Powerful Habits to make Games Quickly

00:35:58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj6IXbIkpu8

Summary

TLDRIn this video, the creator shares valuable insights on efficiently making time for game development by making lifestyle changes and optimizing productivity. The person discusses dividing the process into three key areas: personal (setting bed alarms, meal prep, exercise), development decisions (focusing on one project, scalable systems), and mindset (saying no, using Parkinson's Law, avoiding distractions). Emphasis is placed on efficient work routines, utilizing feedback systems, focusing on deep work rather than planning, and drilling into problems without distractions. Delegating tasks and refining skills are also viewed as pivotal to progressing in game development, culminating in a better and faster creation process. The video also highlights the use of internal steam as motivation and the importance of gradual self-improvement to increase productivity and achieve one's goals.

Takeaways

  • 🛌 Set an alarm to go to bed, ensuring proper rest.
  • 🍽️ Meal prep to save time and focus on development.
  • 🏋️‍♂️ Include efficient workouts for overall well-being.
  • 🛑 Learn to say 'no' to focus on what matters.
  • ⏱️ Use Parkinson's Law to set tight deadlines.
  • 🔍 Focus on one project at a time for better quality.
  • 📊 Delegate tasks to enhance development speed.
  • 🛠️ Use scalable systems for efficient game object management.
  • 💼 Prioritize action over excessive planning.
  • 📈 Continuously improve skills to boost efficiency.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker talks about their personal lifestyle adjustments to develop a game called Dodge King in three months. They emphasize the challenges and time demands of game development and outline their organized approach into three categories: personal adjustments, development decisions, and mindset framework. First, they stress the importance of rest by setting a bedtime alarm and not a wake-up alarm.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Meal prepping is advised to save time. The speaker suggests consolidating chores into a single session to avoid spreading tasks throughout the day. The importance of exercise is highlighted, recommending efficient workouts to maximize time. Saying 'no' to distractions and unnecessary commitments is encouraged to preserve time and focus on what's important. Autopilot on decision making can help conserve time, but be mindful of distractions like social media.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    They advise making shorter breaks to maintain momentum and efficiency. Large chunks of uninterrupted time are preferred for deep work on essential game elements. They introduce Parkinson's law as a method to set tight deadlines and focus productivity. They emphasize the importance of realistic goal setting and staying committed to deadlines, using development strategies tailored to productivity.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Focus on one project at a time to avoid overcommitment and maintain productivity is advised. The importance of scalable systems in game development is stressed, using a single game object with variable changes instead of creating multiple unique objects. This approach saves time in testing and debugging.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Recycling assets is encouraged to save development time, reminiscent of practices from older game development limitations. Delegation is recommended when possible, using external resources to handle tasks outside the developer's primary skill set, allowing them to focus on what they do best. Accurate and detailed programming notes are crucial for efficient debugging and iterating on game systems.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The speaker suggests implementing both active and passive feedback loops for testing games, favoring passive testing once the game is more developed for more comprehensive testing results. They stress the importance of maintaining large periods of time for deep work on core gameplay while allocating shorter periods for smaller, less intensive tasks. Responsible use of tools is encouraged, focusing only on necessary tools to avoid over-planning.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:58

    The mindset framework concludes by emphasizing the importance of learning through challenges and not avoiding hard problems. This perseverance builds skills and efficiency in development. The speaker advises maintaining internal motivation by not sharing successes prematurely. Finally, continuous improvement is crucial, as skill development leads to faster and more productive game creation. The overall advice is tailored for both casual and dedicated developers.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Why is setting a bedtime alarm more important than a morning alarm?

    Setting a bedtime alarm ensures you get adequate rest, helping maintain energy and efficiency throughout the day.

  • How does meal prepping save time during game development?

    Meal prepping reduces daily cooking time, allowing you to quickly reheat meals and focus more on development work.

  • Why is saying 'no' considered a powerful tool?

    Saying 'no' helps you avoid distractions and keeps you focused on what truly matters for your goals.

  • What is Parkinson’s Law and how does it apply to game development?

    Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available. Setting tighter deadlines helps compress work into shorter periods, enhancing productivity.

  • How can scalable systems in game development save time?

    Scalable systems allow you to use a single object with variable attributes, reducing redundancy and allowing for easier debugging and updates.

  • Why should time-consuming tasks like asset creation be streamlined or delegated?

    Streamlining or delegating tasks allows you to focus on core development, improving efficiency and using time on tasks aligned with your skills.

  • How does practicing 'active' versus 'passive' feedback benefit development?

    Passive feedback, like surveys, allows players to engage on their own time, providing developers constant input without needing to be actively involved.

  • What is the importance of taking programming notes?

    Programming notes help quickly identify and resolve bugs, improving productivity during debugging sessions.

  • How should tools be used effectively in game development?

    Tools should aid rather than hinder progress. Focus on essential tools needed for development rather than over-planning.

  • Why is it important to continually improve skills during game development?

    Improving skills increases efficiency in both time management and development, leading to faster and higher quality game completion.

