Staying motivated?

[DustyPorViva]

So Gscript can be a pretty infuriating language... I constantly run into little things that just refuse to work right. Well... sometimes it's not the language itself but the mess of the scripts of the server.

How do you stay motivated when you constantly encounter roadblocks while scripting/developing? I'm talking about... I have a simple plan, and it should be a simple script. But suddenly 2 hours later I'm pulling my hair out because the very simple approach refused to work and I'm sitting there trying to work around it.

What do you do as a scripter or programmer to keep yourself sane in these sort of situations?

[Draenin]

Well, I don't script as much as others do, but with any project where I hit a mental block, or it gets tiring, or things just aren't going my way, I take a break. Sometimes I take a break with other projects, or even with other games. And usually when I'm playing other games, I try to study them.

I try to pick up ideas from other places that might provide insight for what I'm doing, like fan games or indie games. They can be very valuable resources when it comes to thinking about ways around major problems, or how to address things directly as well. For instance, I had to scrap my server's Player Stats UI (our largest menu) several times over until I got the design just right. And then there was the added complication of how to properly nest the code within the script without things getting too messy. During that process, I turned to a few other games for ideas on how to organize it all, and wound up with a fairly nice result.

I know you do more complicated stuff than I do, but it wouldn't hurt to sleep on it for a bit. Sometimes the solution will come to you when you're not always thinking about it.

[BlueMelon]

Most of my projects on Graal are created because an idea sparks in my head and I need to make it. Scripting something you don't want to make or not liking the idea leads to un-motivated work if there is no reward, especially on graal where most of it is hobby game dev. Make your end goal serve as motivation.

In the real world though (for programming), I keep myself movitated by maintaining a todo-list. By scratching off entries on the list you can see how much you have done that day, which is motivating for me. Trying something new is also motivating, new languages, new techniques, new technology, etc.
And ofcourse taking a break or getting your eyes off the computer screen can help get the ideas flowing.

[Emera]

Keeping my code as clean as possible is something I always practice. I hate working with code that carries 2-3 different styling methods with line indents, line breaks and spaces all over the place. Carrying the same styling method consistently throughout your code makes it easier to read and to work with. This doesn't really 'keep me motivated' but it prevents me from tearing my hair out because I've been staring at the same code for hours now and I'm still not getting anywhere with it.

I also take breaks when I notice I'm getting agitated or stressed out. Taking time away from what your doing and, say, having a cup of tea and THEN coming back to what you were doing can really help clear your mind and in turn help form new solutions in your head. It's hard to think straight when you're stressed, isn't it.

Particularly for GUI design, I often like to draw up a plan (be it a check list, a model/drawing or even a page of notes in notepad) so I can see exactly what I want included in my finished product. I'll sometimes tick certain points off as I go along which gives me a visible image of how far I am from finishing and what I still need to do.

This applies to any project, not just GScript ones.

[callimuc]

I start to read over it and eventually improve already done stuff. It's also helping me to start something else, maybe something easier and continue the current one at a later point.

Or taking a complete break and maybe watch a movie, play other games w/e does help me aswell. I only script on Graal knowing that it's not the highest priority to have it done as I'm getting no real benefits of it.

Sometimes I randomly browse through other scripts on iEra and maybe getting other ideas to style my scripts or get new ideas to mess around with. But I'm starting to know most of the stuff :/

[DustyPorViva]

I have put these scripts on break for a month or so lol. They're driving me nuts and I have absolutely no motivation to revisit them.

So I decide to do so today and spend a few hours hitting walls of various bugs and such that decide to just **** me over because why not.

[Draenin]

Originally Posted by DustyPorViva

I have put these scripts on break for a month or so lol. They're driving me nuts and I have absolutely no motivation to revisit them.

So I decide to do so today and spend a few hours hitting walls of various bugs and such that decide to just **** me over because why not.

Good idea. Sometimes it really helps to just take a step back from your work and come back to it later when your mind has been off of it and you can see solutions more clearly.

[BlueMelon]

New updates also provide motivation, too bad it's quite scarce around these areas...
No, I don't consider GS3 an update. It's basicly a GS2 wrapper as it sits.

[DustyPorViva]

Today I logged on and clientr.vars were persisting after being cleared, and despite being removed from flags via clientr-rc, reverted back to older versions upon being modified. The only way to truly clear them was via script. Then getstringkeys() was returning clientr flags that were non-existent.

What fixed these strings of problems? Relogging, apparently. This is the kind of BS that absolutely drives me mad when I try to get anything done scripting.