This article is a summarization of how I personally find inspiration.
The process, for me, is a fun and enjoyable one.
It may not be for you so please consider this as an alternative view on how to get inspiration
rather than a blueprint on how inspiration should happen.
Topics for this article
In this article I’ll be going over the following:
What is Inspiration?
Why do we need Inspiration?
The Inspirational Trinity.
Finding Your Inspiration.
Feeding your Inspiration through Motivation.
Keeping a Dream Journal.
What is inspiration?
First and foremost, the meaning of inspiration is “something you feel on the inside, especially to do something creative”.
Basically, it’s the fire that runs inside your core that compels you to continue to the very end.
Do not confuse this with motivation, which is an outside force that compels you to do something.
Similar in results, however the sources of energy come from different places.
Inspirational energy comes from the inside, while motivational energy comes from the outside.
So why exactly do we need inspiration?
The main reason is that inspiration brings energy, and energy is the main source needed to complete a game.
Many new game developers want to build a game, it’s the purpsose for all of use really.
What I tend to see are beginners who start a project, and then quite half-way through after encountering an obstacle.
If in a group, it may be multiple people that quit.
The reason for quitting, or giving up, in my opinion, is a lack of inspiration,
or at the very least, they are confusing motivation with inspiration.
The secondary reason, in my opinion, is that they underestimate the complexities that come with game development, game design, and programming.
Again, I personally believe the main reason on giving up on a project, is the lack of inspiration.
When you are inspired to do something, there is this energy that swells inside of you,
it makes you want to see something through to the end.
Most new game developers just want to make games, for the sake of making games.
Which is fine, but in many cases they seem upset or disappointed that making games wasn’t like anything they expected.
Again, beginners who decide to make games don’t really have a purpose for doing so.
They just build a game for the sake of building a game.
They don’t make games to:
touch lives
create an exciting experience
implement a cool algorithm
make profit for the sake of starting a game company to be your own boss,
build a portfolio to apply for a job in the game industry
make all the money
make the best game there ever was
Some people just start making games without even knowing why.
Now, I recognize, that there are people who simply make games for the fun of it,
perhaps there are some who just want to learn a new skill,
or even just craft experiences for others to try out and enjoy.
However, even just the simple act of crafting an experience,
making games only for the sake of fun, or to simply learn programming
are sources of inspiration because they are internal.
Inspirational Trinity
The inspirational trinity will help us create a foundation in which we can use to understand more about what inspires us.
The three pillars of the inspirational trinity are curiosity, creativity, and passion.
If I had to sum up curiosity in one word, it would be inquisitive.
To always want to know more, to be an eternal student.
This is because you never know if the next new thing you learn will start that creative spark in your mind and heart.
Creativity
The next pillar is creativity.
It’s simply being open to every and any possibilities of the past and present.
Don’t be afraid of going with your gut.
I’ll give you a fake example.
Let’s say there are many people within the game development community are against Norse inspired fantasy.
Well, if your creativity leads you to Norse inspired fantasy, then follow your gut, and ignore those that may bring you negativity.
Because creativity is about being open, and not being what I call, a creativity bigot.
A creativity bigot is one who is open to everything, except the things they don’t like.
But, that is just my opinion, you must find your own creative path.
Passion
The last pillar is passion.
Passion is what keeps you moving forward.
It’s the energy that gets you up at 4 in the morning and keeps you up for 24 hours.
Passion is powerful, but it can also be dangerous.
There are two types of passion, slow burning passion, and explosive passion.
There are no right or wrong types of passion, however based on personal experience, slow burning passion is longer lasting, and safer, both physically and mentally.
Slow Burning Passion
Slow burning passion is born from compassion
Here is a fake example of slow burning passion.
Let’s say Norse inspired fantasy dominates the game industry.
Let’s say you want to make the best modern fantasy game ever because you’d like to change the status quo on the fantasy genre being created by the game industry.
You are tired that the mainstream fantasy genre is dominated by Norse inspired fantasy, and you want to change that by making a game so great, others will follow in your footsteps to follow the money.
This type of passion is what I like to call slow burning because, it’s a passion that’s based inside of compassion, not anger.
Unlike the creativity example, you are still open to anything and everything. You are not stopping others or hindering others with negativity, you are just showing them through monetary proof, that modern fantasy genres is currently in trend, and what the market currently wants.
Perhaps in the process you borrow an element or two from norse inspired fantasy genre as well.
Basically, this is a passion born from positive energy, not negative.
Explosive Passion
Next let’s talk about explosive passion.
Explosive passion is powerful, very powerful.
This is because explosive passion is rooted in negative energy.
That could be anger, resentment, and even jealousy.
It truly is powerful, and from personal experience, it blinds you.
In college I once used explosive passion, the main source was anger, it got me what I wanted, but at a cost.
Again, there are no right or wrong answers, whichever type of passion you decide to use will be up to you.
Finding Inspiration
Next let’s talk about finding your inspiration.
Everyone is different, I’ll provide you with an anecdotal blueprint.
First understand who you are, and what you want to accomplish.
This is important, you need to truly understand what exactly you want to do.
If you know what is driving you to make a game, you will also find the limitations to that energy source as well.
For example, perhaps you want to make games because it gives you the opportunity to hang out with friends, which is a good reason to make a game.
