Advice for struggling game dev

Hey I was wondering if anyone has some advice for me. I have wanted to make games for the longest time but have never really managed to make anything. I have plenty of crazy ideas. I am a pretty good coder. I have a friend who makes great art and i can make okay placeholder art. For some reason I can never manage to actually make a my own game. Either it goes on for a while and i lose interest/the idea starts to seem really bad, the game works partially and then it hits some sort of road block, or I just cant manage to organize everything well enough to get the game made. I was hoping that at least one of the indie develops who does ludum dares could point me in the right direction with some of their advice. Any advice would be great and if I ever manage to make a game I will ensure it is available to the entire community.

Comments

01. Aug 2014 · 20:17 UTC
It sounds like you might be trying to start a little too big.
MafiaPuff
01. Aug 2014 · 21:43 UTC
Start small. Do not try to make the dream-version of your project at the beginning. Make prototypes.
Bren077s
01. Aug 2014 · 22:37 UTC
Yeah I guess my projects do tend to get rather big. They definitely do not start as small as mixelman and normally they end up getting bigger before i have even stated coding them. Thanks for the advice. And .matrix I really love your last line. It is great.
01. Aug 2014 · 23:42 UTC
“I have wanted to make games for the longest time but have never really managed to make anything.”
Bren077s
02. Aug 2014 · 00:12 UTC
I am considering doing this ludum dare. Either compo alone or jam with my friend who does great pixel art. I am just not sure if I would be able to do it. Like I am not sure I would make something playable enough to post in the time limit. Also do to all the random distractions that come up it would cut my time back even farther. Just not sure I am capable of doing it expecially cause I have never really published a game before.
MafiaPuff
02. Aug 2014 · 02:48 UTC
I would ask you to join a team with me, but I don’t know if I will be busy. I will definitely play your game, though!
02. Aug 2014 · 14:31 UTC
The question I always ask myself during a Ludum Dare weekend, but also during development outside LD: “What is the single most important thing missing from my game right now?” Work on that until it is no longer the most important thing. Then work on the next important thing, and so on.
Bren077s
02. Aug 2014 · 15:06 UTC
Thanks for the advice all. I will try and make something and see how it goes. Gotta just work on things in the right order and keep working until I have something playable to post.