6 replies to this topic

[Zenith]

Yeah, been a while I've been here. Over 3 years, on & off. But I've never completed a quest worth submitting. Why? I can never completely focus on a quest for long enough. I start getting bored of it, and either can the quest and start a new one or I end up breaking from ZC altogether for a few weeks.

What I'm trying to figure out here is how I can keep concentrating on a quest enough to finish it. What kinda stuff do you guys do to keep from losing interest?

[Professor Bedwetter]

I have the same problem! What I do is switch between overworld and dungeon building.

[trip i fall]

I do the same thing. My technique, although it doesn't work for me (but it helps), but might work for you, is find which part you enjoy doing the most and doing that first. For example, if you like making overworlds, make overworlds. And visa versa with dungeons. If you like making tiles, make tiles. And basically hype yourself as much as possible by thinking of new ideas on the pooper or something, or design new puzzles in math class, and just keep yourself interesting by making yourself think "this is gonna be so awesome, I can't wait to get back on and try out this new idea", which leads to progress. Yay progress. It makes the world go 'round.

That's my 2 cents.

[Evile]

I just start building new areas and making new palettes, this never helps me get things done though. I've been working on my quest for about a year and it's still no where near completion. I lose interest lots too. I guess its just something you need to be super interested in.

[Akkabus]

i make quests in an assembly line fashion. first i draft dungeon 1 on paper, then i draw it in zquest, then dungeon 2, etc. after i'm done with the dungeons, i tack on a simple overworld and then see what kinds of caves and mini-dungeons i can add based on the landscape. then i put in shops and dialogs, and finish it up with heart container pieces, bonus caves, title screen, cut scenes, etc.

i never do more than one thing at a time, otherwise i get confused/overambitious and the quest blows up in front of my face.

my advice is don't try to make the next Lost Isle or HoD, just make something that works and seems fun to play by your own standards.

Edited by Akkabus, 13 September 2007 - 01:55 AM.

[CastChaos]

I lose interest in a quest only if people doesn't care about it or when I find so many bugs in it that it's easier to restart than to fix them and I also stopped making certain quests, when I found too big ZC limitations.

For example, the sole reason for me to stop making the Ultima remake was because I sensed too low interest.

Now, with Ballad of a Bloodline, I sense a great excitement floating around, so it gives me extra strenght.

Apart from that, I don't suffer of this "I lose interest quickly" syndrome. Maybe this is because I always make something that I LIKE. No, not simply like... LOVE! I made Shadow Wars because I love Shadow Wars and the uniqueness that can be made with ZC. Later I tried to make sequels and presequels to it because I still loved StarWars and loved the ideas that I wanted to put in. Later I tried to make the Ultima remake because I love Ultima and love seeing official games made in ZC... And now I love that uniqueness that I put into BB's story and design, and I extremely love that I plan to add in later........

So, make something that you really love and want. For example, if you think it's wrong to eat bread with lettuce, make a quest that makes others think it, too... You understand what I mean... And if you still lose interest in it, then don't delete it, just do something else for a hour or for a day... For example, while making the first demo of BB, I recorded MMX boss fights sometimes for short "vacations"...

[Fuzzy]

I suffer from the same thing. I just tell myself that I am free to take as many breaks as I like, and for however long, but must stick to one project. It usually works, too.