pouët.net

Listen to Hyde, he's got something here.

Good, but the main problem happens when I am offline. We are not talking about defocus because of Pouet here.

you sure? :)

You were offline? When was that?! ;)

I also have trouble finishing projects sometimes. It's interesting starting up a new project, but once you've done 80% of the work (that's thinking work, not actual coding), you know exactly what is left to do, you are sure there is no more difficulty, so you loose interest in writing boring code.
Applied to democoding, this means once you've got some effects working, you don't feel the need to do the linking code to hold it together.
My solution for that is to split my projects in very small steps, so when 80% of one step is done, there are only a little number of lines of code missing and i can find a little motivation to finish it.
I also don't work for specified deadlines, and i have often multiple projects, so when one of them bores me, I can switch to something completely different. But take care of not having too many projects either, as you may feel overloaded by all the stuff to do. It's a question of finding the right balance to get a more or less continuous flow of things to do.

Pulkomandy: just find a perfectionist designer to do the finishing job instead of yourself :p

Yes, working in a group can also be a good motivating factor :)
As long as you are not the "perfectionist designer", of course

Yes actually. We are not talking about the times I write on pouet where you'd think I should be doing something else. I am only talking about the specific time periods I sit down to code, I haven't opened any browser or anything, and my mind gets distracted, I simple have a bland look, I am absent minded for a long time. I don't mean being distracted by games/internet. It's just like an 8 hour, where 2 hours are coding and 6 hours are looking around and doing nothing (a bit exagerated) but all those 8 hours are me and the compiler and nothing else.

The head of my school, who is also a senior lecturer phrased it this way:

"If you find your mind drifting away, you should check if all conditions for writing are met. It could be that you're distracted because you know that the dishes should be done. That can disrupt the whol ecreative process because you just can't focus. Just do everything that has to be done, no matter how much of your precious deadline-time it takes.

If that didn't work: go outside. Now. Take a walk. Surely your workprocess is flawed and you need to regain your focus. Some people can only think clear when they are standing in the shower. It might sound crazy but that is just how it is. What makes you tick to produce the best work that you can?"

For me I found out that when it comes to writing, my best place is in the train. That, or someplace with a seaview.

The best work ever btw that I made was in a house in a the forest in a country that was alien to me.

Being on the train works for me very well too. No internet, and nothing else you can/need to do...

Democoding is pointless. You should only do it if you absolutely can't resist it, like a drug addict who has to get his fix. Otherwise it's no fun - go outside and get some exercise instead.

no internet on the train? what kind of backwater is that about? ;)

I'd like to stay in this point for a while and think about it. I have made this thought some months ago: Is it possible that someone might obsessively wish to release demos but not understanding that it's not what he exactly wants to do? I mean, is it possible that I THINK that I want to do demos, but I don't really understand it? Or I am in denial concerning this realization?

One possible explanation is that in the past I found the demoscene and wanted to make something (and maybe not explicitly liking every aspect of it but only some parts) and the primary reasons must be a meaning in my life, or gaining some self-esteem I lacked by releasing a demo. This might have become an obsession, a habit, waking every day and dreaming of demos I would like to do and become famous (although it wasn't 100% this, I also liked demos), especially I might have needed that. Nowadays, the old habit has remained as a bad virus in my brain, but maybe I don't explicitly need to code demos but I can try other things too. Although it's hard to kill the old habit. And the main question is where should I go? I mean, maybe I am afraid to 1) accept it, 2) leave back the demoscene which was always a primary source of meaning and self-esteem for me.

So, maybe it's possible that it's not the primary think I would wish to do, yet I can't let it go. And I still have ideas, it's not the I am bored, but the initial motivation is degraded while only the habit that makes me think I have to do demos remained.

I can't explain it elsewhere. If I wish to make demos and had it naturally I would have done it. Of course the same explanation could be used for every other aspect. If I struggle with being social or have it bad with girls, then maybe it's because it doesn't come to me naturally, so it shouldn't something that I have to do. Someone would disagree with this. Although lately I have no motivation for anything. I have nowhere to go..

You think too much.

havoc: Thought about getting a netbook with UMTS or HDPSA, but then again... maybe not ;)

stay away from the computers for a few months. Later you feel a very strong desire for code.

Optimus : What you need is fast-paced instrumental music.

Fast-paced, because it will keep you on a rush, tightly focused. And the contrast between the high-tempo and your own slow "peace of mind" will automatically bring you back when you start daydreaming...

Instrumental, because without lyrics it won't trigger the language areas in your brain, and so it won't interfere much with the formal speech (i.e. the code) you're trying to put together.

I also recommand original movie soundtracks, because "dramatic" moments have a good chance to bring you back to reality when they hit (plus there's the random bonus motivation rush, when all of a sudden you do something you're happy with, and at the very same time there happens to be "The beacons are lit !" from "the Return of The King" playing in the background... ;D

you need to start living. right now.

NO!

disclaimer: didn´t read thread yet:

but the only thing you need is to "NOT wanna release as-soon-as-possible" ...
take your time, and if your demo looks anything close to what other crews release these days ( in other words: you like what you did ! ) , just then release !

and stop blogging btw ;) ...i saw the amount of words and stopped bothering to read, no matter how much i like you already ( by never having seen you in RL ) ...

just take care you make your own life soonish...get a flat/house ...an own life! the rest of your questions will get answered this way anyway then or later-on !
life is about getting your OWN life !
( ofcoz your parents will be there for you forever with some helping words, etc. ;) )
but do your own shit and feel good with it ( then release ! )

now that i read it all: BarZoule is completely right !!!!

optimus, i neither read the whole thread or even the initial post completly. i tried writing a longer answer, but got disctracted by a program i can make music with and eventually closed the tab. therefore my answer is going to be rather short: maybe you're focussing on the wrong thing code-wise. the actual awesomeness in code is not always measured in what it does, but how it is structured. code that you consider awesome is much more fun to work with than something that just does its job. you can never have enough delusions of grandeur when it comes to your demo or application codebase/framework.

...It's probably an arrogance thing.

Strangely enough, lately (and for a year or so) I am more focused into creating better demo frameworks and deeply thinking how things would work better and be more practical than coding the demos themselves. But I enjoyed that process a lot, except from the times I am struggling not able to decide which code organization or data structures are better, more suitable, more correct as logic, more object oriented instead of finish the damn demo/engine. I like though how this side of coding has evolved on me (even on my CPC demo/game projects, I build frameworks and simulation of objects and arrays and such things I would have thought I would have the courage to build in assembly)