Modding Success And/Or Completing a Project?

[Baker]

What would your thoughts and advice be to any given new modder on how to ...

1. Complete a first project.
2. Mistakes/goals that can cause a project to FAIL.
3. What it takes to win.
4. How to gain a reputation as someone who "gets stuff done".

I always liked this little tutorial by LordHavoc:

http://www.inside3d.com/showtutorial.php?id=41

[ceriux]

[qbism]

1. Complete a first project.
Choose the project based on material and human resources that are already available, and clearly define the scope. "Define" primarily means "limit". The modder doesn't need to have all the answers from the start, but needs at least enough knowledge to form the concise questions that bridge from point A to point B.

2. Mistakes/goals that can cause a project to FAIL.
#1 for me is feature creep: Adding "just one more" thing to the to-do.
#2 is "the grass is greener": some other code base or bsp compiler or mod will seem better the moment a commitment is made. At some point put the blinders on to other mods.

3. What it takes to win.
Don't move the finish line after the race has started. When the scope is met, polish it to some reasonable level and release it. Polish may mean beta-testing, writing docs (!), and/or packaging the project neatly. This is only the first project, not the last!

4. How to gain a reputation as someone who "gets stuff done".
Besides literally getting it done, pick a forum or make a site to respond to comments after release. Patch major bugs if you can. At this moment a modder may be sick of the project and not want to deal with criticism or bugs; yet this feedback is valuable to learning how your project is perceived and how to proceed with the next one.

[Junrall]

1. Complete a first project.
---Break the project into smaller goals.
---Polish up a finished goal then move on to the next goal.

2. Mistakes/goals that can cause a project to FAIL.
---Not staying focused on a goal's end result... such as adding in "cool" features that originally weren't part of the goal. Instead, jot down these "cool" ideas and add them later.
---Getting bored or hitting a "brick wall". Take a break!

3. What it takes to win.
---A polished mod is one thing... try adding detailed help file that's actually helpful.
---If you got time for a few questions... answer them, don't blow people off.

4. How to gain a reputation as someone who "gets stuff done".
---Hop on to a forum and let people know about any goals you have finished and whats next to come.
---When finished, support your mod! Don't let it flail about... take to heart any bugs people tell you about.

[mh]

[Supa]

1. Complete a first project.
Start small. Understand that your goal isn't to complete something neat, it's to learn how to complete something in the first place. Focus on learning as much as you can, not doing. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but make ABSOLUTELY sure you learn from every single one of them. Most of all, don't get discouraged, try to stay determined. If you're the type of person who gives up on things at all, you will NOT be able to make it in this field.

2. Mistakes/goals that can cause a project to FAIL.
I'm split on this one.

As a programmer, I'd say the only action that can cause a software project to fail is to give up on it. You can always rebuild it, you can always learn from your mistakes, so a goal cannot inherently kill your project - only you can do that.

As a game designer, I'd say any goal that ultimately is a waste of time will make your *game* project a failure. If you're not doing something new or if you're doing something that's counter productive to what a game is, don't bother. :P

3. What it takes to win.
Never stop learning. Never, ever, pass up an opportunity, especially one to learn. Never become engrained in any particular type of thought - if you're thinking in the same manner today as you were a year ago, you just wasted a year. And to repeat myself again, keep a good attitude and try to cultivate paitence within yourself. You WILL lose out on an opportunity and you WILL waste your time and the time of your team members if you don't have the determination and paitence to see a project through to the end.

So most importantly, you have to WANT to win more than anything else, you have to want to see everything you do through to the end no matter what happens.

4. How to gain a reputation as someone who "gets stuff done".
Get stuff done. *Alot* of stuff, because not everything you do will be noticed or make an impact. And keep getting things done. :P

[Baker]

[dreadlorde]

[jim]

[Wazat]

[Teiman]

[Baker]

[goldenboy]

[mh]