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So how do you push through?

Started by MoonHunter, March 02, 2009, 06:36:58 PM

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MoonHunter

I started a setting project on a lark. It was a good set of ideas that would make a solid, gamable setting. ... Okay it was for Metamorphosis Alpha, but it was an updated one... bringing the Lost Colony Ship Genre into the 21st century, without completely scrubbing it due to projected technology.

I posted it up on //www.rpg.net to get feedback and the occasional idea for things I was luke warm about.  I normally would of done it on //www.strolen.com 's, but the sci-fi people there were not around and the remaining fantasy fans would of been ... useless to help me on the project.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=424444

I started out with my normal OCD completist emphasis. You write up everything that needs to be done and you finish the project.  

Now, 212 posts later....

I have totally burned out on the project.  Twice even.  I totally lost my taste for it at around the 180 post mark, despite some accolades about the setting (even from Ward co guys).  I made some more pushes on, just to round it all out and finish it.   For the last eight or so posts, I have been condensing and reworking the information from the posts into a useful outline - putting all of it in one place.

Yet.  I just have no enthusiasm for the project. I am not sure a paycheck could give me enthusiasm for it.

It needs to be finished.  Yet, I really can't generate enough umph to do it.  And this is from someone who Must COMPLETE it.

So how do you people do it?  Some of you have to have burned out on a setting, game, or writing project before it was done.  How did you push through? Or, how did you regain the enthusiasm for the project?  Tips, Tools, Techniques, Chemical Stimulants, or what ever?  What helped you?
MoonHunter
Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit
"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."
"The world needs dreamers to give it a soul."... "And it needs realists to keep it alive."
Now posting way, way, waaaaayyyy to much stuff @ //www.strolen.com

Silverlion

I write something else for a while, then I return and look at art that inspires me that fits the idea of the setting. I read fiction that is similar to what I want (if there is any.) I then keep writing, no matter what; you may note that H&S is my only "BIG" self done project done, but I've got High Valor on the way (and it in text form is between 120-140 pages, before art and layout.)

In short: I take a break from a project, I rebuild inspiration for it, I then make a few notes and play/run the game and see what I see any holes or flaws of explanation might be and KEEP writing, no matter what. Even if it isn't on this project. I just keep at it.

Right now I've got inspiration and energy directed at Vast Frontiers, Derelict Delvers, and Cold Chrome Knights.

I'd greatly love feedback as well (in this forum), as that helps me know if I'm heading down the wrong path, or not.
High Valor REVISED: A fantasy Dark Age RPG. Available NOW!
Hearts & Souls 2E Coming in 2019

flyingmice

I generally have several products in various stages of completion. If I get stuck on one thing, I work on another.

-clash
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
Blog: I FLY BY NIGHT

One Horse Town

I've been stuck on SH several times during its development. I haven't ever lost interest in it exactly, i stopped because i was daunted by the workload of the project. Then a couple of months later i returned to it with fresh perspective, generally changed a few things and carried on as though i hadn't had a break.

Take a break, then look at it afresh.

MoonHunter

I currently do have two alternate projects going, one is Under the Crimson Sun and the other is The Rewrite of Convergence Point (in which UtCS and The Argon were the distractions while I work out issues with that in my head).  I have a lot of little things in a holding pattern, with 12 to 60 pages written on (complete enough that I can read through it and pick it up withotu skipping a beat). In fact, they are all distractions from the CP rewrite... something I have been having a lot of trouble with.

If I leave this one, I don't think I will ever go back to it.  It will be another
"shipwreck" on the net, almost finished.  

It will make a great setting for CP someday. Stumbling through like a zombie, I might pick off a section at a time. Once I get this outline that reforms the random data from all those posts. Just... Blah.
MoonHunter
Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit
"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."
"The world needs dreamers to give it a soul."... "And it needs realists to keep it alive."
Now posting way, way, waaaaayyyy to much stuff @ //www.strolen.com

Silverlion

High Valor REVISED: A fantasy Dark Age RPG. Available NOW!
Hearts & Souls 2E Coming in 2019

Nihilistic Mind

Well, if you're burned out on it, look at what you have accomplished so far and gather that.

