Feeling like my project is not what I want

[Perry]

I am known to be a victim of halls disease. It is obvious by the 34 unfinished projects I have worked on over the last 4 years, but I think this is different than that. I have been working on this project almost steadily for over a month and I just don't think it is going in the direction I want.

The main thing is I am using the map system from FS 1. It is a great system, but I want more of a feeling of interaction than this allows. I also really want to make major changes to the way shops are visited. Changes that could take weeks and would basically eliminate most of the basic things I have added as far as shopping and exploring.

I am here to try and get some opinions on what I should do. I feel like I have several options, but the few that stand out are.

1. Stick it out get this project to an open testing phase and see how people like it and make the changes I want and slowly add them as updates in sections.

2. Put this project on hold and work on something else (I would like to avoid this since I never seem to get back to a project)

3. Start making the changes now and push back the testing possibly a few months.

4. Sell my house + anything else valuable I have and move to the Bahamas and live on a beach until I run out of money.

Does anyone have any suggestions or anything?

[Nexus]

4 sounds enjoyable but do number 1! Your project seems like a very fun game that I would definitely play!

[Jackolantern]

Hmm, I think the only really viable options are 1, 3 and 4

But mostly #3. Sure there is something to be said about getting stuff done, but there is also something to be said about at least having what you are working on be up to your liking. Plus, the further you go, the harder it will be to change major parts later. And in fact, it may become almost impossible, where seemingly simple changes cause doomsday.

[Perry]

I think you are right. I think I am going to go ahead and take a day or to and just work on figuring out exactly how I want this map to be then take steps to learn how to do that. I want something more like halls test rpg engine with free movement, but not quite that advanced so I will see what I can come up with.

[Callan S.]

I would recommend making a very small game that takes less than a couple of days to code and play it.

If you don't like playing it, make another that takes a couple of days to code. This way you've only wasted a couple of days.

Keep doing so until you find one you actually like playing, then build onto that to make it bigger.

Or you can keep trying to build some massive game, as if you will definately like the thing you make when you complete it on the very first try. Which is unlikely.

[hallsofvallhalla]

Always remember you can never make a project like it is in your head. Even AAA companies cannot do it. Projects change and grow and often morph into things we never planned on. I have been trying to build the perfect interactive map system in a browser for ages. Truth is I would be better off searching for the Holy Grail.
The object is not to build the perfect game, what is perfect to you is not to others. What you enjoy playing others will not. The object is to build a game...Period.

[Xaleph]

Halls is right on every single point. Really.

And on your own posts, stick to it. Keep building and changing the code right now. If you don`t feel this is the right thing what you have, change it. Honest to god, if you plan on changing later on, you`ll be bald by the end. Code can get really , no I mean REALLY messy after a month or a year programming. Now would be the best time to make the adjustments ( well the best time would be before you actually coded ) but don`t expect to get it working after you worked on your whole system for more then a month.

And delete your previous projects. You know you`ll never finish them, none of us do. We allways think of new idea`s and we gain more experience every day. If I look back on code I wrote 2 years ago, I`m already itching to modify, smart as I am, I won`t because the second you do it, things break. Nobody wants broken things right?

Anyway, the point is, old projects are written different then you are writing/programming now, and I know for a fact nobody goes back to their old coding styles if they have better ones. Smart thing to do is just delete old projects. If you start a new project keep track of what you do. Maintain lists of things you implemented, create structure in your applications, add OO classes, make them reusable, that way you don`t have to start all over again every single time. Saves a lot of time and effort, plus: games and applications can be made faster.

Anyway, that`s all I have to say about that.

[Jackolantern]

And delete your previous projects. You know you`ll never finish them, none of us do.

I can't really suggest deleting old projects. On more than a few occasions I have been stumped on an issue, and thought "wait a second, didn't I do something like this a couple of months ago?". And I have actually been answering some coding questions with abandoned projects in the last couple of weeks. You don't have to finish a project for it to have some kind of value down the line

[hallsofvallhalla]

same here, I have went back to my old projects several time for help or to work on them more.

[Xaleph]

Wow? Both? If I didn`t finish a project I`m best of deleting it. I rarely keep files from old projects. Only some nifty classes I wrote which can be used for multiple purposes are usually the ones worth saving. Other then that, it`s all straight to bin avenue.

If you solved a problem before would logic not dominate and tell you know the awnser allready? I don`t like giving code as awnsers, mostly because people don`t learn from it, they copy. Same goes for me, as an individual. If I solved something, I`m bound to solve it again. It doesn`t require a whole lot of code or logic to just c/p, it`s usually a small method of 3 to 10 lines.

What I do use, however, are snippets. Code you use all the time, not worth remembering, mostly because 1 google search will render the awnser. It allways comes in hand if you have it readily accessable on your local disk tough. So I do store those