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  • 00:00:00
    hey so I made some lifestyle choices
  • 00:00:02
    that allowed me to adjust my time in
  • 00:00:04
    order to make more time to make my game
  • 00:00:06
    and I actually ended up making Dodge
  • 00:00:08
    King in three months so I'm going to
  • 00:00:09
    share some tips that I took in order to
  • 00:00:11
    be very efficient when making your game
  • 00:00:14
    um so let's go ahead and get that
  • 00:00:15
    started but before we begin let's go
  • 00:00:17
    ahead and ask this important question
  • 00:00:18
    that you probably have why is this
  • 00:00:20
    important and the truth is you know
  • 00:00:22
    making games does take time it's a
  • 00:00:24
    challenge there's going to be obstacles
  • 00:00:25
    that we're going to have left and right
  • 00:00:27
    and I remember when I was working on my
  • 00:00:28
    first game it took over a year and there
  • 00:00:30
    was a point where I had to stop and I
  • 00:00:31
    was like this is taking too much time
  • 00:00:33
    what can I do to optimize right then I
  • 00:00:36
    ended up doing a couple of things that
  • 00:00:38
    drastically changed my productivity and
  • 00:00:40
    this is how I was able to make dodge
  • 00:00:42
    King within three months so I've
  • 00:00:44
    organized a couple of things that we can
  • 00:00:46
    talk about here but I've categorized it
  • 00:00:47
    in three parts uh the personal part
  • 00:00:50
    where it's applicable for pretty much
  • 00:00:51
    anything development decisions are going
  • 00:00:53
    to be more focused on what you as a game
  • 00:00:55
    developer should do and then the mindset
  • 00:00:57
    framework which is how we should be
  • 00:00:58
    thinking about these problems
  • 00:01:00
    so first of all you need to set an alarm
  • 00:01:04
    to go to bed okay rest is critical it is
  • 00:01:07
    super important you need to be really
  • 00:01:09
    well rested to handle any type of
  • 00:01:10
    challenge during the day right and I
  • 00:01:12
    think one of the biggest issues that we
  • 00:01:14
    have is we have alarm clocks that go out
  • 00:01:16
    in the morning and the issue with that
  • 00:01:18
    is that we end up interrupting our own
  • 00:01:21
    sleep and the consequence for that is
  • 00:01:23
    that we end up feeling more tired less
  • 00:01:25
    rested and we're just not going to be as
  • 00:01:28
    efficient as possible the crazy part is
  • 00:01:30
    as humans we have an internal clock so
  • 00:01:33
    that being said if we kind of went
  • 00:01:35
    backwards and just set an alarm to go to
  • 00:01:38
    bed consistently let's say something
  • 00:01:39
    like 10 p.m. then you can go ahead and
  • 00:01:42
    you know go to bed shut down everything
  • 00:01:44
    get rest and then when you wake up
  • 00:01:46
    naturally in the morning if you wake up
  • 00:01:48
    really early you have extra time and if
  • 00:01:49
    you don't guess what you're well rested
  • 00:01:51
    and you will still be efficient during
  • 00:01:53
    the day so it's really important to set
  • 00:01:55
    an alarm to go to bed not one to get you
  • 00:01:58
    out of bed all right that's number one
  • 00:02:01
    the next one is meal prep if you are a
  • 00:02:03
    person that cooks if you're a person
  • 00:02:04
    that eats a lot inside it is super
  • 00:02:06
    critical that you should consider meal
  • 00:02:08
    prepping and the reason why I say this
  • 00:02:09
    is because it probably takes 20 minutes
  • 00:02:11
    to half an hour to make a meal and then
  • 00:02:13
    you know you eat the meal take some time
  • 00:02:15
    to digest whatever and you're like okay
  • 00:02:17
    you move on the thing is every single
  • 00:02:19
    time you're cooking a meal that's 30
  • 00:02:20
    minutes of preparation time to get
  • 00:02:22
    everything set right now it depends on
  • 00:02:24
    the actual meal itself but if you can
  • 00:02:26
    take an extra 10 minutes right let's say
  • 00:02:28
    we take 40 minutes to cook some rice and
  • 00:02:30
    chicken and beans and everything and you
  • 00:02:32
    know suddenly we have more chicken more
  • 00:02:34
    rice more everything and then we divide
  • 00:02:36
    that for the week well guess what all
  • 00:02:37
    you have to do is reheat your food
  • 00:02:39
    whether it's on a stove or a microwave
  • 00:02:41
    and suddenly you just saved 30 minutes
  • 00:02:44
    of cooking for you know during the week
  • 00:02:46
    so super super simple hack but you
  • 00:02:49
    should genuinely consider doing meal
  • 00:02:51
    preps since it actually saves you a lot
  • 00:02:52
    of time and I would also suggest that
  • 00:02:55
    you know we have chores to do and I
  • 00:02:57
    would say if you can do all of your
  • 00:02:59
    chores in one sitting then that would be
  • 00:03:01
    really good because that way you're not
  • 00:03:03
    spreading out those tasks during the day
  • 00:03:05
    so if you overload that with you know
  • 00:03:06
    cleaning up doing your laundry doing
  • 00:03:08
    your groceries cooking that's something
  • 00:03:10
    that can really give you more time to
  • 00:03:12
    focus on larger chunks during your day
  • 00:03:14
    right um now there are exceptions right
  • 00:03:16
    let's say you have a pet or you have a
  • 00:03:17
    family member that you have to take care
  • 00:03:18
    of or maybe obligations right and it's
  • 00:03:21
    pretty common that most of us work or
  • 00:03:23
    we're at school or we're trying to you
  • 00:03:25
    know make extra time for a reason right
  • 00:03:27
    so you know just make sure that these
  • 00:03:29
    are small things you can do to just keep
  • 00:03:32
    gaining those increments of extra
  • 00:03:33
    minutes extra hours that actually play a
  • 00:03:36
    big role later right and then I'm going
  • 00:03:38
    to talk about working out right exercise
  • 00:03:41
    is critical and I don't want to hear an
  • 00:03:43
    excuse of you saying oh I don't need to
  • 00:03:45
    work out I don't need to do this no no
  • 00:03:46
    no you need proper nutrition you need to
  • 00:03:48
    exercise you really need to move your
  • 00:03:50
    body now my controversial opinion or
  • 00:03:52
    something that I think is important is
  • 00:03:54
    if you are going to work out you know
  • 00:03:55
    you shouldn't work like work out for
  • 00:03:58
    like three plus hours right now you know
  • 00:04:00
    if you're doing a cardio day that
  • 00:04:01
    requires you to do half an hour or a
  • 00:04:03
    whole hour go for it if you're going to
  • 00:04:05
    do your arms your legs any part of your
  • 00:04:07
    body do what you have to do but the key
  • 00:04:10
    here is to be efficient at it right um
  • 00:04:13
    sometimes there are people that you know
  • 00:04:14
    they go to the gym and they're just kind
  • 00:04:15
    of on the treadmill all day and that's
  • 00:04:17
    great for them I don't have an issue
  • 00:04:18
    with that but what I'm saying is if you
  • 00:04:20
    want to create more time as a developer
  • 00:04:22
    or just somebody doing their project you
  • 00:04:24
    should really consider doing efficient
  • 00:04:26
    workouts so that you can minimize the
  • 00:04:28
    time in the gym or working out and then
  • 00:04:31
    you know still hitting the areas that
  • 00:04:32
