so, I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this or not but, how do I keep motivated to make games?
I do like doing it and I have lots of ideas for games but it gets a bit hard to find the energy and motivation to start making games
Of course, You are allowed to ask that. Especially, that's a very good question for all of us!
Motivation problems are one of the most talked about topics in the field of creativity. It is hard to find a
(constant) motivation and it is hard to keep motivated.
I have found it best not to think so much about motivation. Instead, I think about what I can/could/want to do.
And then I proceed accordingly. Taking small steps and going ahead step by step. Usually, motivation comes
along while doing something. If it does not, at least I got something done. :-)
Plus pretty much everything that 40wattstudio said.
Simply put, just keep thinking, doing and making. And then repeat over and over again. You can do it! <3
as someone who often struggles to keep focusing on something all i can really say is try, try to do a bit every day even if it is just a drawing or a sketch for something, if you need to take a break for a day or two because of your mental health that's fine just try and do at least something if possible!
I think what helps is to see it as many different activities (which it is). Coming up with ideas is important, coding is important, making assets is important, marketing is important, building networks is important. You get the idea.
I think something that easily happens is that you try to guilt yourself into building some huge project, which starts feeling bad after a while.
In reality you don't have a deadline, and there's lots of different activities that are all building towards making games, and only you can determine what your goals and ambitions are. I myself only did game jams for almost 10 years, because I found it the best way for me to interact with game development.
I know it's easy to forget, but it really is about the journey and not the end result.
You are so right in your reply. But some people think that "scope creeping" is a bad thing... it isn't!!! That's EXACTLY how big projects are made: they start small and depending on partial results and feedback they "creep" into larger things. Even for games. Nobody is capable of pre-defining every single aspect of a project in advance. It is impossible. You start with something simple.... then you make it better. Ask the makers of Microsoft / Apple / Google / Facebook etc...
I agree with all of this particularly the post by https://itch.io/profile/anothercastle (i hope i've linked that right) but if you already have experience in these areas you could focus on parts that you prefer and really enjoy. I have been prototyping lots of ideas for years now as the best part of making games (in my opinion) is in the problem solving, starting with no idea how something works then gradually figuring it out after problem after problem, then if you wanted to further down the line you could combine what you've been working on into a larger project, it's often the case small ideas bloom into larger ones, this is just my opinion though and mostly everyone will have issues in this regards at some point.