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Nothing Takes 0 Time (Or 0 Effort)

We often try to fool ourselves into thinking that projects can be easy or be quick- but, as we all get older, you have to learn to say no.Whenever we agree to anything of any magnitude, we have to all remember that everything- no matter how many seconds- will take time from our day. Agreeing to look over a small server- that takes time. It’s a small amount of time, but it can add up, between being more active in it, rearranging channels, answering mod questions- it all adds up, and that adding up is something we all hate to do. We have to face it- saying no is the only way to get anything accomplished.

So, we learn how to say no. But how do we learn when to say yes? Well, one way is to figure out roughly how much time it would take by comparing it to other projects of similar length. If you’ve ran a server before, you can roughly figure out how much effort adding another server to your mod list will be by comparing the amount of active users, the amount of other mods, and the amount of typical mod intervention. This entire thing ties into a lot of things- being able to say no, being able to properly manage time, being able to learn how to scope projects, etc. Yet it is something so highly important but often overlooked. 

Our time is the only thing that everybody has but everybody can’t afford to run out of, so why do we not value it more? I often try to find new ways to manage my time even better, but most guides I see all say cut out social media and TV and such, to the point of cutting off wi-fi. While I could go on another rant that this sort of strict regimen every day is the definition of workaholicism and not really living, what I will say is that we can all find ways to make life less stressful for ourselves by alleviating some things in our schedule.

So, for now, decline a task and take a Netflix break.

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First Ludum Dare Tips

Is this your first Ludum Dare this weekend? Don’t fret! Here are some tips on how to survive your first LDJAM!What is Ludum Dare? It’s a tri-annual event that runs for 48-72 hours where you make a game in the time limit!


So, this is your first Ludum Dare. You’re thinking, “I want to become a better game dev”, or, “I want to challenge myself”, or, “I hate myself so let’s do this!”. But how do you get started once the theme drops? Here are a few tips on how to survive Ludum Dare from me, someone who’s entered it 10 times before successfully.

  1. Don’t spend too much time on one thing. If you spend all your time on the art, guess what? You have a nice portfolio of art assets now, but no running game. Spread out your time evenly among what is needed. If you need to, make a plan of what you’ll try to accomplish every day.
  2. Make a list of everything you need. This is more of a general game dev piece of advice, but it works just as well here. Games require a lot of different things, and if you’re like me, you just can’t do everything by yourself, no matter how hard you try. I can’t do music, so it’s almost always one of the things I forget about since I’m not making it. An easy way to avoid it being 5 minutes before the deadline and you realizing you forgot music or such is to make a list of everything you need to accomplish. This will also help you see if you’ll be able to finish in time and if you need to cut parts out.
  3. Have a playable build by mid-Sunday. If you’re entering the jam (where you have 72 hours), you need to have something playable by Sunday night at the latest. If you don’t and you still have other assets to finish, you most likely won’t be able to finish in time. Even if you have a couple assets to finish on Monday (as I usually do), if you have part of the game put together you should be relatively safe.
  4. Stick around for game rating! It can be easy to say “I’m tired and don’t even want to look at my game” after that Monday, but you need to rate at least a few games! Rating games is how your own game gets rated- the karma system works based on how many games you rate. The more you rate, the more ratings you’ll receive. The “minimum” amount of ratings you’re supposed to give (and receive) is 20, but sometimes people aren’t able to / won’t (I got sick twice in the 3-week span 2 Ludum Dare’s ago, and I wasn’t able to vote on any games).

โ€‹These are just a few tips for first time and seasoned game jammers- if you found these helpful or already do some of these, let me know!

Articles

How to Make Visual Novels

Visual novels are a fun medium for bringing stories to life that combine game mechanics, written stories, and visuals into one package. They’re not too hard to make on a technical level, and are a great way to get your voice out there. But it can be daunting to figure out how to make visual novels when you first start out. Let’s go over some basics first.


Update 2024: Added even more links.
Update 2023: Added even more new links.
Update 2020: Added some new links for resources.
Update 2019: Tweaked this some here and there to update it for 2019. Hope you enjoy!

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