    you want to hit all
  • 00:04:34
    right and then another extremely
  • 00:04:36
    powerful tool is saying no right and you
  • 00:04:39
    might get called out for it but I'm
  • 00:04:40
    gonna talk about this for a little bit
  • 00:04:42
    because if you say no to the new ideas
  • 00:04:45
    to going out to distractions to any
  • 00:04:48
    opportunity that halts you you're
  • 00:04:50
    indirectly creating more time to say yes
  • 00:04:52
    to the thing that actually matters the
  • 00:04:54
    most so you should really really pay
  • 00:04:56
    attention to you know your environment
  • 00:04:58
    like are you in a position where are
  • 00:04:59
    required to go out often um are there
  • 00:05:02
    people that are you know kind of like
  • 00:05:04
    bugging you daily like hey like I I want
  • 00:05:05
    to do this with you and you kind of have
  • 00:05:07
    to like be defensive about it or simply
  • 00:05:09
    you know maybe you have a lot of ideas
  • 00:05:11
    that you want to commit to but I
  • 00:05:13
    recommend you not doing that just say no
  • 00:05:15
    to the things that don't matter and then
  • 00:05:17
    say yes to what actually matters and
  • 00:05:19
    then I have two little tips for you
  • 00:05:20
    because I understand that saying no
  • 00:05:23
    might be very difficult to you know a
  • 00:05:24
    people pleaser right if you're a people
  • 00:05:26
    pleaser then you know you might feel
  • 00:05:28
    guilty you might feel a little awkward
  • 00:05:29
    about you know like do I have to reject
  • 00:05:31
    right so the two the two things to keep
  • 00:05:33
    in mind one when you say no try not to
  • 00:05:38
    add any more excuses and the reason why
  • 00:05:40
    I say this is because if you're in a
  • 00:05:41
    conversation with somebody who's very
  • 00:05:43
    dominant in what they want they will try
  • 00:05:46
    to take your excuses and then fold it
  • 00:05:49
    against you to the point where you
  • 00:05:50
    change your no to a yes right so it's
  • 00:05:52
    just better to say no stand firm on it
  • 00:05:54
    don't necessarily bring up excuses and
  • 00:05:56
    just see what happens because from there
  • 00:05:58
    you're not creating the the area of
  • 00:06:00
    space for the other person to attack you
  • 00:06:02
    and you know change your answer and
  • 00:06:04
    number two by you saying no you're
  • 00:06:06
    actually doing yourself and the person
  • 00:06:08
    requesting you a favor one you're saving
  • 00:06:11
    yourself time for yourself to do your
  • 00:06:12
    project to do what you have to do but
  • 00:06:14
    also um you know let's say you did say
  • 00:06:17
    yes you know like you said no then you
  • 00:06:19
    changed to yes the request that you will
  • 00:06:22
    be performing you may do it
  • 00:06:24
    half-heartedly right you might do it
  • 00:06:25
    with a little bit of like grudged you
  • 00:06:28
    you might be like ah you know maybe I
  • 00:06:29
    shouldn't have done this and as a result
  • 00:06:31
    you may not be fulfilling the person's
  • 00:06:32
    request to their fullest so really just
  • 00:06:35
    pay attention to what really matters and
  • 00:06:38
    focus on that and that just means say no
  • 00:06:40
    to a lot of
  • 00:06:41
    things and then if possible um you
  • 00:06:45
    should really go autopilot on your
  • 00:06:47
    decisions now I'm not saying autopilot
  • 00:06:49
    is the way you should live your life I
  • 00:06:50
    genuinely think living in the present is
  • 00:06:51
    amazing that there's a lot of things to
  • 00:06:53
    observe and such however what I want to
  • 00:06:55
    point out is routines are established
  • 00:06:58
    for a reason right when you have a
  • 00:07:00
    routine you're basically doing tasks
  • 00:07:02
    automatically so if everything that I've
  • 00:07:04
    described to you so far is not in your
  • 00:07:06
    routine you know go ahead and try
  • 00:07:08
    thinking about okay what can I do to get
  • 00:07:09
    in the habit of doing that so that in my
  • 00:07:11
    daily day-to-day tasks I have that ready
  • 00:07:14
    and I kind of just automatically do it
  • 00:07:16
    right and this will automatically help
  • 00:07:18
    you optimize more free time for you to
  • 00:07:20
    use what you need to
  • 00:07:21
    do and then we have
  • 00:07:24
    distractions and I'm especially poting
  • 00:07:26
    out social media because as developers
  • 00:07:28
    we actually should be marketing on
  • 00:07:30
    social media pretty often but sometimes
  • 00:07:32
    that bleeds into you know sending memes
  • 00:07:34
    and staying staying on social media for
  • 00:07:36
    a while so there's a bunch of things
  • 00:07:38
    that we have to be a little bit careful
  • 00:07:39
    about um but I would say you know be
  • 00:07:42
    aware of social media if you are a
  • 00:07:44
    person that takes a lot of phone calls
  • 00:07:45
    either keep it short or simply delegate
  • 00:07:47
    it or leave it for another time later
  • 00:07:49
    when you're done with your um current
  • 00:07:52
    work uh if you get invited to go out a
  • 00:07:55
    lot that's absolutely cool good for you
  • 00:07:57
    but you know try to keep that at a
  • 00:07:58
    minimum because going out requires you
  • 00:07:59
    to get ready then to drive then to go
  • 00:08:02
    and those are hours that you could be
  • 00:08:04
    using and then of course if you're
  • 00:08:06
    somebody that watches like movies or
  • 00:08:08
    anime or something on Netflix you know
  • 00:08:09
    you there's a space and time for that
  • 00:08:11
    but you know you don't want to overdo it
  • 00:08:13
    either and so of course I'm not saying
  • 00:08:15
    take this at an extreme level because of
  • 00:08:17
    course there's going to be emergencies
  • 00:08:18
    there's going to be situations in life
  • 00:08:20
    that happens and it's super important to
  • 00:08:22
    you know focus on that right but if you
  • 00:08:24
    can mitigate all of these um
  • 00:08:27
    distractions if you can really stop
  • 00:08:28
    being distracted by the daily Norms that
  • 00:08:32
    occur then you will suddenly realize
  • 00:08:34
    wait if I don't go on social media for
  • 00:08:37
    multiple hours maybe I can do this right
  • 00:08:39
    so like avoid Doom scrolling and
  • 00:08:42
    obviously there's other things you can
  • 00:08:44
    do such as setting alarms setting timers
  • 00:08:46
    setting limits so that you can continue
  • 00:08:49
    avoiding these distractions but I simply
  • 00:08:51
    recommend you getting in the habit of
  • 00:08:53
    just mentally not distracting yourself
  • 00:08:55
    because it is a skill to like be focused
  • 00:08:58
    so the more you work on that the more
  • 00:09:00
    likely you're going to keep getting
  • 00:09:00
    focused and as a result you will still
  • 00:09:02
    make more time for
  • 00:09:04
    yourself um the next point that I want
  • 00:09:06
    to bring is actually making shorter
  • 00:09:08
    breaks right and like I said breaks are
  • 00:09:11
    important you are human you're gonna
  • 00:09:12
    need rest you're going to need your time
  • 00:09:14
    to do your things that's absolutely fair
  • 00:09:15
    and valid what I'm saying is don't say
  • 00:09:18
    oh I'm gonna take a break and then you
  • 00:09:19
    disappear forever right so um sometimes
