Being The Dreaded "Idea Guy"

[ZooNamedGames]

Every day, I wake up and think of a new world and idea I'd love to make real but then I'm reminded- I can't. Whatever I try to make I am constantly unable to since I lack the ability to.

Generally these ideas are for video games or cinematics and to answer some questions which always show up- I have tried to learn how to create video games but failed miserably. 

I can't make cinematics as my PC is far too weak and I lack the knowledge and the software to make anything worth the effort. 

But the big issue is- no one wants to take suggestions or be led by someone else. As others have told me, people hate the "idea guy". Sadly, I am. 

 

 

So tell me- anyone else suffer this fate? Or am I alone here?

[Ten Key]

7 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I have tried to learn how to create video games but failed miserably. 

The only way to fail is to give up.

[ZooNamedGames]

8 minutes ago, Ten Key said:

The only way to fail is to give up.

Well I have. Issue is the effort put in does not equal the final product. I have tried before and my products end up poor at best. So yes- I have failed.

[kBob]

All the time.  Books, software, inventions.  Several ideas I had 20 years ago (and could have patented but I don't want to be a patent troll) later became real items made by someone else (and I don't know if they were successful never wanted to know  ).  Software wise the problem is time, I'd either need a team working under me or a 100 years neither of which I have.  A few things have worked out though.  But modern video games yeah that's not really a one person thing.  But there have been some fairly successful (or so I've been given to understand) one person games with "retro" graphics, I've been thinking of reviving an idea for a game I had way back when I was writing Amiga software. 

[AmpsterMan]

Start small. Just this year I took for the first time a class on programming in Java. My goal, time permitted, is to eventually create a game that plays Tic Tac Toe by itself and after a given time realizes it can't win and print's out the text "Interesting game, the only way to win is not to play". I have no idea how to go about this, but I'm trying everyday to get further. Honestly, sometimes we get caught up in imagining what it must look like at the top of the pyramid that we forget to take the first step up the stairs.

[ZooNamedGames]

24 minutes ago, AmpsterMan said:

Start small. Just this year I took for the first time a class on programming in Java. My goal, time permitted, is to eventually create a game that plays Tic Tac Toe by itself and after a given time realizes it can't win and print's out the text "Interesting game, the only way to win is not to play". I have no idea how to go about this, but I'm trying everyday to get further. Honestly, sometimes we get caught up in imagining what it must look like at the top of the pyramid that we forget to take the first step up the stairs.

Nice WarGames reference- catch is I don't have access to any classes. All I have is self teaching and I tried that and bombed. 

I'm obviously the guy who draws out the plan, the "manager" type person since I work well in that role. Issue is not every body wants a manager... Which is where my problems start.

I'm sorry if I'm sounding negative but this is 19 years of experience talking. I've tried gaming development, failed repeatedly. I've tried outreaching to run with others and the groups collapse.

[KOCOUR]

No one hates an "idea Guy" people hate people who come to them with half baked, not-well-thought-trough, partial scetches of ideas. 

100% of people thinks they have a great ideas, 10% of them actualy have something that can be called an idea. 1% have a good idea 0.001% have idea thats actualy great and interesting.

[pxi]

11 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Well I have. Issue is the effort put in does not equal the final product. I have tried before and my products end up poor at best. So yes- I have failed.

I think you are massively underestimating the role failure plays in future success.  The key is perseverance, learning from mistakes, failing better the next time, and so on till you achieve something of consequence.  If you actually envision yourself in a management role, this is doubly important - why on earth would I employ someone to manage a project who has no successes they can point at?  How would that person be suited to carry through a project to completion when they have walked away from everything they tried themselves?  How would that person have the skills to evaluate the work their subordinates were producing?

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  Creating something is art, and art requires perspiration.  There isn't a shortcut.  I know what I've said probably sounds harsh, but it's said with the best of intentions.  You need to pick yourself up and get back at it, not look for an easy way out.

[pellinor]

6 hours ago, KOCOUR said:

No one hates an "idea Guy" people hate people who come to them with half baked, not-well-thought-trough, partial scetches of ideas. 

This. Things are pretty similar with bug reports: no one likes a sloppy "this doesn't work" from from that guy with a huge mod list. However well written reports are worth their weight in gold. The same is true for feature requests if they make sense, are well thought out and placed at a mod where they fit well.

[ZooNamedGames]

57 minutes ago, pxi said:

I think you are massively underestimating the role failure plays in future success.  The key is perseverance, learning from mistakes, failing better the next time, and so on till you achieve something of consequence.  If you actually envision yourself in a management role, this is doubly important - why on earth would I employ someone to manage a project who has no successes they can point at?  How would that person be suited to carry through a project to completion when they have walked away from everything they tried themselves?  How would that person have the skills to evaluate the work their subordinates were producing?

