Hey, I thought I'd put together a few points for people who are either getting started, or continuing with, making stuff with Flash. You know, just for the hell of it.
This is a highly personal and probably unfair set of points, and geared more towards people who are into making games (but it can probably apply to plenty more). If you've got a few points which you don't see, or you massively disagree with anything, feel free to add something on.
One:
Know your limits
Yup, if you've been developing for a while (or had any sort of childhood), you've probably got at least one idea for some great big epic RPG adventure platformer shooter thingy with a huge world and even more things to do in it. The same goes with animations.
Now, I'm not saying that you should give up your dreams or anything, but you should at least be prepared to prune them somewhat. If there's one thing worse than your motivation giving up slap bang in the middle of an epic project, it's Flash giving up. Not to mention that you'll probably be making stuff to a much higher quality if you know that you've not got a marathon ahead of you. Try to keep your ideas from getting too big for you to manage.
Two:
Don't be a quitter!
Some people will tell you that you should give up ideas that you're not sure about, but you should be careful with that attitude. Believe it or not - getting stuff finished is a habit that you need to get into. Even if the project isn't shaping up to be quite as epic as you'd first imagined, or the image inside your head is starting to get dragged down by the cold, unforgiving reality outside, you're still going to benefit from getting it done. If nothing else, you'll learn a few new things about development, and you'll find yourself far more able to complete future projects.
Obviously there's a point at which this stops working. If you've suddenly lost every trace of passion you had for your project, and you don't even care about seeing the finished product any more, or if the amount of time you'd have to invest to get it done is so massive that it's simply not worth it, don't feel too bad about investing your effort into something shiny and new. Just don't make a habit of it.
Three:
Distract yourself during grunt work
At some point or other, you'll come to do something which doesn't really require your full attention. Drawing the in-betweeny bits in FBF, making generic scenery or surfaces, and shading would be a few examples.
In cases like this, having something on TV or the radio can really keep your motivation up. Don't make it so invasive that you end up ballsing whatever you're doing up, but try to keep your mind from getting bored with anything.
The best candidates that I've found for this are:
- Old episodes of 'So Who's Line is it Anyway?'
- BBC News 24
- Documentaries on various uninteresting subjects
- Old sitcom DVDs (especially with commentaries)
Four:
Focus yourself during intensive work
A lot of development requires your full attention, so mute the TV, turn off any loud music and focus!
Generally, this is the more in-depth coding, or drawing animation which requires a certain level of thought (especially in the planning stage). Keep yourself on the ball when you're doing anything like this.
Five:
Don't be afraid to learn new things
Yup, you're a developer. There are also a lot of people better than you. You can save yourself a lot of trial and error if you take the advice and learn from the mistakes of people who've gone before you. Luis, for example, has a fair number of tutorials on his YouTube channel.
Now, there's a fine line between inspiration and imitation. Try to see as many different ways of doing something as you can, and at the same time develop your own style. That is something I can't help you much more with.
Six:
Harness your own ego
You may or may not have come up to a point somewhere in your development where you end up thinking along the lines of: "Wow! This is the best thing anyone's ever made! This is going to change the Flash scene forever!"
Such an attitude isn't necessarily a bad thing. It'll motivate you to get your project finished, carry you though hard times, and force you to focus yourself to live up to your own expectations.
Just try to abandon it when you actually finish your project - chances are the rest of the world won't agree, and it's easy to get depressed if your Flash doesn't perform as well as you'd like it to. If you can transfer your enthusiasm to a new project, go for it!
Seven:
God is in the details
While the overall look and feel of a project is what'll carry it most of the way, sometimes it's those tiny additions which will really carry it to the next level. Maybe you can add a few small animals running about, or some low-level shading. Maybe you'll just ensure that your game engine is responsive and bug-free up to the level of borderline OCD. One way or another, tiny, noticeable things can make all the difference when you're trying to stand out against every other submission out there.
Eight:
Do all the little extra bits first
Sounds, preloaders, menus, easter-eggs - you may think that you can put them off untill the rest of the project is complete, but it's a good idea to get them done while your creative energy has all of its momentum.
Generally, the closer you get to finishing a project, the more you'll want to just see it out there, and so the more likely you'll be to cut corners and perhaps not include everything that you could. So, if there are any minor sound effects, bonuses or introductions that you've not finished, try to get them done before you can start to think about releasing your project.
Nine:
Step away from the computer
Once you've finished a project, the only thing on your mind will be getting it out there as soon as possible. Screw testing, or extra features - you want people to see your work ASAP!
This is a good time to get your mind as far away from Flash as you can. Getting really, really drunk seems to be a pretty good way. Just keeping your internet switched off can work wonders as well. Once you know you're not going to upload anything if you don't watch yourself, think about showing it to a few friends or beta testers. Never, ever fall into the trap of thinking you've completely finished a project just because you can play it all the way through once or twice - chances are you've missed at least thirty seperate bugs or graphical glitches.
Ten:
Don't get distracted
Especially when you've got a permanent internet connection, it's easy to drift away from Flash. Checking your e-mails or site traffic, browsing forums or playing online games, not to mention that all-time favourite, are a few ways of procrastinating.
Now, procrastination can be harnessed to positive effect. Getting away from your computer for breaks every now and then is really recommended for your physical and mental health, and if your desire to avoid working can be turned to cleaning up somewhere, or getting a bit of fresh air, then so much the better.
The real killers are the distractions that come at you from your computer screen. Games, websites, pages, more websites, more games... Before you know it, you've spent five hours watching all the Webisodes of 'Have I Got News For You?', and it's past midnight.
Procrastination is a bugger to kill. Try writing out - yup, actually write it out - a schedule to stick to, allowing a fair bit of time for breaks an relaxation. Lock up your USB dongle until you trust yourself with the internet again. And whatever you do, don't spend the best part of an hour writing out a pointless list of ten points.
kthx
- Eddy