  • 00:09:22
    you might you know take a break super
  • 00:09:23
    late at night and then it hits and then
  • 00:09:26
    you get hit with that okay I'm really
  • 00:09:27
    tired maybe let me stay on my phone for
  • 00:09:29
    a little bit longer may maybe let me
  • 00:09:31
    continue this conversation a little bit
  • 00:09:32
    longer and suddenly you're just losing
  • 00:09:35
    Time by doing that so try to keep in
  • 00:09:38
    mind that you can take a break there's
  • 00:09:40
    no issues with that but try to keep it
  • 00:09:42
    short so that you can continue going
  • 00:09:43
    back into the flow of things that you
  • 00:09:44
    need to work on and yeah just really pay
  • 00:09:47
    attention to that because sometimes we
  • 00:09:49
    autopilot on the break so if we're on
  • 00:09:52
    the break and then we're like really
  • 00:09:53
    enjoying the break and then we're still
  • 00:09:55
    on autopilot in the break you know we're
  • 00:09:58
    probably going to waste more time than
  • 00:09:59
    you I
  • 00:10:00
    think and the hack of all time and this
  • 00:10:03
    is such an underrated one that I
  • 00:10:05
    genuinely believe in is you need to use
  • 00:10:08
    Parkinson's law right so Parkin law uh
  • 00:10:11
    Parkinson's law states that work
  • 00:10:14
    expands so as to fill the time available
  • 00:10:18
    for its completion what that means is if
  • 00:10:21
    I say I need this game to be done in a
  • 00:10:23
    month from now all the work I would need
  • 00:10:25
    to do in that month suddenly gets
  • 00:10:27
    compressed in that month so that by the
  • 00:10:29
    end of the month my game is complete the
  • 00:10:31
    same way if I said I need my game to be
  • 00:10:33
    completed in six months well guess what
  • 00:10:35
    the exact same of work that I would do
  • 00:10:37
    in the month suddenly expands to six
  • 00:10:40
    months so by the time the six months are
  • 00:10:42
    over assuming that I'm following the
  • 00:10:44
    deadline I'm going to finish the game in
  • 00:10:45
    six months so it is important to have
  • 00:10:49
    realistic goals of your deadlines and
  • 00:10:51
    things happen like you know you might
  • 00:10:52
    say hey I'm going to get this done in
  • 00:10:53
    two months and then something pops up
  • 00:10:55
    and then it happens that's fine but
  • 00:10:58
    really practice and really get in the
  • 00:10:59
    habit of using Parkinson's law try to
  • 00:11:02
    make really tight deadlines and while
  • 00:11:05
    you're practicing all of these extra
  • 00:11:07
    habits to build your um you know free
  • 00:11:11
    time suddenly you're going to see wait a
  • 00:11:13
    minute maybe this is possible so really
  • 00:11:17
    keep that in mind all right now we're
  • 00:11:19
    going to get into the development
  • 00:11:20
    decisions and what this basically means
  • 00:11:22
    is I'm going to start talking more about
  • 00:11:24
    what you can do as a game developer to
  • 00:11:26
    optimize your productivity in gamees
  • 00:11:29
    right number
  • 00:11:31
    one you can only do one project at a
  • 00:11:35
    time do not overcommit to multiple ideas
  • 00:11:39
    don't say I'm going to do this prototype
  • 00:11:40
    then I'm going to go back and forth no
  • 00:11:43
    if you've ever wondered how to get
  • 00:11:44
    multiple projects done it's simply by
  • 00:11:47
    grabbing one completing it and then
  • 00:11:49
    moving on to the next one so before I
  • 00:11:51
    went into game development I was
  • 00:11:52
    actually an author right so I wrote a
  • 00:11:54
    book and then I wanted to do a revision
  • 00:11:55
    of the book and then I did a small
  • 00:11:57
    little web comic series and then I said
  • 00:11:58
    okay I want want to get into Game Dev
  • 00:12:00
    imagine what would happen if I was doing
  • 00:12:02
    Game Dev and then I was also balancing
  • 00:12:03
    the book at the same time suddenly I'd
  • 00:12:05
    be going back and forth with the
  • 00:12:06
    narrative I'd be switching my mindset my
  • 00:12:09
    flows and I just wouldn't achieve the
  • 00:12:11
    productivity that I could so you really
  • 00:12:14
    need to focus on one at a time and I
  • 00:12:16
    know it's so easy to say I have this new
  • 00:12:18
    idea I want to try this out you have to
  • 00:12:21
    hold it in until you finish and if you
  • 00:12:23
    can't do that you're going to end up
  • 00:12:25
    losing quality you're going to end up
  • 00:12:26
    losing productivity you're going to end
  • 00:12:28
    up losing a lot of value time so even if
  • 00:12:31
    it gets boring or hard or difficult you
  • 00:12:35
    really need to focus at one at a time
  • 00:12:38
    once you establish this you'll slowly
  • 00:12:40
    realize oh when I do finish this and I
  • 00:12:42
    want to add all these extra features
  • 00:12:43
    I'll just put that in my next game or
  • 00:12:46
    I'll do an update when when the core
  • 00:12:48
    game is done so really just drill on you
  • 00:12:52
    know one game at a
  • 00:12:53
    time I would heavily suggest and this
  • 00:12:56
    depends on the game that you make but
  • 00:12:58
    you should really invest in scalable
  • 00:13:00
    systems and what this means is maybe so
  • 00:13:04
    I made so for example I made a mistake
  • 00:13:05
    where every enemy that I created in the
  • 00:13:08
    first version of Dodge King had their
  • 00:13:10
    own script their own class their own
  • 00:13:12
    variables they were literally their own
  • 00:13:14
    unique objects and that's an issue
  • 00:13:17
    because at the end of the day they
  • 00:13:19
    behaved identical to all the other
  • 00:13:21
    enemies so what happened was if I had a
  • 00:13:23
    bug in one enemy then I would have to
  • 00:13:25
    specifically work really hard to fix
  • 00:13:27
    that one bug when when in reality I
  • 00:13:30
    could have made one game object that did
  • 00:13:32
    every single enemy behavior and then all
  • 00:13:35
    I would have to do was assign a specific
  • 00:13:37
    variable to say oh today I want this
  • 00:13:39
    flying enemy right so then I would spawn
  • 00:13:41
    that game object induce the data that
  • 00:13:44
    says you're a flying enemy and now all
  • 00:13:46
    of the systems that I've created for
  • 00:13:47
    this game object now have the exact same
  • 00:13:50
    properties as all the other enemies so
  • 00:13:53
    scalable systems is basically just
  • 00:13:55
    saying make one unit one game object one
  • 00:13:58
    one of one and then just use the
  • 00:14:01
    variables to change how it behaves not
  • 00:14:04
    oh let me make this enemy from scratch
  • 00:14:06
    and then let me make this enemy from
  • 00:14:07
    scratch and then suddenly they have
  • 00:14:09
    different properties different rules
  • 00:14:11
    different ways how they behave and it
  • 00:14:13
    just makes development more hectic
  • 00:14:15
    because now you have to account for test
  • 00:14:16
    cases you have to account for debugging
  • 00:14:18
    different items there's a bunch of
  • 00:14:20
    issues that occur when you have that so
  • 00:14:23
    if possible and if this is part of your
  • 00:14:25
    scale of your game one game object one
  • 00:14:27
    enemy and then just variables that
  • 00:14:29
    changes everything if you can do that
  • 00:14:32
