I have a problem and I would appreciate some advice. I am enthusiastic about game development, and just like every other nerd out there I have what I think are great ideas. However, it seems that I go through some phases that are quite annoying and frustrating to say the least.

I get excited about an Idea, I immidiatly start jotting down my ideas on paper, and after a good deal of planning I start working on them. However after a couple of months of work I end up getting burnt out and I walk away from it for a a couple of months until I get a rekindled desire to pick up the work again. This is a vicious cycle and it drives me crazy because I know that If I was more consistent I would have actually finished something by now, and I most certainly know I would have learned a lot more. When I stop working on my projects for extended periods of time I often forget a lot of what I had to study. Then when I go back to start them again I find I need to learn things over again, or even worse, there was an update in the interface of the software I was using so I have to learn it all over again.

Anyways, I guess what I am trying to say is, it is hard to stay motivated. I enjoy designing levels and everything that goes into it, but there comes a period in time where it starts to turn into work and then it is hard to keep going. Can anybody relate to me?

My concern is this; right now game design to me is a hobby. However one day I would like to turn that into a profession but the one thing that holds me back is myself, and so I think, is this a profession suitable for me?

Any thoughts, can anybody relate to this frustration of mine....(and no im pretty sure I am not crazy...I have ADD but I'm not crazy)

The only 3D design experience I have is level design in CryEngine, and some basic asset creation in 3DS Max. I would love to be able to increase my skills and education professionally but it is hard to do at this point.

Okay...I am 24 years old.

I studied theology in college for 3 years, at which point I transferred to another school to study computer programming for one year. I learned the basics and then decided to teach myself the rest. I can program in C, that is all I know right now. I studied Art and game design at the Art Institute for one semester just to pick up some basic Art principles and drawing skills. Honestly what motivated me to teach myself the skills I need is the amount of debt you accrue in college, I would rather not be 100,000 in debt after graduating college, which was the cost of there 4 year degree in game and art design.

My current Occupation is landscaping.

I would like to be a 3D designer, or level designer.

I live in the United States.

Well, first of all a game designer is not necessarily "a guy with great ideas". He might be, but he must, above all, be able to structure ideas and build the non-existing game given certain specifics. Second, do you find yourself losing interest because no progress is being made? Is it because you're going at it as a hobby? If it was your job to sit in front of a computer and work out game mechanics, the challenge of it all, "dance" with all your given restrictions, etc - would you be able to do it (do you see yourself doing it)?

Now 3D art, that's completely different. You basically sculpt concepts given to you, having into account poly counts, loops, and again - restrictions.

Level Design is, to me, an art. It's knowing how to make the level playable and direct the player where he/she should go, challenging him/her along the way and in the end the player feels like he/she's improved. Depending on the size of the studio you work in a game designer might end up doubling as a level designer.

I know exactly how you feel since I have the same problem. I start on a game design and I have great idea which I jot down and then I start work on it only to convince myself that it can't be done and then I stop. After I while I convince myself that it can be done and start on it again.

Like you I could have finished a game by now but I was stuck in a vicious cycle.

What I did is I forced myself to focus and set myself a fixed (and reasonable) deadline. Every day I would work on the game design even if I convinced myself that it can't be done even if it is just writing done an idea without fleshing it out into a proper design. That way you are still working on it and still getting to the end.

I wish there was a magic cure for this that I could share with you but there isn't. You just have to force yourself to focus and force yourself to work even if you don't feel like doing it. Above all make sure you work on a game that you yourself would like to play. If you don't want to play it then you can't expect anyone else to play it. I love science fiction so I am working on a science fiction game.

Good luck and keep us posted.

In my mind there are two separate questions:

1. Can you develop games?
2. Can you manage yourself?

I tend to be a procrastinator. I love games but I tend not to complete them. But when I did a 3 month contract in the industry - no problems. Somebody else was managing me, so I had deadlines and I had to be accountable. I was even doing the final polishing stuff which can be least sexy and most challenging. So I *can* write games, I'm just not a great project manager. Potentially that's something I could overcome, and potentially you could too. Or you could find a role in the somebody else's project rather than trying to manage the whole thing yourself.

If you do want to go it alone, make sure not to do everything "juicy" up front, e.g. do all the fun bits and then decide that the rest of the project sucks and you don't want to do it. It's a typical procrastination technique. Plan a sensible mixture of fun and necessary, set milestones, and have a plan for what happens if you miss a milestone, e.g. scale back the feature, move on to the next and return to it later, etc. Sometimes perfectionism can be a problem too, e.g. don't require each feature to be the best that has ever seen the light of day, because that's a recipe for going down the rabbit hole and never finishing a particular feature. Remember that the goal is shipping, not coding for 10 years.

I'm not sure if my experience would help you get contracts, I've been in business IT for over 10 years, and just took a sideways step into game development. ;) I think that a portfolio could be useful, but the trick is getting people to look at it. I'm not sure how easy or hard that is, whether you'd be screened out in the CV process or whether you'd get an honest shot. Never underestimate how little time HR people have. ;) However, it's not all lost. I actually met that boss through a free game development group, so I'd suggest networking. Go to groups or shows, show your stuff to people, get people with some vague connection to the industry to add you on LinkedIn, that kind of stuff. A portfolio has much more impact if someone they trust has vouched for you.