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new demoparty year's resolution

category: offtopic [glöplog]
Hello all,

I am usually very active demoparty goer who's highly inactive in releasing any productions. I roughly go to six demoparties each year and release no productions what so ever.

I always manage to find lame excuses like for example "life", "work" and "this production needs to be perfect even tho I haven't managed to do anything else than think about the concept and now I have just pile of rough and unfinished concepts that will never be done".

In the begin of this year I thought to myself "FUCK THAT SHIT!" - and I did. So I made a "new demoparty year's resolution" to make at least one entry to each demoparty that I go.

Year started with Icons (and promise was kept!). Spring will continue with Instanssi and Revision demoparties. Summer will include at least Solskogen and Assembly. Autumn will include Main, Outline and/or Kindergarden.

Now I challenge rest of you inactive sceners to do the same! Entry to a compo of your choice at a demoparty you want. Repeat it then once or twice or as many times as you want! The important part is that you contribute something. :)

Yours sincerely,
waffle / too many groups to name one
added on the 2012-02-15 07:10:01 by waffle waffle
I like your attitude.

Thumbs up!
added on the 2012-02-15 07:43:33 by phobium phobium
Yes :)
added on the 2012-02-15 08:14:01 by orby orby
waffle, maybe we should join. I have contributed 5 or six times a year, but never been to any party. At least that keeps the overall level, i guess ;)
But to sum up, i like that resolution and hope it holds (as many of those new years resolutions don't)
added on the 2012-02-15 08:52:44 by CONS CONS
sounds great (=
Cool resolution :)
added on the 2012-02-15 09:06:08 by gloom gloom
Hah! Plek took this resolution 10 years ago!
added on the 2012-02-15 11:01:26 by skrebbel skrebbel
And I've taken and broken this resolution since 2008.
added on the 2012-02-15 11:05:56 by Deus Deus
What I do to increase productivity: I introduced "scene-thursdays". It's really simple. I cannot make plans on thursdays, since it's 100% reserved for working on scene-related stuff. Having a fixed evening each week of focusing on producing scene-related stuff, really helps a lot.

I managed to release at least an executable music entry at each party I attended last year (6) - even an executable entry for Function that didn't have an executable compo :D

The plan is to do the same this year too and at least two 64k intros and likely a coop 4k with Loonies again. It's going to be a great scene-year! :D
added on the 2012-02-15 11:51:40 by Punqtured Punqtured
I should do that too. No, wait. I am doing it sometimes. I already did it. But in never worked. I hated it. And so I have loosen things. If it doesn't work I don't pressure myself.

Sometimes I see a possible compo and I plan beforehand but only start working before the deadline. And I drop it if it's too unrealistic to work on a demo with all the pressure.

Anyway, I am planning more CPC stuff for this year. First there is Forever in one month then ReSeT in July. Good thing, even if you don't finish anything, at least you have some work done for the next compo. I have finally started coding new features for my old CPC wolfenstein engine I stopped working with a year ago.
added on the 2012-02-15 12:14:46 by Optimus Optimus
just in time for another edition of inércia demoparty! thumbs up!
added on the 2012-02-15 14:33:03 by psenough psenough
Quote:
I introduced "scene-thursdays"
This is a fantastic idea. I might take this one up as well.

Quote:
I managed to release at least an executable music entry at each party I attended last year (6) - even an executable entry for Function that didn't have an executable compo :D
Which should've placed higher, btw :)

Quote:
Anyway, I am planning more CPC stuff for this year.
Fuck yes!!

Cool to see you guys doing this!!

