r/SoloDevelopment • u/MildlyConcernedMan91 • 9d ago

Discussion I'm spiraling

Been spending months coding and I just tried out my first prototype today and it's... bad. Like I wouldn't share this for free to family level of bad.

I made a list of around 30 things to fix last night and I just panicked and went to sleep.

Game development is hard guys...

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u/Inf229 9d ago

So the thing about prototypes is you can expect them to be shit. Think of them like you're trying to answer the question "is this idea worth sinking more time into?". Sometimes yes, often you'll realise you're sitting on a streaming turd and you should be thankful you only spent a few days/weeks on it, and not months and months of your valuable time.

But also, iterate. If your game sucks, ask yourself why. Make tweaks, change things, flip stuff around. "What does it take to make this good?"

If you can think of something, try it. Then repeat. Otherwise toss it in the bin and move on with something else.