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  Creating something is art, and art requires perspiration.  There isn't a shortcut.  I know what I've said probably sounds harsh, but it's said with the best of intentions.  You need to pick yourself up and get back at it, not look for an easy way out.

Your right I must fail to succeed but the problem is- I could try for 10 years and still come up with a product that people say "eh" to. Whereas if someone else were to do the exact same thing, it would look, play and be far superior in just about every aspect.

Its a fact of my life- no matter how long or how hard I try, there will always be someone better. So why not ask them to give it a shot?

[Randazzo]

Just out of curiosity, when you say you're speaking from 19 years of experience, do you mean you have been doing a specific thing for 19 years and still aren't any good at it?

If so, try something new.

Or, as I suspect, do you mean you are 19 years old? If this is the case, you haven't even had the opportunity to figure out what you can do. It may feel like you've spent a huge chunk of time "doing something", but it can take years to learn proper game development, then years more and a team to actually develop something that isn't indie garbage.

You can't expect to stumble into success, that's only in fairy tales. You definitely can't expect it to happen relying on others to do it for you.

Life is harsh, and a "woe is me" attitude is self-sustaining and will get you nowhere and keep you there.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

25 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Its a fact of my life- no matter how long or how hard I try, there will always be someone better.

That there is a fact of everybody's life without doubt,  letting that be the reason for not trying is a complete cop out, take my mods for instance, i know I'm well up the list of worlds worst texturer, I know i suck at color, black and white fine, but color,  but what i can do is make it passable, and if the rest of it works well I really don't care that much, and apparently niether do the 30k people who've downloaded my ksp stuff over the years, so see it didn't matter that i suck.

There are a couple of ideas guys i interact with pretty constantly, they have made the best testers I've ever had, they regularly come up with stuff i hadn't even considered and definitely serve to make sure that those that end up with my horribly textured mods will be able to enjoy them as much as I do.

So being the dreaded ideas guy, while not having any drive, must really suck

Edited September 1, 2016 by SpannerMonkey(smce)

[NSEP]

I have alot of ideas, but they are useless in the outside world, nobody cares about it expect in the KSP forum. Im pretty sure my ideas are laughable to others.

Edited September 1, 2016 by NSEP

[ZooNamedGames]

1 hour ago, Randazzo said:

Just out of curiosity, when you say you're speaking from 19 years of experience, do you mean you have been doing a specific thing for 19 years and still aren't any good at it?

If so, try something new.

Or, as I suspect, do you mean you are 19 years old? If this is the case, you haven't even had the opportunity to figure out what you can do. It may feel like you've spent a huge chunk of time "doing something", but it can take years to learn proper game development, then years more and a team to actually develop something that isn't indie garbage.

You can't expect to stumble into success, that's only in fairy tales. You definitely can't expect it to happen relying on others to do it for you.

Life is harsh, and a "woe is me" attitude is self-sustaining and will get you nowhere and keep you there.

Yes 19 years is my age but honestly it's hell whether I spend every waking hour working on it or not. 

Trust me, I don't like being me. I suck. I have a billion ideas but lack and ability to do them or the motivation on to climb the mountain in front of me. Then again I don't have the motivation to finish school but tbis is derailing the topic.

Maybe a "woe is me" attitude isn't the best idea, but it's currently held better results than trying.

1 hour ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

That there is a fact of everybody's life without doubt,  letting that be the reason for not trying is a complete cop out, take my mods for instance, i know I'm well up the list of worlds worst texturer, I know i suck at color, black and white fine, but color,  but what i can do is make it passable, and if the rest of it works well I really don't care that much, and apparently niether do the 30k people who've downloaded my ksp stuff over the years, so see it didn't matter that i suck.

There are a couple of ideas guys i interact with pretty constantly, they have made the best testers I've ever had, they regularly come up with stuff i hadn't even considered and definitely serve to make sure that those that end up with my horribly textured mods will be able to enjoy them as much as I do.

So being the dreaded ideas guy, while not having any drive, must really suck

Issue is I have nothing to offer much less any skill to make it.

Yes being there idea guy sucks. You have no idea.

[Randazzo]

1 minute ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Then again I don't have the motivation to finish school but tbis is derailing the topic.

Not finishing school would be the worst mistake of your young life. I deduce that whatever burden makes you say this is the root of the rest of your blues. Stick with it. Really. Life is choices with a little bit of chance thrown in. Things happen, but you can decide how to deal with them.

