[1.19] The agony and the ecstasy
Hey guys! It’s a ‘bank holiday’ here in sunny England, but I’m not a fucking bank, so I’ve been working my ass off.
After two really good weeks on the storyboard – producing 68 slides in week 1, and 71 in week 2, I hit some challenges this week.
The agony
Midway through the week, I felt like I’d suddenly run out of creative momentum. This was jarring, as things had been flowing well, and I had a battle plan to follow (the beat sheet).
It wasn’t exactly writer’s block – or not in the sense where you’re staring at a blank screen, unable to come up with any ideas. I’d already had the ideas and written them down in precise order on the beat sheet.
The problem was that – in execution – they didn’t feel right. It’s hard to explain, but I have a kind of instinct for when a scene isn’t working, or isn’t right for the overall story. That spider sense kicked in big time in the middle of last week.
I know from experience that it’s not productive to try to grind through a scene when I’m feeling this. So, I paused writing, and rethought the overall structure.
The ecstasy
After some experiments, I made some conceptual changes – combining two scenes into one, and changing which characters are present. Everything suddenly felt much better; quicker and more exciting. By Saturday I felt firmly back in the saddle, and I did my best since then to make up for the lost time.
I ended up adding another 56 slides to the storyboard – which is less than I wanted, but it’s not the total disaster I was fearing. I also just added a totally new mini-scene, which was unplanned but is IMHO seriously hot. 🥵
I hate having to report slow progress, but I feel like sometimes part of the process is taking a step back in order to take two steps forward later. Hopefully everything’s back on track and I’ll be able to continue storyboarding at a fast pace.
I’ve finished work for the day – I’m gonna do a workout now and try to chill out tonight so I can continue strong tomorrow. I’ll report again on progress next week. 🦀❤️
Comments (7)
"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." - Shigeru Miamoto
Trust your instincts Crush, the creative process takes as long as it takes!
Like Steve C said, I appreciate that you post regular progress updates, even if the progress is slower that you'd like. Also, I know exactly what you mean about grinding on a scene. I get the same way. It's very encouraging to know that you are willing to take a step back when you see yourself starting to grind and rework the scene. Keep up the great work
Don’t stress too much. With certain games, a lot of creators take their sweet ass time posting updates, and it can be pretty annoying for subscribers. There are several games I play where I wish they would hurry up and put out consistent updates. I’m not a game developer, so I can’t possibly understand the time it can take to create a quality game. However, I’m certain I can speak for everyone here when I say I appreciate the time you take to get the story just right. I find myself far more patient waiting for your updates, because I know what we end up getting will be top quality. This is easily the best and hottest game out there, and I’ve played a lot of them. 😇 So don’t feel you need to rush just to get it out. I’d rather have a super hot story than a fast one. 🙂
it is better to move slowly than too quickly (the hare and the tortoise)
I'm happy for the progress but never turn down a holiday (bank or otherwise)
thanks for the update, and keep pumping out great story content, because those build ups make the hot scenes that much better.