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I've recently stumbled upon a blog post by Derek Yu* where they stress the importance of finishing games you start. They provide the below 15 (paraphrased) tips to help you do this, which are discussed in some detail:

Finishing a Game - Derek Yu

1. Choose an idea with potential
2. Start the game
3. Don't re-invent the wheel
4. Prototype
5. Design fun core mechanics
6. Work with like-minded people
7. Prepare for repetitive tasks
8. Use real events as hard deadlines
9. Don't get stuck on details: move on then circle back
10. Take care of your health
11. Don't start over
12. Stick to the plan
13. Do away with unnecessary fluff
14. If you fail, try with something smaller
15. Polishing takes time

All of these points have been brought up and discussed time and time again by many people, and I'm sure most of you have heard them in some form or another. Regardless, I still encourage you to read Derek's post. It's quite to the point and very well put. If anything it will serve as a refresher and strengthen your resolve to finish your games.


Finish him! (Derek Yu's sketch)

* If you don't know who Derek Yu is, they made Finishing a Game. If you don't know what Spelunky is, or haven't played it...I strongly recommend that you do.

Stephen

So I finally got around to updating my website, which was way out of date. Well, it wasn't really out of date more than not fit for purpose anymore.

It was originally created a few years ago for me to have a simple online presence as a software engineer, way before I made the transition into game development and started Pixie Software. At this point I had absolutely no other significant online activity: I had no Twitter account, my Facebook usage was purely functional (monitoring my account just in case someone decided to contact me there rather than through more conventional methods), and I wasn't on any other social media platform.

As I started becoming more active in the game development scene, there was an inherent need to have a more active presence online. So I set up profiles and accounts for the studio and started communicating as the studio, but it soon became clear that this was not really working for me. It feels silly, and at times impossible, to communicate with and relate to other people when it's not even clear who is speaking: yourself or "the studio". I'm finding it very strained, limited and artificial.

So I've decided it's high time I update (or actually, set up) my personal online presence and make that completely distinct from Pixie Software. As a result of this:

• I've now set up this website to act as a sort of blog for when I feel like voicing my thoughts on something or other.
• I've revived my dormant, single-tweet-in-2009, Twitter account to house my Twitter activity instead of the studio's account. I'm starting from scratch and have absolutely no followers, so I'd appreciate a hand in that regard i.e. follow me ;)
• I'm also going to start using my Facebook profile a bit more.
• Naturally there's my LinkedIn account, but that's not really all that social.

My initial target is to shift my regular activity from the studio's accounts to my own. Following that, we'll see where things lead to...

Stephen