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I am finishing Grapple Dog at the moment and it's coming along well, but the process of finishing a game is pretty depressing.
I see the first half of a games development as a creative process and the second half as a destructive one
You are pinning stuff down and closing off possibilities. A project that could go anywhere becomes a project that has to go to a specific place.
Making levels now I'm like 'oh that's it. That's the end of the possible spaces of that mechanic. I'm shutting it down.'
You're also in a position where rather than making the best game ever you are shaping this thing into the best it can be. Sometimes that is far short of your original vision, but that's where you are.
And hey: that's sad! It makes me feel sad! If you ever work on a game it will make you feel sad too! But it's normal as far as I can tell.
Sometimes I see these big indie games peeps have worked on for 10 years and never finished, I see them avoiding the sadness. They can't finish because they can't close up the possibilities. They can't deal with their game being a thing that exists rather than an impossible ideal.
It's tough but that's the process. I see a lot of people that expect so much from their game releasing they block themselves from moving forward. This thing actually existing couldn't possibly live up to what you've put into it.
And look, I know that some of the games I've worked on haven't been great. Other industry folk have sometimes been very snooty and dismissive of the stuff I make. But I finish what I start. I release video games. I work through the negative parts of the process and I put it out.
Once I accepted the sadness as a part of the process it means I can see each game as a problem to be worked through rather than a thing that has to live up to impossible expectations.
I will finish Grapple Dog!!! It is not a quagmire I am trapped in but a thing I am making and gosh I'm almost done!!! Isn't that exciting!!!
Gosh this thread ended up super long so I guess I just wanna say: finishing your game is hard and sad and strange but it's normal to feel that way.