I know this is all easier said than done. I'm 34, and I've literally just started my first year of college. I wish I could go back and get started at your age, but I can't, I can only go forward from where I am. That's always a choice we have, to go forward or to wallow in the same spot wishing we could go back. Don't choose to wallow. Take it from someone who does know.

[Ten Key]

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Its a fact of my life- no matter how long or how hard I try, there will always be someone better.

1 hour ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

That there is a fact of everybody's life without doubt, 

This. No matter who you are, there will always be someone faster, smarter, wiser, stronger, better than you are at anything you may choose to do. But the key is, that person is not there. 

Many years ago, having moved cross country and finding myself bereft of personal references, I interviewed for what I thought was a management position at a lab. It turned out that "coordinator" meant, "we're looking to remodel the whole building, and we need someone to move furniture and equipment in and out of every single room during the remodel". I'm 5' 5" if I stand on the tips of my toes, and have spent most of my life sitting behind one desk or another. Oops. The interview was polite, and they called me afterwards to tell me I didn't get the position, but it was obvious from the beginning that I was not what they were looking for. 

Two weeks later, I was sitting in my pajamas when the phone rang. The person they had hired had no called/no showed on them. . .and the second person wasn't answering, nor the third. . .and I was the only person who had picked up the phone and my goodness the renovators will be here in an hour and is there any way at all I could get there in twenty minutes??

I was there in fifteen. 

What followed was one of the more interesting years of my life. I have no idea how I moved some of that stuff-- quite literally, I was not the best person for the job. Nor the second best, nor the third. But I was there, and that's how life works. 

[ZooNamedGames]

8 minutes ago, Randazzo said:

Not finishing school would be the worst mistake of your young life. I deduce that whatever burden makes you say this is the root of the rest of your blues. Stick with it. Really. Life is choices with a little bit of chance thrown in. Things happen, but you can decide how to deal with them.

I know this is all easier said than done. I'm 34, and I've literally just started my first year of college. I wish I could go back and get started at your age, but I can't, I can only go forward from where I am. That's always a choice we have, to go forward or to wallow in the same spot wishing we could go back. Don't choose to wallow. Take it from someone who does know.

The reason I don't have the motivation simply put- is that the last 8 years have been a nightmare. College looks to just be a repeat and just be another 4 years of torment, and honestly is all this work worth it? To receive a piece of paper that basically says "you sat down, stayed quiet and did what your told for 13 years (14 in my case"? Honestly I don't see the effort being worth it. 

Same goes for design. I can spend 14 years on something and still be in the "depressingly bad" section. If I had a skill that wasn't, then I'd say otherwise but honestly I haven't seen it yet.

9 minutes ago, Ten Key said:

This. No matter who you are, there will always be someone faster, smarter, wiser, stronger, better than you are at anything you may choose to do. But the key is, that person is not there. 

Many years ago, having moved cross country and finding myself bereft of personal references, I interviewed for what I thought was a management position at a lab. It turned out that "coordinator" meant, "we're looking to remodel the whole building, and we need someone to move furniture and equipment in and out of every single room during the remodel". I'm 5' 5" if I stand on the tips of my toes, and have spent most of my life sitting behind one desk or another. Oops. The interview was polite, and they called me afterwards to tell me I didn't get the position, but it was obvious from the beginning that I was not what they were looking for. 

Two weeks later, I was sitting in my pajamas when the phone rang. The person they had hired had no called/no showed on them. . .and the second person wasn't answering, nor the third. . .and I was the only person who had picked up the phone and my goodness the renovators will be here in an hour and is there any way at all I could get there in twenty minutes??

I was there in fifteen. 

What followed was one of the more interesting years of my life. I have no idea how I moved some of that stuff-- quite literally, I was not the best person for the job. Nor the second best, nor the third. But I was there, and that's how life works. 

Life's a competition. Whether it be for a job, a design, or school, and I'm just not the competitive type, so I end up on the bottom end up the list.

Well I've got another 5+ years before anything in my life happens. So I'm not going to hold my breath.

Also I should probably apologize for being so negative- welcome to the tight horrifying knot that is my life. 

[Kieve]

2 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

The reason I don't have the motivation simply put- is that the last 8 years have been a nightmare. College looks to just be a repeat and just be another 4 years of torment, and honestly is all this work worth it? To receive a piece of paper that basically says "you sat down, stayed quiet and did what your told for 13 years (14 in my case"? Honestly I don't see the effort being worth it. 

Same goes for design. I can spend 14 years on something and still be in the "depressingly bad" section. If I had a skill that wasn't, then I'd say otherwise but honestly I haven't seen it yet.

So... you're unmotivated because school sucks.

