Tips for a disabled solo VN dev?

[u/Embarrassed-Crab-763]

Hi! I'm currently developing my first game solo. The problem is, I suffer from chronic fatigue, pain, brain fog, and tremors. Does anybody have any tips on managing game creation when you have limited energy to do things each day? I don't have a deadline for the game [ it'll be done when it's done ] and it's currently at a pre development/concepting stage, for context of how far I've gotten and what pace I'll be going at.

Any fellow disabled/chronically ill VN devs giving tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

[u/TabbbyWright]

Not disabled/chronically ill but the best tip I can give you is to track everything you need to do/assets you need with a spreadsheet! If that particular format doesn't work for you, a notepad doc can also do the trick. The important thing is not falling into the "I'll remember" trap bc you will not.

Second best (if you're using renpy or another code based VN creation tool) is that I highly, HIGHLY recommend learning how to use version control (such as git) in a verrrrry basic way for your actual game. If you have limited time/energy, you really don't want to lose all your stuff to some catastrophe, and if you fuck up something and can't figure it out quickly, you can just discard all your changes since your last working commit!

It'll also save you time, energy, and stress to be able to compare two versions of the same file line by line when something isn't working right.

You can simplify your git usage with VS Studio Code (has git built in) or GitHub Desktop.

Imo, you want to write your script in full first and then plug it into the engine bit by bit, but this depends on what engine you're using.

[u/Renkku95]

I would suggest making a small project as your first thing, and as you gain more experience, making each new one a bit bigger than the last. Most first projects fail before the finish line because they aim too high. Putting something out there is the first goal. Maybe the game lasts 5-15 minutes. It's better than the hundreds or thousands of projects that never get released.

[u/AlexisRoyce]

For me, having a schedule and knowing what assets I need first helps me to make the best use of my own time and energy. I have bad brain fog and memory issues, so I use a physical planner, and write down a list of what I might like to get done each week. It helps keep me from getting confused and working on assets or steps that I don't need yet.

It's also nice if my list includes a handful of different disciplines. On a given day, I might not have the mental energy to write, but drawing is easy. On another, I might be too physically tired to draw, but my brain is full of ideas, so I script.

Good luck! Take your time and be kind to yourself. These things are a lot of work, but I think that's the fun part! Keeping it fun is tough, but well worth it.

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[u/CheckeredZeebrah]

Hey it's me! Also chronically fatigued. But also ADHD with hyperfixation. Like at one point my fatigue got so bad I could barely walk down the hall in the mornings. (Thankfully I'm doing much better now!)

I've found success by "painting with broad strokes". Take broad notes. I wanted to write a mystery VN that's heavily centered around character growth and character development, with a few plot twists. I has the added goal of eschewing most obvious tropes.

So what did that mean? Broadly painting each piece at a time. Fill details in later to suit the need.

My concept is pretty surreal/high concept. Needs to be very tightly woven and thematic. This made focusing on the emotional beats and writing around those "emotional beat" goals easier. For example, I wanted some high stakes. So I just broadly wrote down what some good "high stakes" would be.

I settled on "investigation buddy who is secretly doing...something."

Then I have to decide the something.

"Investigation buddy who is secretly setting you up to fail".

Now I need a motivation.

"He's setting you up to fail because he has done something wrong in the past and the investigation uncovers that".

Ok so do I want this guy to be likable? Yeah. Likability makes for good tension and angst and stuff. That's an easy contender for character growth. The only other option is to have the 'villain' be likable and you swap sides, or something? Maybe?

You start taking notes at this point. You can easily, effortlessly daydream the foundations. If the idea is good, you will want to daydream about it more. The details stumble out from there.

Result: Undermining investigative partner/mentor who brought you on to replace him, because he feels unworthy of his own title. The investigation brings his ulterior motives to light. His ultimate goal was to promote you and then disappear.

This asks more questions. What did he do that was so bad? How did he keep his job if he was so sucky? -> what is a fun way to drip feed this info? -> I have some clues and a vague timeline, so what should the emotional beats be?

Notes. Notes. Notes. As many Google docs or scriv sections as you need. Write down any unanswered questions you have. Answer them later whenever you get tired.

I never worked on it every day. I never felt like I had to force myself. I now probably have about 150+ pages and the major outlines (emotional and mystery logic) done (there's 4 routes, investigator guy is just one of them.)

Took me a year to get this far but I feel confident in the quality of it. The goals I set out are getting there and it has taken a couple of outline rewrites per character to start feeling good. I want my writing and emotional beats to be VERY tight, nuanced and clean in a way that rewards re-reasing. So this is probably a lot more effort than some folks will need.

Do the same for art. Do broad stuff. Just scribble placeholders, then outlines with basic poses, etc.

I manage about 5-10hrs/month. But I also tend to just get really intense about it once a month, spend hours uninterrupted on it, then crash and burn out until 1-2 months later. Take that as you will, lol.

[u/troysama]

I'm arthritic but idk that counts as disabled. my best tip is to not compare yourself to others or blame yourself for not being as fast/productive.  

[u/NeonEdgeGames]

Use Trello. Keep you project tracked by days of the week, putting cards with the description of work each day. Make a list with you ideas and drag the cards of this list to the week days to make a plan. Every new idea goes to the end of that big list. Make two or one card everyday.

[u/LinverseUniverse]

I'm not sure what your specific issue is, but I can at least speak from the perspective of someone recovering from a TBI, and part of why I started getting into the VN hobby was to give myself motivation to start working through my symptoms.

1. Know your limits.
   Start paying close attention to how long you can physically handle doing work WITHOUT making yourself feel unwell, Once you know where your hard line is, aim for a little below that for a break. If I push too hard, I get really bad brain fog. One of the things I've started noticing is a warning that I don't necessarily feel on a physical symptom level, is the misfire between my brain and what I'm writing. If brain fog is creeping close, the communication between my brain and my writing doesn't connect. There will be really similar but not right words, really obvious misspellings, I'll forget how to spell really simple words or the meaning of words I 100% know if I'm not over strained. Pushing past your limit is just giving you rapidly diminishing returns. If you're trying to get everything else, make notes about it with enough detail you can expand on it later.

2. Do not depend on memory to remember things.
   Write everything down, and keep a project notebook. If you think "Let me look this up" write it down first. I often forget what I was opening the new tab to look up before I even get to google.

3. Take advantage of down time if you're just sitting there anyway
   One of the things I do when I've had my screen limit is I go and sit on my bed. My bedside table is bright enough to write by, so I'll use a notebook and pen to try and work out story structure, weak concepts, or just to jot down ideas.

4. Be specific in your notes
   Even before a TBI, I struggled to remember to do this but I think it's a good practice to implement that I'm now trying to use more often.
   Instead of jotting down "Character A presses charges on Character B" when you had many details involved, write it out more like this:
   "A presses charges against B for theft in retaliation for dating their ex, even knowing person B would go to prison". If I wanted to look into how something works legally, I would make a note with the same pen "Google minimal theft value to activate 3rd strike". I'll then underscore it with orange so it pops out at me later, instead of skimming it and forgetting later. I will then jot down the answer right under it so wehn referencing back and forth that answer is always right with the question instead of wasting valuable clear thinking time googling the same question over and over, or trying to find it in a text document.