    making more enemies become significantly
  • 00:14:35
    easier faster and suddenly you're saving
  • 00:14:37
    time on the debugging
  • 00:14:40
    part uh this is an interesting point um
  • 00:14:44
    this may completely depend on where
  • 00:14:45
    you're at at your game development but I
  • 00:14:47
    would heavily suggest recycling assets
  • 00:14:50
    and there's two reasons why number one
  • 00:14:52
    is sometimes when we create a new asset
  • 00:14:55
    it takes a lot of time so for the
  • 00:14:57
    example that you can see in the clip I
  • 00:14:59
    actually was debating okay it would be
  • 00:15:00
    really cool if I had a way to make
  • 00:15:03
    Sprite art of this robot taking damage
  • 00:15:05
    right so like if I hit it it does like a
  • 00:15:07
    little I don't know like a like some
  • 00:15:09
    type of Animation right the problem that
  • 00:15:11
    I realized doing this is that it would
  • 00:15:12
    take me probably like two hours to get
  • 00:15:15
    it right and that's being generous
  • 00:15:17
    because I take a lot of time when I make
  • 00:15:18
    Sprite art in fact I'm trying not to
  • 00:15:20
    make that much Sprite art anymore
  • 00:15:21
    because I want to focus on the system on
  • 00:15:23
    the gameplay but I digress the whole
  • 00:15:25
    point that I'm trying to get to is when
  • 00:15:28
    I made when I was attempting to make the
  • 00:15:30
    Sprite Art For You Know The Enemy
  • 00:15:32
    getting hit I realized whoa I'm spending
  • 00:15:35
    a lot of time doing this and this is for
  • 00:15:38
    one enemy I'm gonna have other enemies
  • 00:15:41
    that I have to you know uh make original
  • 00:15:44
    hit animations for when in reality I
  • 00:15:46
    already have all the enemies established
  • 00:15:48
    in the game so what I did is I actually
  • 00:15:50
    recycled the same animation for when the
  • 00:15:53
    enemy attacks so if you look at the
  • 00:15:54
    screen for a second when the enem is
  • 00:15:56
    about to attack he does his little shake
  • 00:15:57
    and he turns red and then he attacks but
  • 00:16:00
    now when you hit him he does the same
  • 00:16:02
    thing he turns red he has a little Flash
  • 00:16:04
    and what I'm doing is I'm using the
  • 00:16:06
    other systems to indicate hitting so now
  • 00:16:09
    he's shaking now he has these uh bursts
  • 00:16:11
    of stars and and little paint coming out
  • 00:16:13
    and you know the camera shakes just a
  • 00:16:15
    little bit when that happens so there's
  • 00:16:16
    other ways to delegate that and I think
  • 00:16:18
    that's really important and the second
  • 00:16:20
    reason why I mentioned this is because
  • 00:16:21
    you have to think about it like this
  • 00:16:23
    back in the SNES days the NES days when
  • 00:16:26
    you know um game development as a whole
  • 00:16:28
    was very very limited the developers had
  • 00:16:31
    to use their creativity to you know
  • 00:16:34
    indicate or visually show off something
  • 00:16:36
    that they wanted to do when they may not
  • 00:16:38
    have the resources to do it so you know
  • 00:16:41
    there might have been recycled
  • 00:16:42
    animations that you've seen everywhere I
  • 00:16:44
    think my favorite example is Mega Man
  • 00:16:46
    Battle Network where Mega Man Has a
  • 00:16:48
    bunch of forms and literally all they
  • 00:16:50
    did was they just overlaid his Sprite
  • 00:16:52
    changed his color added a extra weapon
  • 00:16:54
    on his hand and that's it and they
  • 00:16:56
    didn't remake it from scratch they
  • 00:16:58
    didn't get new artists to you know make
  • 00:17:01
    new poses and then new programmers to
  • 00:17:03
    change how everything behaves it's just
  • 00:17:05
    an Sprite overlay Sprite color change
  • 00:17:08
    extra weapon and guess what going back
  • 00:17:10
    to the scalable system just variables
  • 00:17:13
    that would change make man's behavior so
  • 00:17:16
    really scalable systems recycled assets
  • 00:17:19
    are you know together you can save so
  • 00:17:21
    much time with making your
  • 00:17:23
    game and then I would also suggest that
  • 00:17:26
    if you have an artist um or somebody
  • 00:17:29
    that can do other tasks for you delegate
  • 00:17:32
    as much as possible and in in concept
  • 00:17:35
    this is how a team works this is just
  • 00:17:37
    how it is right but for example on the
  • 00:17:38
    left you can see this is a draft I made
  • 00:17:40
    in 20 minutes about how I wanted my logo
  • 00:17:42
    and then I got my friend ponpon Arts to
  • 00:17:45
    you know take the draft and then you
  • 00:17:46
    know she did the professional artwork
  • 00:17:48
    for it and this is the game capsule for
  • 00:17:50
    it it took her eight business days can
  • 00:17:52
    you imagine if I had to take eight
  • 00:17:53
    business days on my own to attempt to do
  • 00:17:56
    something that maybe I don't have the
  • 00:17:57
    skill set to do but then suddenly that's
  • 00:17:59
    eight days I'm not programming I'm not
  • 00:18:02
    fixing my game so this might be obvious
  • 00:18:05
    but it's really important to really make
  • 00:18:08
    sure that you as an individual can
  • 00:18:10
    delegate as much as
  • 00:18:13
    possible if you are a game programmer
  • 00:18:16
    which I'm assuming uh you know most game
  • 00:18:18
    developers have to have some level of
  • 00:18:19
    programming you should really invest in
  • 00:18:22
    taking better programming notes what I
  • 00:18:25
    mean by this is that most of the time
  • 00:18:27
    that we have debugging or
  • 00:18:28
    troubleshooting issues you know we're
  • 00:18:30
    always going back and forth with is the
  • 00:18:32
    syntax right did I get the right game
  • 00:18:34
    object you know what am I doing to
  • 00:18:37
    actually fix this bug and personally at
  • 00:18:41
    least for me and this is why I'm
  • 00:18:42
    mentioning this if I were to take notes
  • 00:18:45
    on exactly what line did what it would
  • 00:18:47
    be faster for me to detect what the
  • 00:18:49
    issue was of course there's going to be
  • 00:18:51
    the compiler error you're going to see
  • 00:18:53
    for example on Unity if you get an error
  • 00:18:55
    it tells you oh this line is incorrect
  • 00:18:56
    go ahead and fix it but sometimes
  • 00:18:58
    there's more context that is required to
  • 00:19:00
    fix that issue so here on the screen and
  • 00:19:04
    this is just a screenshot of a random
  • 00:19:05
    system that I had that was in charge of
  • 00:19:07
    making levels um I I don't know what
  • 00:19:10
    fourth or fifth means and I can see that
  • 00:19:13
    there's you know instantaneous which
  • 00:19:14
    means we're spawning the fourth friend
  • 00:19:17
    on this location like I can I can look
  • 00:19:20
    at it and say okay maybe I understand
  • 00:19:23
    but for example if we look at this slide
  • 00:19:25
    if I had actually put the notes to
  • 00:19:28
    genuine ly explain what is going on it
  • 00:19:30
    would be faster for me to take care of
  • 00:19:32
    the issue so let's say I had a bug here
  • 00:19:34
    right well look on all the way on the
  • 00:19:36
    top oh this is responsible for low HP
  • 00:19:38
    effects okay so we have the object
  • 00:19:39
    pulling so this is what calls the object
  • 00:19:42
