exhaustion

[Sirklawd]

ive been working on zquest since christmas break, and since then been designing a very large and complicated quest: "the quest for tussin" (which you can find an early sample of here ) after designing a whole bunch of new tiles, and combining a bunch of pallets and existing tiles, and planning...ive finally started my overworld (1st overworld).

my problem is it takes me like a good 20 minutes to do 1 screen. is this normal???? i can go faster, but it would kill my brain and i wouldnt be having fun at all. like i want to make sure each and every detail is perfect. idunno, does anyone else get really frustrated with this. and can anyone give me any tips to increase my productivity without going insane??

my brain thanks you,
sirK

[Chris Miller]

Unfortunately, I can only think of two ways to work with such perfectionism...
1. Force yourself to concentrate less on detail..
2. Stay perfectionist.

There's always a trade-off considering stuff like that, but I'm sure there are other solutions.

[C-Dawg]

I dunno, when I've got the tiles I need it doesnt take more than 5 minutes to make a screen, and that's when I;ve got set up a complicated puzzle of some sort. To be fair, I've got so much experience making custom bosses and story screens now that I blaze through the flag setting process... but putting tiles down is pretty quick too.

Best advice I can offer is something you can't comply with- I wouldnt plan things out in too much detail in advance. Given that ZeldaClassic games are usually made by one person, I think you're better served by making new tiles and new pallettes as you need them, rather than all at the begining. Invariably, you'll have new ideas down the road, and this is exactly the sort of new thinking that'll keep your quest fresh. Since you can't really have the creativity of multiple people at the same time... you should harness the creativity of the same person at multiple times :)

Plus, this way you make your screens too, and don't get bored with it. Boredom=Slowdom.

-C

[Cronic]

I am the exact same way man... I decided that I would do my best to make sure each and every screen was as perfectly balanced with it's map as I could possibly get it... Thus I run into 20 minutes per screen myself... ZC aint goin anywhere so just take your time and design as you go ; )

[C-Dawg]

Originally posted by Darth Cronic
ZC aint goin anywhere so just take your time and design as you go ; )

Actually, ZQuest IS going somewhere, and thats the problem. Given that quest development takes in the 6-12 month range, you'll see new versions popping up like whack-a-moles. Each new version probably has features to clean up or simplify what you've already done... so you end up playing a game of catch-up, and knowing that whenever you stop, your quest will lack the great new features that'll be released next week. There is definetly something to be said for designing in a timely (Not sacrificng innovation for speed, mind you) manner.

-C

[Sirklawd]

I am the exact same way man... I decided that I would do my best to make sure each and every screen was as perfectly balanced with it's map as I could possibly get it...

exactly, and c-dawgs rite too. While i do love the fact that we get new version and new stuff (and get them really quickly since we're in the contest) it does make me play catch up, or try and think of new stuff to do. sometimes i think that we should have a set version for the contest, and not a new version every other week.

wheres darkflamewolf, it would be nice to hear how she can pull out quests in a matter of minutes. seriously tho, how does she do it.

sirK

[DarkFlameWolf]

you mean a matter of days, not minutes. I'm not that talented. However, when starting a quest, I usually set aside 3-6 days or more depending on how much time I need and I get everything that NEEDS to be done in real life first before starting on my quest. Once I'm sure nothing will interrupt me during the time frame I've set up for myself. I delve in with little breaks and 3-6 days later, I have a quest. So I probably spend about the same amount of hours making a quest as others, just constrained to a short amount of time.

[K-Teclis]

My prob is:
Sometimes I reach a point where quest making gets boring...
and I stop.. I really need large breaks and then I don't do so much!
My cqcontest quest... well it is very small.. I just finished the intro and some screens.. My prob is.. I can't work as long on quest as others and don't spend much time anymore...
Well, I'm going back on work quest today, since I had one week break... I should work more....

[Nick]

Originally posted by K-Teclis
My prob is:
Sometimes I reach a point where quest making gets boring...

I've had this problem multiple times. Anyone remember Unification 2? I got really bored with it and started Days of Eternity (which was supposed to be a side project, but it's now my main focus). Unification 2 is now on the back burner until I finish Days of Eternity.

Anyway, I've solved my boredom problem with Days of Eternity by actually doing more than one thing at a time (but not too much to kill me). Right now, I'm working on the forest and I'm working on a new dimension. I also solve the problem by taking breaks and playing other quests. I usually take breaks and use the multiple task thing when I just get some good ideas I want to use.

[Jhube]

This doesn't belong here but, Nick, can I use some of those tiles for a quest. I can't find any like that.