Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Working under pressure against roadblock



While working on Peregrination RPG I did my best and made the most progress under pressure. Because of familial issues I had taken to working in the park with my kids and writing in a notebook. Counter-intuitively I was able to make some of the greatest progress during this time. But how & why?

I often spent my nights spilling over theories on game design, other game systems and crunching statistics. I would then sleep on it and internalize it. Finally the following day I would take the kids to play in the park where I would sit at the bench and write while they were occupied. I would often bounce ideas around through the rest of the day and start the whole thing over again. This was an emotionally draining time in my life and honestly, I'm not sure how I came out of it.

The largest flaw to this system is I had to be pretty organized and careful with my paperwork; which I wasn't. On a few occasions I had lost or misplaced my work, only to have to write it all over again. This wasn't always a bad thing, as it forced me to look at what I had done. This gave me an opportunity to refine various elements, but extremely frustrating.

Another theory I have is that computers aren't always the best thing to work on in this circumstance. Computers are precise machines & tend to scream out errors. I wonder if this paralyzes/intimidates me such that I have a fear of starting. Also outlining on the computer always feels wrong. The desire is there, but there's just something blocking me.

I've been thinking about this as of late as I'm having a bit of block and am hugely unmotivated. I'm still excited about the project and want to "git er done." In the weeks to come I hope to try working outside my comfort zone of home on my computer to see if a new environment will bring back the juices that I am currently lacking.

I'm curious as to what others do when they seemingly hit a road block. Suggestions in comments are greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Inspiring Birdie - The Mermaid


I plan to have the community of Birdie to be a sailing community. I've always got my ear to the ground (so to speak) for inspirations. This song, The Mermaid by Great Big Sea, had the air of something I felt a sailor of Birdie would sing on his ship.