P.S. waffle, get the fuck on skype :)
added on the 2012-02-15 14:43:45 by ferris ferris
...on skype more often that is...
added on the 2012-02-15 14:43:57 by ferris ferris
I don't make any productions because I truly AM busy with some Real World stuff, but also because I'm a bit scared about going it completely ALONE - there's no one else in this part of the world I can collaborate with in person. And I don't know a thing about sound programming either! :(
I've taken and kept this resolution since 2001 (with the exception of the Function parties I main-organize)
added on the 2012-02-15 15:36:54 by Gargaj Gargaj
funny, I don't remember there being a ÜD or CNS prod at NVScene ;)
added on the 2012-02-15 16:40:10 by ferris ferris
Nice initiative. I can't remember taking such a resolution, nor am I planning to :)
added on the 2012-02-15 17:23:12 by superplek superplek
i tried to implement scene thursdays but after a few weeks ny boss found out :(
added on the 2012-02-15 19:09:09 by havoc havoc
bitnaughty: there are sceners everywhere, you just need to know how to look for them. if they have time or will to work with you thats another issue though.
added on the 2012-02-15 19:13:45 by psenough psenough
I recently found success by ignoring the voice that convinces my lazy alter ego that it's boring to code 8 hours a day at work and code at home, "don't push yourself too hard", "I'll turn into a boringperson", I work so I deserve some really free time", etc.

Instead I just calm down and sit in front of the computer with no expectations but to use it, and tell myself it's okay. Because it really is.

This coincided with me cutting down on my "web time" (such as the time of this writing), and I think it must.

I think it's just common sense. It IS fun to watch a great movie. It IS fun to hang on forums and google interesting subject and chat on IRC and check out if something interesting was posting in a Facebook group and code some PHP on one of your sites. It IS fun to just play around on the computer doing demostuff with no aim or project plan or deadline. They are ALL a waste of time. But one of the wastes of time can result in a cool release eventually, none of the other ones will.

So it's just a matter of channeling your timewasting in the right direction, I think. Making promises and keeping to them will only aggravate things. "I need to finish this. But it might not be good. But I need to finish this. Force yourself. I don't wanna. Plan says I will have to spend 20 evenings on the first part of the demo. So do it. But it takes so long for something to happen, I can only sit about 3 hours every evening. So what? You're a person of character. Yes! I am! I will! Hey, I got mail. " <-- here's where you might have a quick look at something that might be interesting, turns out to be so, one hour wasted. I'm hungry, I must eat. Suddenly 1 hour demotime left in the even. Damn, I can't get anything reasonable done so skip it. <--here's where the guilt of failing to keep promises comes in.

All this is not worth it, when you can simply accept that most things are fun and waste time. So don't promise anything, but waste some time demoing and part of that time will result in something. The fun you had making it will come through the screen when it's viewed, and you will not have added spare time pressure to your pressure from work or from obligations to others.

Try it. Just mucking about might even lead to that great feeling when your prod starts to excite you and you can't wait to get home to see where it'll go and how good you can make it.
added on the 2012-02-15 19:21:30 by Photon Photon
No matter what's your way of kicking your butt into producing, it's always better to go a party with something to release.
Or to make up something on-site.
Been doin' so from the beginning and I don't intent to stop :)

Doesn't have to be a demo, can be a tune or gfx, wild, whatever!
added on the 2012-02-15 21:38:24 by BarZoule BarZoule
shit i already failed to release anything at datastorm
added on the 2012-02-15 23:24:05 by nosfe nosfe
Photon: Amen!

I found that sometimes i go "Oh, I really have no inspiration, and I get nowhere fast when I try to do music". That's exactly what my "scene-thursdays" are great for. Once I get everything fired up and I begin to do random fooling around, nothing happens first, second, third or sometimes even tenth experiment. But the 11th (which I wouldn't have got to hadn't it been for the first 10 painstakingly boring attempts) might actually re-ignite the inspiration. And once the inspiration's there - as you already mentioned - that's when the fun really kicks in.

So I guess doing scene-work - whether it's code, music or gfx - is all about a lot of hard work that leads to the extatic moments where one thing follows the other naturally and you sometime feel you're just a spectator to a show unfolding in front of you.
added on the 2012-02-15 23:36:31 by Punqtured Punqtured
excellent resolution.
the time has come, things need to be done ;)
added on the 2012-02-16 04:38:52 by dominator dominator

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