hey fellow gamedevs how do i internalize that "thinking about game systems and fixing problems in my head" isn't idle time but is literally doing the work of game design
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hey fellow gamedevs how do i internalize that "thinking about game systems and fixing problems in my head" isn't idle time but is literally doing the work of game design
because i have a pretty big problem with that
@eniko: this is a problem for lots of developers, so even though I am not a game dev, I struggle with it.
I take notes when it is overwhelming and NEEDS to come out. I don't mind mulling over problems when I am idling, but very much DO mind it in social or other "focusing" situations, so this allows me to externalize the state to something else and save my state there, as it were.
In terms of simply not thinking about it...uh...I used to use alcohol. I do that less now...
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in my brain this is how it goes
not work:
- talking about game design with team members
- thinking about/solving game design issues
- marketing/pr
- unpleasant businessy stuff
- researchwork:
- actively making or integrating graphics, code, sound, other assets
- testing the game
- distribution@eniko these seem oddly gender coded
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@eniko these seem oddly gender coded
@bri7 idk, unpleasant businessy stuff is pretty male coded
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you may be inclined to ask "but eniko is the stuff in the not work category like half the job" and to that i can only say
yes it is someone please help me
@eniko what helps me is having a "at work" timer running when I do conceptual/architectural stuff which I would have otherwise probably not considered work in my brain.
That makes it real in terms of time spent on it.
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@bri7 idk, unpleasant businessy stuff is pretty male coded
@eniko it’s unpleasant so we get the executive assistant to do most of the leg work
(guess what their gender is) -
@eniko it’s unpleasant so we get the executive assistant to do most of the leg work
(guess what their gender is)@bri7 well, i dont think this is gender. because all of the things that are work produce tangible artifacts that you can see, hear, or otherwise interact with that are part of playing the game itself
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@bri7 well, i dont think this is gender. because all of the things that are work produce tangible artifacts that you can see, hear, or otherwise interact with that are part of playing the game itself
@eniko without the business and marketing it’s just doing an expensive hobby
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you may be inclined to ask "but eniko is the stuff in the not work category like half the job" and to that i can only say
yes it is someone please help me
anyway i just spent 2 hours thinking about the combat systems for You Have Died and solving problems and writing down notes about the systems and when i was done with that i told myself "wow i should really hunker down and do some actual work"
what the fuck?
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hey fellow gamedevs how do i internalize that "thinking about game systems and fixing problems in my head" isn't idle time but is literally doing the work of game design
because i have a pretty big problem with that
@eniko girl when you figure it out can I get a slice of that pie too
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@eniko girl when you figure it out can I get a slice of that pie too
@MrL314 oh i will *never* figure this one out
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in my brain this is how it goes
not work:
- talking about game design with team members
- thinking about/solving game design issues
- marketing/pr
- unpleasant businessy stuff
- researchwork:
- actively making or integrating graphics, code, sound, other assets
- testing the game
- distribution@eniko my problem was the people around me not viewing any of that list outside of the unpleasant businessy stuff as work lol
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in my brain this is how it goes
not work:
- talking about game design with team members
- thinking about/solving game design issues
- marketing/pr
- unpleasant businessy stuff
- researchwork:
- actively making or integrating graphics, code, sound, other assets
- testing the game
- distribution@eniko
I have a hard time with requirements and bureaucracy. I guess because I need to write everything for the later quality review it feels like work, even if its tedious.I would say, keep notes for everything? (Probably you already do that). I guess what I mean is, I can relate.
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anyway i just spent 2 hours thinking about the combat systems for You Have Died and solving problems and writing down notes about the systems and when i was done with that i told myself "wow i should really hunker down and do some actual work"
what the fuck?
@eniko I have no idea if this will help, but a lot of time after writing down everything in my brain and plotting how the solution should work, I force myself to take a break, make some coffee or have a snack and get some water
This also tends not to be idle time; usually my brain is STILL WORKING trying to figure out that last piece, or to figure out what to code first
But it does help me clear the mind gremlins. Remind myself that I am both body and mind and both could use a rest and a treat
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you may be inclined to ask "but eniko is the stuff in the not work category like half the job" and to that i can only say
yes it is someone please help me
@eniko not only is most of the “not work” stuff very much work, but a bunch of it is the shit that you don’t want or feel inclined to do. So, in that sense, it’s more work than the “work” list because you enjoy the stuff on the “work” list.
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anyway i just spent 2 hours thinking about the combat systems for You Have Died and solving problems and writing down notes about the systems and when i was done with that i told myself "wow i should really hunker down and do some actual work"
what the fuck?
@eniko not a gamedev but I do creative work and to me all of it is work, thinking about the trajectories of a story I'm writing, how to publish, do PR, all work as important as putting actual words on a page. One will not exist without the other. When I worked in events those were all billable hours.
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@eniko Amusingly, earlier I posted a photo of some scribblings I made while I've been fiddling with some code to arrange code flow graphs over the past couple days as an artifact of actually doing something even though I have nothing to check in yet (and have rewritten this code several times, though I think I'm finally making forward progress)...
Brian Swetland (@swetland@chaos.social)
Attached: 1 image A visual aid while debugging code to identify backward branches, number loops, etc... #Projects #Compiler #PLdev
chaos.social (chaos.social)
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@bnut for me it depends on if i'm playing for fun, in which case its not work, or for research, which is also not work :'D
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anyway i just spent 2 hours thinking about the combat systems for You Have Died and solving problems and writing down notes about the systems and when i was done with that i told myself "wow i should really hunker down and do some actual work"
what the fuck?
@eniko@mastodon.gamedev.place me, on the other end of this particular spectrum: making coffee counts as work because when I'm caffeinated I'll be more productive. Also, taking a few minutes to stretch counts as work, because then I won't be uncomfortable at the keyboard.
I hope you can find your balance. -
@eniko not only is most of the “not work” stuff very much work, but a bunch of it is the shit that you don’t want or feel inclined to do. So, in that sense, it’s more work than the “work” list because you enjoy the stuff on the “work” list.
@eniko it is pernicious and ridiculous that the engineer brain will spend six months in meetings with people and then think “now, to get to work”
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anyway i just spent 2 hours thinking about the combat systems for You Have Died and solving problems and writing down notes about the systems and when i was done with that i told myself "wow i should really hunker down and do some actual work"
what the fuck?
@eniko Perhaps refactor yourself to be input oriented rather than output oriented.
Input: "Yes! I spent three hours on task X (but go nowhere)"
Output: "Yes! I wrote 100 lines of code, now I'm allowed to have lunch (finally, been working on this for six hours)"
How? I have no idea.