First off, college is a vastly different animal than basic education. Figuring out your classes, schedule, credits, basic living situation... balancing a job on top of that if needed - classes aside, the place is a life-simulator which will help prepare you for becoming an independent adult. Now whether the degree is useful or not, whether the debt is worth it... that's for you to decide, but if you assume college is simply "more of the same," you're in for a very rude awakening.

Secondly, I've read through this thread and for every encouragement someone tries to offer, it seems like your go-to response is "excuse, reason, why bother." If that's so, then you made this thread purely to dredge up some sympathy from the internet, which I can tell you from experience is almost never a good idea. Stop trying to find reasons not to try.

Everyone has big ideas, but they only matter if you resolve to act on them. Ask Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or any of these people - keeping those ideas in your head and complaining how they'll never see the light of day, that's the real failure. If you try and fail, you learn from the experience. You make another attempt, a little wiser for it. But if you'd rather give up before you even make the attempt... why even make this thread?

Unity is free. Blender is free. Gimp is free. There are a wealth of resources you can use - and don't quote me a reply about your "lack of skill," you're bloody 19 and haven't had the time to develop it yet - that's just another excuse for not trying. Commit to those ideas in your head, learn what it'll take to channel them outward. That's the only real answer here.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

4 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

The reason I don't have the motivation simply put- is that the last 8 years have been a nightmare. College looks to just be a repeat and just be another 4 years of torment, and honestly is all this work worth it? To receive a piece of paper that basically says "you sat down, stayed quiet and did what your told for 13 years (14 in my case"? Honestly I don't see the effort being worth it. 

Same goes for design. I can spend 14 years on something and still be in the "depressingly bad" section. If I had a skill that wasn't, then I'd say otherwise but honestly I haven't seen it yet.

Dear god you're such a lightweight, you haven't even sniffed the crap that life can throw at you and you wanna sit and mope, see that body your wastin, can i have it?? no really, this ones screwed i need a new one! 

See the thing is, I'm a marine engineer , not the type slaving away on some cargo ship but the type who gets flown all over the world to fix stuff that nobody else will touch, or should i say WAS...  I spent perhaps a little too long in Spitsbergen one spring  working on some hovercraft, and you wouldn't think it possible but i picked up a nasty little virus, this virus knocked the stuffing out of me for two years until my boss said "you look like crap , get of here and don't come back till your fixed" Soo no matter what i said it didn't matter, in the end he played the health and safety and insurance cards, knowing full well that i knew i couldn't argue that point. 
So i find myself on an extended holiday, visiting the doc is hilarious, they now have a huge list of what the virus  isn't but have no clue what it is.  And  it's now 8 years later, all those plans I had, like working a few more years then retiring with my lovely missus to a nice little island i know of, paying off the mortgage in 2 years etc etc etc  have gone out of the window,  the toolboxes i used to carry two of i cant even pick up. and I'm still broken, and haven't  gone totally mad, though the wife may dispute that,  and I'm not bored yet. yes I'd sell my soul to anyone who can fix me, wind back the clock 8 years and get me back doing what i love.    So if you're not using that body ...

(Old git warnin)

There are two ways to play this life game and only one of them i recommend having played it the other way. 

I hated the whole school  thing with a passion, as such i wangled an apprenticeship   and bailed at the first opportunity, great I'm made, got a job, possible career, no more school ace!. See that light at the end of the tunnel? you do? It's just another train coming!.

The firm goes bust, the economy goes to crap and i take any job i can find etc etc, and eventually fall into marine engineering and I'm good at it, I'd say very good. This is all fine until i want to move jobs, I've got no formal qualifications; I do have some amazing references from some very impressive organizations,  but no damn bits of paper, So the first thing i have to do is convince a potential employer that I'm even worth talking to, as he has no real guide to what i can and can't do, as is obtained from those same bits of paper i don't have. If i manage part one , part two is essentially tougher, that is that in half an hour i have to verbally prove to this bloke who has many qualified players to chose from that i can not just do the job, but knock it out of the park like none other could.

That's not the end though, I usually have had to start a a very low hourly rate with some evil probationary period in which i get all the crap jobs to do, and every tiny detail will scrutinized and second guessed . ALL because i don't have those bits of paper. 

It's not so bad when you're young, you have time, you've got ages, or so you think, no you aint!, when you get over 30 you start getting tired of the constant hassle and really haven't got time to messing around on nippers wages but because you aint got those bits of paper you have no choice, unless of course you wanna just become a caretaker of some church hall!

Stay in school, trust an old git , it is the easy way after all, aint hindsight a wonderful thing

 

[ZooNamedGames]

44 minutes ago, Kieve said:

So... you're unmotivated because school sucks.

