Disclaimer: I know this is a lot of text, sorry about it but you don’t have to read it, i just post this so i can feel relief. Why here? because this is a site i don’t tend to visit frequently, so is easier to just disappear, also im not trying so sound edgy or like im just looking for interactions, im just trying to say something, finally sorry for the weak or directly bad English
So… Hello again fellas, long time i didn’t peek the site and write a dumb suggestion or asking how to solve a very dumb mistake, so yeah. Anyway, mostly I’m here to talk about the main issue I’m having when trying to make just a 1 mod, laziness? kind of, changed projects? not at all, Burnouts? yes.
Being honest i don’t consider myself as a modder because i never released something, the only thing i uploaded were badly made maps made by me and one friend by working with 3rd party mods (Vertigo, Black Friday and the never released A6 arena), but things changed when i learned the basics of Blender and Unity and i was able to make a 3d model into the game, an sign for the A6 Arena, well actually 2, one for credits (A6 actual developers for making the original map and assets) in the lobby and other for the entrance (that one had a warning that was wrote in bad English), and things escalated when my friend decided to leave modding to become a Roblox developer and i was left alone to do most of things as possible, like Lore, assets, textures, level design and other stuff (by the weight of it, i admit the use of ChatGPT to discuss several ideas, lore and miscs or find loopholes/issues, as tool, not as a solution, most of the ideas came from me or inspiration from other media). But yeah, in recent as old years i tried several maps, projects or just dry concepts, (Vertigo Reimagined, Nueva Esperanza, Frontier and Dusk, or just separated asset packs for free use) but by the game i have a lot of work, i just got tired and say myself “Nah, this thing is total garbage and will be useless”, then left it (and delete it to Unity project to Unturned files) and i could work in a total new idea or a variant, or just a big pause but recently i feel i reached the bottom, like if im stuck at this loop, why try again, things won’t change by magic and i know the issue it’s me, not the game, unity, Nelson or else.
So yeah, I’m stopping here to avoid writing the bible 2 just of the thoughts and problems of a random individual, anyway i hope y’all have a good day/night and enjoy Christmas and New Year
Up to you of course, but I don’t think we need to gate-keep who is and isn’t a modder - you’ve worked on modding, so in my books you’re a modder!
Even if those projects reached a dead end, I like to think it’s worthwhile as long as you learned something. In my case, it’s easy to feel like Unturned 4 / II was a disaster, but for the most part I feel like I learned a lot from working on it, and I know those experiences have/are/will come in useful for everything I’m working on. It certainly sounds like you must’ve learned a lot!
That said, being burned out sucks, and I’m sorry you’re in the depths of it right now. Good decision to take a break as long as you need.
You didn’t ask for it, but my 2 cents suggestion if/when you’re modding this game or a different game, or even starting a standalone gamedev project, would be to see a smaller project through to completion. From your description I get the impression you’ve been focused on absolutely massive projects, but I believe it’s hard for anyone to start at that point - much easier to work your way up from small to medium to big. For context: Deadzone/Unturned were far from being my first game - I’m sure I made at least 100 other games and mods first! Small maps for counter-strike and left 4 dead, obbies on roblox, clones of classic games like tetris, etc.
I didn’t had in mind to reply to any coment to avoid people to think i wrote this to get interaction or something like that, but i feel in the need to answer it to directly thanks you, i mean it’s not your obligation but you are here, reading a random community lounge about a medium modder struggling with the results of poor planniung
being fair, yes, i had to, like the use of hooks, logics, basic pixel art, in-game editor, Json/Dat, basic Unity and Blender (only sound by Audacity left, and music, but i don’t speak about it), and the only thing i love the most is Blender, doing 3D models and textures is something that makes me happy of at least doing something good enough, yeah my high self-standard are there, but usually the only projects i have paused are those involving the topics i don’t know, like Human/animal or vehicles.
I remember when i had to open a topic here to ask why something doesn’t work just to see how simple it was.
It depends, all of them were maps in the range from small to large, and the closest one to be finished was Nueva Esperanza, it was the map i was doing when i wrote an email asking about Unity fees, it was like in 12% finished for an early stage
taking you tip i will try to work in some small mods or simple things like a misc asset packs or arena/horde maps in tiny after New year, first i have to move to other city and solve some things and take a break. But in one time i will try something, and who knows, maybe with luck i could be part of a team or try something by myself, but i really want to make Nueva Esperanza real, at least for myself, as a full playable map
Do you have any type of tips how to avoid or delay burnouts and about map development process, from asset to level design?
Anyway, thanks a lot of, being fair i never though you will reply, i though like maybe prank or other individuals i spoke before or as a max, molt.
Anyway, I hope you have a very good night
I’m afraid I don’t have the best answer to either question, but:
Personally, I still struggle with burnout from time to time, or at least something burnout-adjacent. I find myself thinking about something I’m working on practically all day every day, when I’m lying down before bed, when doing other chores. This excitement makes me want to work on it more, spilling into what should be “time off.”
In my case - being fortunate enough to work on games full time - I’ve tried to limit my work time to weekdays as much as possible. When the project isn’t full time I suppose the equivalent would be taking time to have fun doing other things? I find it helpful whenever I get excited about something that isn’t my work projects. Gamedev is both my work and my main hobby, so having other hobbies is helpful. So perhaps ensuring you’re having fun playing games (especially games other than Unturned) and doing other hobbies you enjoy as well as your gamedev/modding projects?
It’s been a while (7+ years!) since I released an open-world map (“Germany”), and even then it’s one of my least favorite maps I worked on, so I don’t think my advice in this area is worth much at the moment. Maybe there was something special in the simplicity of the earlier maps? Relatively recently I was reading through this website: https://book.leveldesignbook.com/
Are you ever going to make a new Vanilla map?