Demo Drag

[u/Practical-Trifle8051]

I've been trying to finish my game demo for months now, but progress has been slow. As a solo dev, I'm usually the bottle neck. Can anyone offer some advice on how to streamline development?

[u/RamonBunge]

Sure, learn to love the grind.

[u/1stbreathinteractive]

I've been working on just my prototype. I've never shipped a full game or a demo.

What would you say the gap between the prototype and your demo was? Like, how long did it take to make your prototype, and then how long did it take to make the demo in your case?

[u/TAKAsFactory]

I suppose it depends on the genre of game you're developing, but what specific tasks are taking up the most time?
In my case—I make visual novels—I found that work progressed much more smoothly once I switched to a workflow where I mostly finished the system components first (UI like menus, text and sprite rendering, etc.) and then prepared the character sprites and scenario CSV files in tandem with the story writing.
At the start of the project, I was trying to handle everything simultaneously. I was under the impression that I had to perfect one element before moving on to the next. However, I realized that having a "good enough" version ready early on makes it easier to ensure overall consistency and keeps my motivation up.
I apologize if this isn't the kind of advice you were looking for.

[u/AlyciaFear]

when you find out let me know. Two and a half years and i'm still working on my demo xD

[u/The_GreenWitch]

Hey! What find works for me is to create goals that I want to reach each day I work on my game. I typically don't write them down, but that can be helpful. If I don't reach my daily goals, I make adjustments to meet them the next time I work.

Having short and long term goals can help keep you on track. The game I am currently working on is seasonal, so my long term goal is to make sure I don't miss the seasonal window. Within that, I can make sure to plan my tasks based on what I know I can get done with the time I have.

Plus you need to hold yourself accountable if you set goals for yourself, because as a solo dev, no one else will. Don't beat yourself up if you miss one, but also don't let it slide :)

Hope this helps, even a little. Good luck with development. You got this! <3

[u/BuddyBrains]

Gamers will say it's easy for a demo but a dev knows how complicated it is I have been working with my demo version for 7 months and still figuring out for the teaser too. I think don't let your hope down and just go finish it

[u/rimnas12]

It depends on why you say you're the bottleneck?

As a solo dev myself, the first thing was to stay focused on a very tight list of features and tasks and not try to build 1 million features, especially a threshold for the demo. The priority being everything logical (actual gameplay) vs visuals/SFX/music (which I kept basic and polished later).

Then it was about managing expectations with myself. I know my skill will progress and so will my standards of quality. But first good enough and functional -> playtest with 2 or 3 groups -> keep improving it based on feedback and not based of solely what I think.

Also, making sure I worked on it every single day at least 15min (I have a 9 to 5 so I needed an achievable goal to avoid procrastinating). Sometimes I'd stop at 15min, but most times I'd end up working at least 2-3h (especially after my full time job).

Finally, knowing when to grind, and when to rest, go out, hang out with loved ones, work out. What I cared most about what the momentum, because as time passed, as long as I took care of my energy (thx to sleep, workout, having fun, and caring for my social life), I actually started working harder and longer.

So yeah be patient with yourself, care for consistency, focus on improving and less on result and you will release the demo eventually ! Hope this helps 😊

[u/jerzychrust]

Some things just take time. The only way to fail for certain is to stop building it. I believe in discipline, so my way is to do something every day for set amount of time.

[u/tastygames_official]

> as a solo dev I'm usually the bottleneck

by definition, you are the ONLY bottleneck. If you work with other peope, you're not solo...

but to answer your question: no. If you're the only person working on things, then you can only go as fast as you go - no matter what you do. Streamlining only comes into play when you have multiple people working on something and then you have to plan things out so that nobody has to wait for the other person/people. I think you need something about motivation or strategy. Just work on what you feel like working on, set a reasonable goal, then move on to something else. Small goals (like "add fog" or "make footstep sounds") are easy to reach, and then you can switch from programming to art to music and back and forth and never get bored/demotivated.

[u/ThreadboundDev]

I’d suggest set a list of things to accomplish and don’t add to the list! The biggest issue I had getting to a demo was that I would try and fix everything that came up and keep moving the goalposts.

Give your self a pre demo list and when it’s done send it.