Hey everyone, it’s been a while since I last posted. Just wanted to share some things I’ve experienced these past few months that are really helpful in my game design journey.
After the Kickstarter campaign for Ambal not reaching the goal I wasn’t motivated at all to continue working on the project. The initial spark that existed when I started working on it was gone, and I was foolishly waiting for the inspiration to pick up the pieces and start working on Ambal again. That, coupled with the lockdown situation and some other things, were really detrimental to my mental health but luckily I found a safe place in painting.
Recently I’ve been painting a lot, it started with inspiration from different sources that made me want to paint certain things. But I reached a point where I’m not exactly inspired to make a specific painting, but instead I’m pushing myself to try new techniques and improve my current style. If I were to wait to feel inspired to paint again, well, that could take weeks. This realization taught me to keep pushing forward, both in art and game design.
Inspiration is amazing and moves you into different directions, but you won’t feel inspired all the time. It is important to keep honing your skills even when you’re not inspired, and that doesn’t mean the work won’t be fun! The creation process (in a painting or a game) is a wild beast, even if you start something not feeling inspired the process might bring out something in you that will hint to an existing idea (a new goal), pushing you to accomplish it.
The spark: Inspiration is an “inner awakening” triggered by something outside that resonates with us personally and it can help us define a goal.
The fuel: Motivation is having a defined goal that you work towards.
I’ve been waiting for too long for a sudden inspiration that would bring me back to Ambal, and it could take forever given that the creation process is pretty much done. The game is solid, has amazing feedback and is almost ready to go. I just needed to redefine my goals, mostly related to growing the community and promoting the game, and get the next Kickstarter going.
So in short, don’t wait for inspiration, but rather set goals (short and long term) that will motivate you. That is especially true when the creation process is nearly done and you have to focus on executing it. And also, take care of yourselves. Don’t fear reaching out if you need help.
Now I’m back at working almost every day at Ambal! Planning the next move, updating the renders, the rulebook and website. Soon I’ll start creating the next Kickstarter campaign page, and this time we can make it happen!
Delighted to hear it! This is an excellent deck building concept based on clean and scalable mechanics with a great aesthetic — under no circumstances should it be abandoned. All creative projects must eventually interact with the tougher world and that does require a change of mindset.
Thank you very much James! I’m working on relaunching the KS campaign this year, so stay tuned =)
Excellent! Yes, the truth is that the quality of a product can never be given a fair assessment if people never find it in the first place. The success or failure of a Kickstarter is rarely a referendum on the project being good or bad, but rather a matter of how many people saw it. 🙂
I am glad to see you are picking this project back up! I stumbled upon your work from r/guildwars when you were posting updates and loved the concept. I am hopeful your next Kickstarter gets the attention it deserves, because this looks like an awesome product!
Thanks Martin! I might post about it on r/guildwars again, the community is so supportive and I love that some people could see a bit of GW in Ambal =) A game needs a strong community to thrive
YES
I have done some rounds on Tabletopia and I was sad to never get my hands on a physical copy. D:
Hopefully the KS later this year will be successful and everyone will be able to have a copy =D