is engulfed in smog from the mega factories and the water surrounding the city is uncertain.

The basic rundown is you play as Reece, a human who has had a relatively long criminal career and in the past had suffered some pretty nasty injuries resulting him getting augmentations. Luckily for him- the augmentations were light (nothing like limbs missing)
During his career he found work with one of the big time criminal organizations known as the VonKile Family or simply "VKF" a family buisness that operates a massive pharmaceutical front as well as other illegal operations in Archtross.

VKF isn't alone in the game, there are other powers that really control things such as the Elydian Firm, Spiablo hoods, The Banished MC, and many more including the most powerful Volkorik Syndicate and the newcomer Arachin Families. There are an assortment of many more minor gangs also picking up the scraps.

The VKF learn of the Arachin Families arrival and learn that they are infact VERY powerful but only from there own system known as the Arachin Directorate. Cautious- to not start a war they intend to instead make friends with them until they can uncover there true intentions. You are assigned with a collective of other VKF lackies to being the first steps of VKF/Arachin Diplomacy. Things at first run smooth- but suddenly everything goes to . Gunfire unloads on the meet- killing both Arachin family members and VKF alike. Defending yourself- you realize that there are two Voltorians in strange armor wielding unknown weaponry, before you take aim the last VKF member behind you pulls his weapon and shoots you in the head and point blank range. It was a set up. But from who and why?

As it turns out, luck is on your side. barely conscious you find yourself and the other casualties thrown in a machine. It seems your augmentations provided you some kind of protection. Sore in the head still. The machine boots up and you notice the walls are closing in. Your in a crusher!

So yeah it's kind of vague, deep down I know who is responsible and what characters are what and the enviroments etc. But I feel the story is lacking something. What do you guys think? Any advice or further comment about horrible blocks is always something I'd like to learn more from.

You manage to escape the machine and find yourself empty handed. The killers probably stole your money, your weapons and your car keys.

Resolve yourself to not let your efforts go to waste. Promise yourself that you will not let it go unfinished and you will not run away from the task. Force it a little. Force yourself to write or create something that can serve as an opening (or whatever else you need to create), even if you think "this is crappy" as you create it. It'll be fine to come back later and dramatically improve it, or even rewrite the whole thing if you want, but having something there as a complete base will be massively helpful and will also give you confidence because you have something to fall back on. If you're really sitting in front of the screen blankly and aimlessly and not making any progress whatsoever, get up and take a break or even call the day forfeit, but don't go more than a day without working on it.

Also, try to show your project (or what's already there) to a few other people that you trust and that you think could give you good advice. Don't give them too much detail - if there's something specific you want them to focus on (such as "I need some ideas about how I can start the story off in a more interesting way."), let them know that very succinctly before they begin, but otherwise just let them play your game and form their own opinions. Ask them what they thought. Don't lead them too much. Don't argue, don't explain anything they missed, and don't discount their feedback. Record their feedback if they're not writing it to you. Listen/read it multiple times. They'll come up with things that you never thought of, some of which will be ideas you can use to improve or rework your stuff, and you'll be glad you asked them for advice.