What have you done?
What remains to be done?

Look at that and think about it for a bit.

1. I suggest you don't necessarily take a break from it... It's the easiest way not to revisit it, IMO. At least it is for me.

2. Another thing you could do is ask for help... If you have most of the work done, who's to say there's not someone out there to help you get passionate about it again, either by giving you feedback, etc, or helping in the writing/editing.

Are you in a phase where you can playtest it? Have you playtested it? Do more of that...

3. Just do it.

4. If you must take a break from it, let it be the writing and go play the game you nearly finished. An unfinished game can still make a good game session or two, what do you think?

Finally, here's the biggest piece of advice:

5. POWER THROUGH! Work harder! Use your pain and hatred for the damn thing and put it in there!!! If you must have it finished, sacrifice something... An important piece of the setting, a fix to the system that is required, anything.
Don't do something you'll regret and walk away from it, even if it's only for a little bit.
Running:
Dungeon Crawl Classics (influences: Elric vs. Mythos, Darkest Dungeon, Castlevania).
DCC In Space!
Star Wars with homemade ruleset (Roll&Keep type system).

Simon W

Quote from: flyingmice;286832I generally have several products in various stages of completion. If I get stuck on one thing, I work on another.

-clash


Yep, me too.

However there are tons of abortive projects that have sat around gathering dust too. The way I look at these is that if I get the enthusiasm to look at them again, then it'll happen but if I don't then they will continue to sit there. So be it; I don't beat myself up about it. I haven't been inclined to "put pen to paper" for 3 months now but at some point, I know the urge will return.

Kyle Aaron

Who was it... someone was telling us about a scifi writer who had several typewriters in their office, when they got stuck on one project they'd get up from the typewriter and go to the next one and work on that. And so on.

Nowadays we call them "tabbed windows" instead of "different typewriters", but it's the same thing, really.
The Viking Hat GM
Conflict, the adventure game of modern warfare
Wastrel Wednesdays, livestream with Dungeondelver

flyingmice

Quote from: Simon W;287438Yep, me too.

However there are tons of abortive projects that have sat around gathering dust too. The way I look at these is that if I get the enthusiasm to look at them again, then it'll happen but if I don't then they will continue to sit there. So be it; I don't beat myself up about it. I haven't been inclined to "put pen to paper" for 3 months now but at some point, I know the urge will return.

I hope so! I like your games, Simon!

-clash
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
Blog: I FLY BY NIGHT

MoonHunter

My cheering section has all gone silent on the thread.  Mostly because they were all going "woah" at what I was writing (Lets face it, Most Metamorphosis Alpha settings are locked in 1978). Others thought I had a "vision", and didn't think they could contribute to it (or fully understand it).  I would get a ping from time to time, but really, not a lot of enthusiasm there.

Okay, I do think that people saw 200 posts and got a little intimidated about reading it.

Right Now, they are all looking at the posts being turned into the outline and are nodding their heads and going "AHuh. Okay". (Except for one funny post because I dropped a joke in...

Originally Posted by MoonHunter  
*Rowrrrs (optional)
**Super HouseCats
**A scientist addressing the Rat issues, augmented a natural rat predator into Rowrrrs. Imagine big housecat cats with extra climbing abilities, moderate thumbs, a bit more intelligence – yet single minded and with terrible temperaments. Oh did we mention a lust for hunt and meat?
***They do their job well, hunting down all the vermin in their area. Now they are messing with other things in The Struts. People are dying under packs of these things. Gaia won't do anything about them until they mess with a pod's biosphere.
**"I ownz yur commoners"

nom nom nom


I know if I stop, this will never get done and I will have to do a great deal of work to restart it someday.  It is so far from MA source material, that it will make a good setting for my own game system. Someday.  (Add some art, convert the massive psuedo outline into full text (which won't be that hard), and formatting)

Did I mention I kind of hate this setting now?