    okay what's next okay so we have a
  • 00:19:43
    self-healing code so this is the line
  • 00:19:45
    that takes care of that if I just got in
  • 00:19:47
    the habit of doing this more often half
  • 00:19:50
    of the bugs that I would have had would
  • 00:19:52
    have been solved way more quickly so
  • 00:19:54
    please take notes more carefully on what
  • 00:19:56
    you're programming so that when you do
  • 00:19:58
    inspect it again you're able to fix it
  • 00:20:01
    more
  • 00:20:03
    rapidly next we have active and passive
  • 00:20:06
    feedback loops right and what active
  • 00:20:09
    means is you are required to be there in
  • 00:20:12
    order to see what's going on feedback
  • 00:20:14
    wise and then passive is the input is
  • 00:20:17
    what you'll be receiving so let me break
  • 00:20:19
    that down a bit if so in this clip
  • 00:20:21
    specifically this is my friend playing
  • 00:20:23
    the very first prototype I ever made
  • 00:20:25
    right and it's cool because you know I'm
  • 00:20:26
    having fun I'm like yeah I'm watching my
  • 00:20:28
    my own project uh getting played it's
  • 00:20:30
    it's a great experience right the
  • 00:20:32
    problem is I'm sitting down there and
  • 00:20:34
    I'm basically observing his thoughts his
  • 00:20:36
    comments uh what he's seeing what he's
  • 00:20:39
    missing and this is great I'm not saying
  • 00:20:41
    active feed uh doing an active play test
  • 00:20:44
    is wrong what I realized though is if I
  • 00:20:47
    made it passive if I sent him the demo
  • 00:20:50
    and then I sent him a survey then
  • 00:20:52
    suddenly he can do the demo and then
  • 00:20:54
    when he's done he would go to the survey
  • 00:20:57
    and answer the questions that I'm
  • 00:20:58
    specifically asking for then use his
  • 00:21:01
    results to fix what I'm actually looking
  • 00:21:03
    for now I heavily recommend you doing an
  • 00:21:06
    active play test on your first couple of
  • 00:21:09
    times you know just to see what your
  • 00:21:11
    prototype looks like but after a while
  • 00:21:13
    after you have a bunch of um development
  • 00:21:15
    done after you have a lot of um you know
  • 00:21:18
    like the game is more polished there's
  • 00:21:20
    more features you know there should be
  • 00:21:22
    an automated process to do this so
  • 00:21:25
    really consider making a passive play
  • 00:21:27
    test mode where play players can get
  • 00:21:29
    your game whether it's on itch whether
  • 00:21:31
    it's through an email and then also link
  • 00:21:33
    them a survey so that you can see
  • 00:21:36
    exactly what they felt what they went
  • 00:21:37
    through and also this gives them the
  • 00:21:39
    time to really think about what they
  • 00:21:41
    were going through when they were
  • 00:21:42
    playing the game so again active is good
  • 00:21:45
    I'm not saying avoid active but if there
  • 00:21:47
    are more opportunities to do passive
  • 00:21:51
    play tests then you should definitely
  • 00:21:52
    invest in that as well because guess
  • 00:21:54
    what your players will be taking their
  • 00:21:56
    time to do their stuff while you
  • 00:21:57
    continue to deel your
  • 00:22:00
    game so I discussed this earlier and
  • 00:22:03
    it's really important to have large
  • 00:22:05
    chunks of periods right so like if you
  • 00:22:08
    have the whole morning or the whole
  • 00:22:10
    afternoon or the whole night off right
  • 00:22:12
    we're talking about two three maybe four
  • 00:22:14
    hours if you can find a way to do all
  • 00:22:16
    the habits I've discussed to generate
  • 00:22:19
    four hours in the night or and in the
  • 00:22:21
    morning then you will have more time to
  • 00:22:23
    do Focus to work this will allow you to
  • 00:22:26
    work on your coding this will allow you
  • 00:22:27
    to work on the core on the gameplay Loop
  • 00:22:29
    these are the most important parts
  • 00:22:31
    because remember most important parts of
  • 00:22:33
    the game are going to be the actual game
  • 00:22:35
    not the um you know little menus that
  • 00:22:38
    show up not the little side effects it's
  • 00:22:40
    what happens in the core of the gameplay
  • 00:22:42
    Loop and you need to spend your most
  • 00:22:46
    deep um time using uh yeah using your
  • 00:22:50
    deep time to get this part done if you
  • 00:22:54
    don't have um you know large chunks of
  • 00:22:57
    work right then or rather if you have
  • 00:23:00
    small periods of time that's what that's
  • 00:23:02
    when you would use your time to do the
  • 00:23:03
    quick tasks this would be okay what art
  • 00:23:06
    can I fix um what can I delegate what
  • 00:23:08
    should I plan out things that don't
  • 00:23:10
    require so much deep focus or deep work
  • 00:23:12
    but you do need to keep that in in mind
  • 00:23:15
    when you account for that so remember
  • 00:23:18
    the whole reason why we're trying to
  • 00:23:19
    make as much time as possible is to do
  • 00:23:21
    more deep work because that's the most
  • 00:23:24
    important part of your game there are
  • 00:23:25
    other parts of your game that are
  • 00:23:26
    important which are the small little
  • 00:23:28
    quick t but that should be delegated to
  • 00:23:30
    the areas that you know require a little
  • 00:23:34
    bit of time so when you have those you
  • 00:23:35
    know if you have like a lunch break or
  • 00:23:36
    something or you know maybe you're about
  • 00:23:38
    to go out but you have half an hour
  • 00:23:40
    before you do then yeah go ahead and
  • 00:23:41
    work on those small little
  • 00:23:44
    tasks and then a little this might also
  • 00:23:47
    be controversial too but I think that we
  • 00:23:49
    have a bunch of tools I think tools are
  • 00:23:51
    amazing I think they're there for a
  • 00:23:53
    reason but I also think that we're using
  • 00:23:56
    uh tools the wrong way and what I mean
  • 00:23:58
    by this is that sometimes we overspend a
  • 00:24:02
    lot of time using for example uh a GDB
  • 00:24:06
    or a task manager tool just planning
  • 00:24:08
    just thinking what should I do next this
  • 00:24:10
    and that and these are valid these are
  • 00:24:11
    important these are things that you
  • 00:24:12
    should definitely think about and invest
  • 00:24:15
    but sometimes we get in this Loop where
  • 00:24:18
    we say Okay I want my gdd to be this I
  • 00:24:22
    want to have my game to have this detail
  • 00:24:24
    and this and that and you're just you
  • 00:24:25
    just have this whole list of things and
  • 00:24:27
    you don't know when to stop making the
  • 00:24:29
    list you don't know when to iterate you
  • 00:24:30
    don't know when to optimize you just
  • 00:24:31
    keep adding and adding and you go back
  • 00:24:33
    and forth there's a point where you're
  • 00:24:36
    wasting time when you're
  • 00:24:38
    overinvestigation
  • 00:24:58
    constantly thinking about new ideas or
  • 00:25:00
    features or I need to plan this out
  • 00:25:02
    before I actually do this like I said
  • 00:25:05
    there is validity behind that there are
  • 00:25:07
    things you do want to plan out there are
  • 00:25:08
    things that you do want to pay attention
  • 00:25:09
    to but you should not spend you know
  • 00:25:13
    days planning every single little detail
  • 00:25:16
