this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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I envy you in some ways, recognizing your limits is something I wish I would have done. I came from a coding background, spent like 2 years learning unity, then eventually realized much of the cool stuff for games happen on the art side. So I learned blender... the whole pipeline- modeling, sculpting, materials, animations, each piece had it's own challenges and quirks.
It's been like 15 years since I started, I still haven't released a game... but I do have a collection of neat prototypes that no one has played. I often wonder if I've wasted my time with the whole thing. If I could go back, I'd choose one niche, specialize in it and find a team to collaborate with, but there are trade offs with that too like giving up a lot of creative control.
I think it's probably better to have taken action as you've learned a lot. People like the person you replied to and myself "know" our limitations but then we don't do anything so you're 15 years more advanced in your knowledge and I'm 15 years stagnant no better than I was from the start.
Yes this is what I tell myself to keep from going insane, I learned a lot. Unfortunately the majority of these skills I've acquired are not applicable to "pay the bills" work. By trade, I'm still building web forms and streamlining internal business processes - what would it look like I spent those years on perfecting that craft instead? What if I didn't block out my evenings and sacrifice time with friends and family? Life is always a series of trade-offs, I suppose.
Hey buddy, your value is not what capitalists are willing to pay for your time.
FACTS.
Some days it's harder to remind yourself of this than others. Thank you.
In an ideal world we'd all be encouraged to take on creative pursuits and have the ability to do so, rather than feel guilty for them. Maybe someday, right?
Stopped myself before I got in as far as you but realized my roadblock is art. I can't solve this one: I lack the creativity and patience to do the art, and naturally nobody will ever work for free, nor should they.
I wasn't really sure how to proceed so I started studying for various tech and cloud certs instead. Might as well put my skills to use somewhere.
Heh I can relate, a proper artist - someone with a creative mind and vision - will still run circles around me. I often rely on references and "copying" previous work. I also never learned to draw, instead jumping straight into 3d modeling. Drawing is basically the quickest way to experiment with concepts and designs and that knowledge gap has become a glaring issue over time. There's no "fix", just 10,000 more hours of practice...
If you enjoyed the process, you didn't waste your time.
A hobby doesn't have to produce a commercial product.