Nihilistic Mind and Silverlion are right, if I stop this one.. it won't ever restart. If I was just blocked on it, the diversion of writing something else would work. (THough I have done that for 6 setting now.. getting a little worried about the base rules)

I am still.. plugging away at it.  It just took me a couple of days to get 2 hours of work done and put out all the sample pods that were mentioned in the thread.  It included all the ones that should be there (University and Plantation Pods for example) and some ones with a little drama built in.  

Next is the Factions rework. That will take forever, as each faction had an interesting bit of text which explained a lot of what it was, but did not quite get it all.  So now the new Outline to capture all of it.

There are only nine or so factions, each having posts applicable to them of about 5 pages each.   Breaking it down into smaller things will work. Some, but we will see.
MoonHunter
Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit
"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."
"The world needs dreamers to give it a soul."... "And it needs realists to keep it alive."
Now posting way, way, waaaaayyyy to much stuff @ //www.strolen.com

Simon W

Quote from: flyingmice;287476I hope so! I like your games, Simon!

-clash

See, comments like that help!

Simon W

MoonHunter

Moon is trying to get back to a writing schedule. So he made a feble post that was kind of useful.
MoonHunter
Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit
"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."
"The world needs dreamers to give it a soul."... "And it needs realists to keep it alive."
Now posting way, way, waaaaayyyy to much stuff @ //www.strolen.com

MoonHunter

I am the master of unfinished projects and multiple threadding at once.  Lets just go through the more recent sets.

The Convergence Point (Continuum v2.0) rewrite. Found a new handle on that, I will have the entire project done hopefully by the end of next month.  

I was caught in a rut and could not come up with words to properly and directly express a concept. Yes, I could explain it, but I did not want to spend paragraphs to do the same function over and over again.  So I now have traits (which are bundles of description, information, and implied gamemechanics) which are now unfolded into sets of game mechanics that implicitely express what it can do.   I have the words, I am doing the rewrite.


However, I do get bored working on one things. An idea hits me or I have stuck project, I will write on other things.  These things however have begun to take on a life of their own.

In the reverse order I have worked on them....

The Argon    Page count  130 pages
As seen here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=424444
A sci-fi setting of a lost generational ship being ruled by tyranical soft intelligence gods.  

Under the Crimson Sun   75 pages really
Under the crimson sun, tal empowered nobles protect their people and their clans from The Winter and The Wyld, all the while fending off the other nobles greedy for their lands.  This low fantasy world trapped in The Long Winter of an ice age with its unique take on psionic powers.

Bay City  a few handwritten pages
Super Hero campaign setting for a play by forum game comming up.

The Mansion  Pages   15
A Castle Fiction in a steam/magipunk mansion of evershifting halls where people from various times and places are trapped in The Mansion and must make their way.  It seems like it would be fun, but...

Against the Storms  Pages  60 and 14 Strolen Posts
http://www.strolen.com/view.php?node=free_search&free=Kerren
A swords and fantasy setting, Kerren is
For hundreds of years colonist from Earth have lived on Kerren. They came to Karren to live a simplier peaceful life. A pity that dream never materialized.  Kerren is a world in an age of Saurians and  little metal. In short their life was simplier, but it was not peaceful.

Zhan are extradimensonal blobs that fall from rifts caused by electrical storms. Zhan infect living things, twisting them into rampaging monsters. If Kerren was not dangerous enough, now "things" roamed the lands.  However, the Colonists found allies on Kerren- The Dragons. Working with this native animal species, The Ryders defend their people. Riding their dragons they destroy Zhan as they fall before they can contaminate the world, remove Zhani monsters in Grey Zones, and wrangle Mega Fauna and Jumpers. Together with their Dragons, Ryders help build and maintain the colony.

Storm of Steel   35 pages
 A low fantasy world war (I)  fought with end Neopolionic tech and tiny magics. It is a great setting because it is all about the big story arcs, troupe/stages of play, and the sweep of time.

