Dealing with Coder's Block

Evil Hamster Games 2K3

Okay, everyone that has ever worked on a game or application in any language knows what coder's block is. It is not easy to deal with. Getting paid to work on the project is an excellent motivator, however, this is most likely not going to happen. I am going to share with you some of the ways I deal with it.

Playing similar games of the same genre help. If I am working on a Bomberman clone, I play Bomberman; super Bomberman, and some other top-down puzzle games. Same thing goes if I am trying to create an RPG. I will sit down and play Megaman Battle Network until my head hurts. I think this helps because you will understand more about what you are trying to do. You might consider things you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

Draw out screen shots. As dumb as it might sound, visualization it a big part of getting your self motivated. Draw out the characters and color them. You can always work on other parts of the game then the code. If I am designing a FPS, it might help to see what the enemy looks like dead.

Talk about it. Get on a forum or MSN and tell your friends about it. If you can get them interested, you can get your self interested too.

Get some fresh air. Just walk away from the computer for a week or so, but just make sure to leave some indication of where you stopped.

I hoped this helped. Now stop reading this and get to work!