    when you can spend that time actually
  • 00:25:17
    iterating on the actual game this is why
  • 00:25:20
    the Deep work part is super important
  • 00:25:21
    because let's say you reached an
  • 00:25:24
    obstacle where you really need to see
  • 00:25:27
    how a specific level element works right
  • 00:25:30
    and you're testing uh this level but
  • 00:25:32
    then you're testing another version of
  • 00:25:34
    it then you're testing another a third
  • 00:25:36
    version of it that's the time that you
  • 00:25:38
    spend to do that not when you plan
  • 00:25:41
    because when you plan it out you might
  • 00:25:42
    say oh this plan's going to be perfect
  • 00:25:43
    this and that but then it doesn't reach
  • 00:25:45
    the requirements that you're looking for
  • 00:25:46
    before you know it you keep reiterating
  • 00:25:48
    your plan and you don't reiterate with
  • 00:25:51
    your action you should focus action
  • 00:25:53
    first so what I'm saying is there's a
  • 00:25:55
    bunch of tools they're great use them as
  • 00:25:58
    you want
  • 00:25:58
    but really only focus on the tools that
  • 00:26:00
    you actually need that would be your
  • 00:26:02
    programming that would be your artwork
  • 00:26:04
    that would be this that would be that
  • 00:26:05
    maybe if you need Task Manager Tools
  • 00:26:07
    because you're managing a team sure but
  • 00:26:09
    if you know that the scope of your game
  • 00:26:11
    is kind of small you really don't need
  • 00:26:13
    this huge robust uh way to calculate
  • 00:26:15
    everything just work on the action
  • 00:26:19
    that's the most important
  • 00:26:21
    part finally I'm going to end this
  • 00:26:23
    presentation with the mindset framework
  • 00:26:26
    okay this is things you should consider
  • 00:26:27
    when you're
  • 00:26:28
    in the process of making more time
  • 00:26:31
    gaining these habits learning how to
  • 00:26:33
    develop more efficiently working on
  • 00:26:35
    things more quickly so number one and
  • 00:26:39
    this is the most important thing please
  • 00:26:41
    please listen to this for a second
  • 00:26:42
    because if there's anything in this
  • 00:26:43
    entire video it's this you need to
  • 00:26:47
    practice drilling okay and what drilling
  • 00:26:50
    essentially is and you might you might
  • 00:26:53
    have this example here but have you ever
  • 00:26:56
    had a bug an issue a you know an
  • 00:27:02
    obstacle and you're like okay I'm going
  • 00:27:04
    to fix this I'm going to go ahead and
  • 00:27:05
    look at the forms I'm gonna look at
  • 00:27:06
    Reddit I'm GNA look at other tools I'm
  • 00:27:08
    gonna see how I'm going to fix this
  • 00:27:09
    right and you just can't find a solution
  • 00:27:12
    you just end up kind of like you're
  • 00:27:14
    stuck on it right maybe hours go by
  • 00:27:16
    you're working on it and you're like
  • 00:27:17
    there's nothing I can do to fix this
  • 00:27:20
    right the issue is if you do not resolve
  • 00:27:25
    the ISS the the the obstacle at hand if
  • 00:27:28
    you do not resolve that problem right
  • 00:27:30
    now your mind is going to create the
  • 00:27:32
    least path of resistance so you're going
  • 00:27:34
    to say okay I don't know how to do this
  • 00:27:37
    but I'm going to go ahead and work on
  • 00:27:38
    this other task and what's the issue
  • 00:27:40
    with that you're losing your focus on
  • 00:27:42
    the actual problem that you have to
  • 00:27:44
    solve so what happens is you start
  • 00:27:46
    delaying this problem over time and then
  • 00:27:49
    it becomes a bigger issue to the point
  • 00:27:51
    where you working on other things makes
  • 00:27:54
    this problem what we call a Band-Aid
  • 00:27:57
    solution you just kind of leave it in
  • 00:27:58
    the background or maybe you kind of do
  • 00:28:00
    something to kind of delegate the actual
  • 00:28:02
    problem now this goes back to the breaks
  • 00:28:05
    cuz it is important to take a break
  • 00:28:07
    analyze like have you ever tooken a
  • 00:28:09
    shower and then in the shower you're
  • 00:28:10
    like oh wait maybe if I did this it
  • 00:28:12
    would work yeah so it is important to
  • 00:28:14
    take a break it is important to have
  • 00:28:16
    those spaces to really think about the
  • 00:28:18
    problem but the reason why I'm saying
  • 00:28:21
    You must drill is because the more time
  • 00:28:24
    you allow this problem to not be solved
  • 00:28:28
    the farther away you're getting from
  • 00:28:30
    resolving your core gameplay Loop and so
  • 00:28:33
    if your if this problem is so
  • 00:28:36
    fundamental and if it's affecting the
  • 00:28:38
    gameplay as a whole like especially the
  • 00:28:40
    gameplay Loop the core part of it you're
  • 00:28:43
    basically delegating your game's
  • 00:28:46
    production and it's so easy to say oh I
  • 00:28:49
    have this problem I'll work on it later
  • 00:28:51
    uh I'll I'll work on something else but
  • 00:28:54
    you should really get in the habit of
  • 00:28:56
    fixing that immediately
  • 00:28:58
    and even if you can't fix it immediately
  • 00:29:00
    just keep tackling it over and over
  • 00:29:01
    again take your breaks think about it go
  • 00:29:03
    back but do not engage on another task
  • 00:29:07
    until that is done otherwise you're
  • 00:29:09
    subconsciously making the habit of
  • 00:29:11
    focusing on other problems instead of
  • 00:29:13
    the actual most important problem and
  • 00:29:16
    when you do this you're psychologically
  • 00:29:17
    showing yourself hey this is important
  • 00:29:20
    but I'm I'm showing I'm proving to
  • 00:29:22
    myself that it's not that important I'll
  • 00:29:25
    work on it I'll work on it later I'll
  • 00:29:26
    show I'll focus on something else and
  • 00:29:29
    before you know it you are in the habit
  • 00:29:31
    of ignoring hard
  • 00:29:33
    challenges if you can't take a hard
  • 00:29:37
    challenge or if you avoid a hard
  • 00:29:38
    challenge you're not going to grow
  • 00:29:40
    you're G to have a bunch of um mindset
  • 00:29:45
    switches that kind of like show you how
  • 00:29:47
    to avoid these issues going forward and
  • 00:29:49
    then the next time you find a really
  • 00:29:51
    hard problem your brain is going to say
  • 00:29:54
    well I can ignore this I'll try
  • 00:29:56
    something else
  • 00:29:59
    work on this and you will see how much
  • 00:30:02
    more effective you'll be as a developer
  • 00:30:05
    and then over time when you when you see
  • 00:30:07
    a new problem when you see a new
  • 00:30:08
    challenge something very difficult
  • 00:30:10
    you're actually going to get excited and
  • 00:30:11
    say wait I know how to deal with this
  • 00:30:13
    now now I might not know the actual
  • 00:30:14
    technical answer but I know I will have
  • 00:30:16
    the capability the discipline the
  • 00:30:19
    resistance the ability to sit down and
  • 00:30:21
    work through this if you can do that
  • 00:30:24
    then suddenly the time that you've been
  • 00:30:25
    creating to actually deal with this
  • 00:30:28
    problem is now worth it because you now
  • 00:30:30
    know what it takes to actually overcome
  • 00:30:32
    the obstacle at least in a mental way
  • 00:30:36
    really important lesson all right if you
  • 00:30:38