First off, college is a vastly different animal than basic education. Figuring out your classes, schedule, credits, basic living situation... balancing a job on top of that if needed - classes aside, the place is a life-simulator which will help prepare you for becoming an independent adult. Now whether the degree is useful or not, whether the debt is worth it... that's for you to decide, but if you assume college is simply "more of the same," you're in for a very rude awakening.

Secondly, I've read through this thread and for every encouragement someone tries to offer, it seems like your go-to response is "excuse, reason, why bother." If that's so, then you made this thread purely to dredge up some sympathy from the internet, which I can tell you from experience is almost never a good idea. Stop trying to find reasons not to try.

Everyone has big ideas, but they only matter if you resolve to act on them. Ask Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or any of these people - keeping those ideas in your head and complaining how they'll never see the light of day, that's the real failure. If you try and fail, you learn from the experience. You make another attempt, a little wiser for it. But if you'd rather give up before you even make the attempt... why even make this thread?

Unity is free. Blender is free. Gimp is free. There are a wealth of resources you can use - and don't quote me a reply about your "lack of skill," you're bloody 19 and haven't had the time to develop it yet - that's just another excuse for not trying. Commit to those ideas in your head, learn what it'll take to channel them outward. That's the only real answer here.

I have tried. I have seen college. I haven't lived in a shell my whole life.

Trust me; if I could just wake up and say "ah stop moaning and let's finish this", I would have years ago.

[ZooNamedGames]

I should probably kill this thread off, at this  point all I'm doing is making me look desperate as @Kieve pointed out (not that I'm not). 

This thread almost belongs under my other thread "I'm going through a rough time" as this thread is just screaming it. 

Thank you for all of your advice. I can only hope I heed it. If I don't then it's my fault as usual. 

[Kieve]

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I should probably kill this thread off, at this  point all I'm doing is making me look desperate as @Kieve pointed out (not that I'm not). 

This thread almost belongs under my other thread "I'm going through a rough time" as this thread is just screaming it. 

Thank you for all of your advice. I can only hope I heed it. If I don't then it's my fault as usual. 

My last reply was a little harsher than intended, I was rushed for time (late to work) and probably should've waited a bit before posting. My comments stand, but sorry if they came across as rude.

The bottom line is, no one will ever care about the ideas in your head, except you. What matters is trying to make good on them. And all it really takes is that one moment where you decide to just start. That's it. Find out what you need to make that idea a reality, take it one step at a time, piece by tiny piece. But if you never take the time to start, to even try? That says all those ideas swimming around in your head aren't even worth your time and effort, and if they don't interest you enough to make the attempt, they certainly won't interest anyone else.

[Bill Phil]

This is why there are development teams. Find people out there who are willing to help you out. You may just be the idea guy, but you can also be the guy who organizes the efforts of people across the world. Or the story writer. Use the skills you do have, in conjuction with people who have other skills, and work together to create something awesome. Not everyone's a programmer, but more importantly, the programmer is not expected to do everything for a video game.

[ZooNamedGames]

37 minutes ago, Kieve said:

My last reply was a little harsher than intended, I was rushed for time (late to work) and probably should've waited a bit before posting. My comments stand, but sorry if they came across as rude.

The bottom line is, no one will ever care about the ideas in your head, except you. What matters is trying to make good on them. And all it really takes is that one moment where you decide to just start. That's it. Find out what you need to make that idea a reality, take it one step at a time, piece by tiny piece. But if you never take the time to start, to even try? That says all those ideas swimming around in your head aren't even worth your time and effort, and if they don't interest you enough to make the attempt, they certainly won't interest anyone else.

Well one realistic issue is by the time I've gotten the (mediocre) skills to do it, I likely moved onto others making the time and invested effort worthless.

3 minutes ago, Bill Phil said:

This is why there are development teams. Find people out there who are willing to help you out. You may just be the idea guy, but you can also be the guy who organizes the efforts of people across the world. Or the story writer. Use the skills you do have, in conjuction with people who have other skills, and work together to create something awesome. Not everyone's a programmer, but more importantly, the programmer is not expected to do everything for a video game.

Issue is I have no connection or otherwise an ability to find a team who would like to make the game. 

[Bill Phil]

3 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Issue is I have no connection or otherwise an ability to find a team who would like to make the game. 

There are people here on the forums that might take you up on your offer, and if they don't, they will probably point you in another direction. Do research. Create a design document. It's hard to start, very hard to start, I know. But once you do, you'd be surprised at how far you can go.

I'm pretty sure a large number of indie developers thought the exact same thing. But, if you start small, you could grow quite a lot.