Doomgard  35 pages
Metal Fantasy. Inspired by Rock and Roll, Heavy Metal (the magazine), the sides of vans, and pre-politically correct fantasy.  Heroes are epic: big and strong. Women are beautiful and cunning. Wizards are decrepit and flawed in another way... and usually EVIL.  The World is more extreme. It is a shattered land, filled with diverse biospheres that do not always make sense to our mind. In the real world things tend to be "towards the middle" and there is a gradual shift between opposite. Here, a mere hundred miles can separate a sun baked desert and a frozen tundra.   There used to be one golden realm. It has been shattered in a natural cataclysm.  Then there were many.  Now there are only ruins and remnants.  A setting and Genre/Style book.

Turning of the Seaons    74 pages of notes and soem mechanics
The lives of the Immortal Thanes (Shidhe-esk fairies) is a perpetual dance of the games that make up their lives, all revolving around the procession of the Sun Crown and the Season Courts.  A roleplaying game for power gamers (uberpower characters you can not kill) and roleplayers (because you must negociate).

Innocence's Shadow  45 pages
The spritelings live eternally in a playful patch, until the comming of The Shadows. Now to save themselves they must balance their need to fight back and their need to hold on to what they are fighting for.

Fists of Justice 80 pages
Martial Arts campaigning in the Convergence Point system

Nippon! Page count 80
A fantasy Japan full of mystery, wonder, and magic (limited).

Under titled supers campaign  pages 50
Supers campaigning in the Convergence Point system.

Neptune's World  page count 20
The world as we know it has change radically because of one man's insane genius and lust for power.  Using the power and wealth of the ocean, he strove to take over the world.  He almost succeeded.  While Dr Neptune is gone, killed ten years ago in the raid to stop his plot, his legacy has change the world.  The ocean level has risen drastically over the last ten years.  This changed the weather patterns and the political situation.  In a twisted bit of irony, the doctor's mad scientist technology has saved, as well as destroyed.  It allowed mankind to move into the seas, colonizing the deep frontier.

Rock Raiders  pages 40
The world as we know it has change radically because of one man's insane genius and lust for power.  Using the power and wealth of the ocean, he strove to take over the world.  He almost succeeded.  While Dr Neptune is gone, killed ten years ago in the raid to stop his plot, his legacy has change the world.  The ocean level has risen drastically over the last ten years.  This changed the weather patterns and the political situation.  In a twisted bit of irony, the doctor's mad scientist technology has saved, as well as destroyed.  It allowed mankind to move into the seas, colonizing the deep frontier.

BONEYARD  pages 40
An unliving fantasy. The greatest battle for life since beginning of time is being fought by The Dead.

And lets not count various other ones that are cold like Dime Novel, NightHunters (which is nearly done), Confederation Stars, Dark Comet, and others (many of which are somewhat captured on //www.strolen.com )

I have been very productive on things that have been distracting me from my main project.
MoonHunter
Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit
"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."
"The world needs dreamers to give it a soul."... "And it needs realists to keep it alive."
Now posting way, way, waaaaayyyy to much stuff @ //www.strolen.com

MoonHunter

You know what I really think.  I think I was afraid of finishing this project.  The rewrite is the lynchpin. With it, everything else gets held in place. With it, it is not longer a vague thing... it is a concrete reality.  The fear then is if it is good enough (which it is ... I know that in my head.. it is my gut I am having an issue with).  

I have noticed that I get "excited", or more accurately stressed/ anxious when I even open the Main Core Rule FIle.  It might of been happening before, but I was unaware of it.

Now I am.  Now I have met the enemy and he is a slippery bastard.  

I have distracted myself with other projects.  (They have rule pieces using the exact mechanics that haven't even been written yet in the core rules).  Now I just need to go on.

So, to paraphrase the nike commerical, "Just write."  Is it just that simple?
MoonHunter
Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit
"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."
"The world needs dreamers to give it a soul."... "And it needs realists to keep it alive."
Now posting way, way, waaaaayyyy to much stuff @ //www.strolen.com