    can't drill if you keep delegating
  • 00:30:40
    you're not going to be focused and
  • 00:30:41
    you're not going to achieve getting the
  • 00:30:43
    game that you want so really focus on
  • 00:30:47
    drilling I think masah hero Sakurai uh
  • 00:30:50
    did an amazing job talking about
  • 00:30:51
    internal steam
  • 00:30:54
    basically as a game marketer you want to
  • 00:30:57
    talk about your game but as a game
  • 00:30:58
    developer you really need to stay quiet
  • 00:31:01
    and it's such a difficult skill to
  • 00:31:03
    master because sometimes we get a new
  • 00:31:05
    feature sometimes we see something that
  • 00:31:07
    works sometimes we do something really
  • 00:31:08
    cool and the first thing we want to do
  • 00:31:10
    is tell our friends tell our family like
  • 00:31:12
    oh I just made the system now we can do
  • 00:31:13
    this cool the problem with that and as
  • 00:31:17
    saakar right says if you share that
  • 00:31:21
    information you're going to feel a level
  • 00:31:23
    of completion you're going to feel like
  • 00:31:25
    oh I I actually completed therefore I
  • 00:31:27
    actually can tell somebody and suddenly
  • 00:31:30
    you're not compelled to be hyperfocused
  • 00:31:33
    hyperproductive you're now kind of like
  • 00:31:35
    relaxing a bit so Sakurai basically says
  • 00:31:39
    the more frustrated you are with like
  • 00:31:41
    not telling people what you want to you
  • 00:31:43
    know share with what you just did the
  • 00:31:46
    more compelled you are or the more
  • 00:31:48
    compelled you are going to be to
  • 00:31:50
    continue um surprising them or to
  • 00:31:52
    continue like working on things so that
  • 00:31:53
    when you do reveal the the the whole
  • 00:31:55
    package it's like way more fulfilling
  • 00:31:57
    right
  • 00:31:58
    so um it's such a minor detail but it's
  • 00:32:00
    super important because I remember
  • 00:32:02
    talking to my friends about like oh I
  • 00:32:03
    just made the system it looks cool
  • 00:32:04
    whatever and literally the next two days
  • 00:32:07
    I'm just lazy I'm just not working I'm
  • 00:32:09
    just not doing what I have to do I'm
  • 00:32:10
    just like h i mean they like it so I can
  • 00:32:13
    and I don't know what it is it's
  • 00:32:14
    probably like a subconscious thing I I
  • 00:32:16
    just don't know but I really like
  • 00:32:17
    sakurai's intent here when he says Hey
  • 00:32:19
    internal steem keeps you frustrated and
  • 00:32:21
    that frustration compels you to keep
  • 00:32:23
    working hard on what you have to work on
  • 00:32:25
    so if you're marketing your game
  • 00:32:28
    absolutely talk about your game what you
  • 00:32:29
    got to do there's nothing wrong with
  • 00:32:30
    that but on a personal level of you
  • 00:32:33
    communicating to your friend try try to
  • 00:32:36
    hold that as much as possible because
  • 00:32:38
    you will slow down after you share the
  • 00:32:40
    good
  • 00:32:42
    news and lastly one more important piece
  • 00:32:45
    that I just cannot
  • 00:32:47
    skip if in this entire
  • 00:32:51
    process if you are not incrementally
  • 00:32:55
    improving you're wasting your time
  • 00:32:58
    learn to work learn to learn learn to
  • 00:33:02
    iterate do what you have to do but get
  • 00:33:06
    better at it because the better you get
  • 00:33:09
    now the faster your skills will get here
  • 00:33:13
    and the better the skill that you have
  • 00:33:15
    the more efficient you will become and
  • 00:33:16
    the more efficient you become the more
  • 00:33:19
    optimized you are over time and what I
  • 00:33:23
    and the example that I want to showcase
  • 00:33:24
    here is on the left you can see again my
  • 00:33:26
    very first prototype right
  • 00:33:28
    and the walking system like the whole
  • 00:33:30
    grid of like me moving left and right
  • 00:33:32
    and up and down and this that that took
  • 00:33:34
    me three weeks to make now context I
  • 00:33:37
    didn't know how to program this is my
  • 00:33:38
    first time doing it of course like
  • 00:33:39
    that's normal stuff right but the issue
  • 00:33:41
    with that is you know is it going to
  • 00:33:44
    take three weeks to do this again if I
  • 00:33:46
    ever wanted to fix it but then you look
  • 00:33:49
    at the right this is literally a year
  • 00:33:51
    later and when I made this new uh grid
  • 00:33:54
    system where like things move faster and
  • 00:33:56
    you move up and down you have directions
  • 00:33:57
    and this and that it literally took me
  • 00:33:59
    one day to program all of that so how
  • 00:34:02
    did I go from three weeks of programming
  • 00:34:04
    grids to one week well I had to learn I
  • 00:34:08
    had to question I had to observe I had
  • 00:34:10
    to read the syntax I had to study I had
  • 00:34:12
    to get better at my craft so that I
  • 00:34:15
    could become a better developer and the
  • 00:34:17
    payoff the consequence to this is the
  • 00:34:20
    better I get with my skill the faster I
  • 00:34:23
    can create my games so you know we can
  • 00:34:26
    talk about saving time creating time
  • 00:34:29
    your mindset your ability to um you know
  • 00:34:33
    work deep there's a bunch of tips that
  • 00:34:36
    I've given here that could probably help
  • 00:34:37
    you out on making more time for your
  • 00:34:40
    game to be more productive but it is
  • 00:34:43
    critical that you build your craft if
  • 00:34:47
    you can't do that then making games is
  • 00:34:50
    going to be a very slow process for you
  • 00:34:53
    so learn observe do what you have to do
  • 00:34:56
    but again get get better if you can't
  • 00:34:59
    get better if you can't improve you're
  • 00:35:01
    going to be naturally
  • 00:35:03
    slow so that's uh my tips for how to be
  • 00:35:07
    more productive for how to create more
  • 00:35:09
    time for how to actually just focus on
  • 00:35:12
    the things that you have to focus on to
  • 00:35:13
    make your game hopefully this video
  • 00:35:15
    helped you out the way that I hope it
  • 00:35:17
    did and as usual thank you for your time
  • 00:35:19
    for allowing me to speak on to this and
  • 00:35:21
    just remember that great things come
  • 00:35:23
    from great decisions so I really hope
  • 00:35:25
    that you're able to go ahead and do what
  • 00:35:28
    you have to do all right now I promise
  • 00:35:31
    this you know there might be extreme
  • 00:35:33
    scenarios of like oh you should do this
  • 00:35:34
    you should avoid that this and that but
  • 00:35:36
    again be human take breaks do what you
  • 00:35:38
    have to do maybe you are an extremist
  • 00:35:41
    and maybe you want to like hyper
  • 00:35:42
    optimize everything and that's great
  • 00:35:44
    maybe you're a little bit more casual
  • 00:35:45
    and you're like okay I don't want to get
  • 00:35:46
    too into this but I do still want to
  • 00:35:48
    make more time then take some of the
  • 00:35:49
    tips and apply it to the way that you
  • 00:35:50
    need to but as usual I hope this helped
  • 00:35:54
    and you guys know what to do if you need
  • 00:35:55
    anything more
Tags
  • game development
  • productivity
  • time management
  • lifestyle changes
  • efficiency
  • scalable systems
  • Parkinson's Law
  • mindset
  • skill improvement
  • delegation