Just keep in mind that hanging out with friends is a good source of motivation, but not inspiration.
In this case, the moment your friends stop making games, you’ll most likely stop as well, because your energy came from an external source via motivation, instead an internal source via inspiration.
You need to dig deep, look inside yourself, and find out what exactly you want to accomplish when making a game.
Again, there are no right or wrong answers.
Feeding Inspiration with Motivation
Once you have found your inspiration, you need to keep feeding it with motivation.
To reiterate, motivation is an external force that compels you to do something, so use it.
You can find motivation from anywhere, but here are a few things:
Family and money are unique because they can act as both a source of inspiration and motivation.
Another source for feeding inspiration with motivation is looking into the past:
Personal Past
Families Past
Countries Past
Past of Humanity
Past of the Earth
The Universe
A lot of areas to investigate for sources of motivation to feed your inspiration.
Perhaps a lot of areas to even find something that inspires you.
For me, it’s the nighttime stars.
Something about it truly moves me.
At night I like to look up at the night sky,
pick a star,
and then imagine that there may have been a human a century ago that saw that very exact star.
For me that’s a source of motivation, not a strong one, but it helps relax me during moments of stress.
The Lion King touched on that as a motivation for the main character as well.
Keeping a Dream Journal
Dream journals are amazing because they help us record not only our dreams, but the random thoughts that pop up at
random times during the day.
Now dreams are the gateway to our soul,
and the very core of who we are.
Dreams can show us what our unconscious mind is thinking of.
In a sense, it’s a vision to our desires, passions, and fears.
I recommend keeping a dream journal with you.
Dreams are vivid when you get them, but easily forgettable within the first few minutes.
As a matter of fact, sometimes inspiration hits you out of the left field when you are awake.
Because of that I also recommend keeping it on you when you are awake as well.
Homework
It’s very simple, all you must do is answer the following question:
Why do you want to make games?
It’s a very important question to answer, especially if you want to get into game development.
Think very carefully, and don’t lie to yourself.
It’s ok if it takes you a while to come up with that answer.
The answer will show you what you may need to learn, and what you may need to prepare for.
Transcript
Godot Tutorials is not sponsored by or affiliated with the Godot game engine.
Welcome back!
I’m Josee and I’ll be your guide for this episode.
Don’t forget that I have a website at go doe tutorials dot com, please feel free to check that out.
This episode is based on anecdotal evidence.
Please take it as an alternative view on how to get inspiration, rather than a blueprint on how inspiration should happen.
In this episode I’ll be going over the following:
What is Inspiration?
Why do we need inspiration?
The Inspirational trinity.
Finding Your Inspiration.
Feeding your Inspiration through motivation.
Keeping a Dream Journal.
What is inspiration?
First and foremost, the meaning of inspiration is “something you feel on the inside, especially to do something creative”.
Basically, it’s the fire that runs inside your core that compels you to continue to the very end.
Do not confuse this with motivation, which is an outside force that compels you to do something.
Similar in results, however the sources of energy come from different places.
Inspirational energy comes from the inside, while motivational energy comes from the outside.
So why exactly do we need inspiration?
It’s quite simple, the main reason is that inspiration brings energy, and energy is the main source needed to complete a game.
Many new game developers want to build a game. They start a project, and half-way through, they quit.
If in a group, it may be multiple people that quit.
The reason for quitting, or giving up, in my opinion, is a lack of inspiration, or at the very least, they are confusing motivation with inspiration.
The secondary reason, in my opinion, is that they underestimate the complexities that come with game development, game design, and programming.
But again, I personally believe the main reason on giving up on a project, is the lack of inspiration.
When you are inspired to do something, there is this energy that swells inside of you, it makes you want to see something through to the end.
Most new game developers just want to make games, for the sake of making games.
Not to touch lives, not to create an exciting experience, not to implement a cool algorithm, not to make profit for the sake of starting a game company to be your own boss,
not to build a portfolio to apply for a job in the game industry, not even to make all the money or the best game there ever was.
Some people just start making games without even knowing why.
Now, I recognize, that there are people who simply make games for the fun of it, perhaps there are some who just want to learn a new skill, or even just craft experiences for others to try out and enjoy.
But even just the simple act of crafting an experience, making games only for the sake of fun, or to simply learn programming are sources of inspiration because they are internal.
As a matter of fact, there was this brand new programmer who wanted to learn C++ as their first programming language, they thought it would be great to make a text adventure game to get them up in the morning, to my understanding, the C++ programmer asked some questions on a programming forum, people were interested in the text adventure game, the community asked the new programmer to sell it, and then that programmer made ten thousand dollars after only six months of learning. Basically, this programmer was paid ten thousand to learn.
Learning for the sake of learning is a great source of inspiration to complete something.
However, in the C++ programmers’ case, there may have been a little motivation after money was introduced into the formula.
Regardless,
There are some people that just want to make a game, for the sake of a game, with no clear goal or cohesive vision for why they are making their game.
Therefore, when they run into the first sign of trouble, or mental roadblock, they just quit.
This brings us to what I call the Inspirational Trinity.
The inspirational trinity will help us create a foundation in which we can use to understand more about what inspires us.
The three pillars of the inspirational trinity are curiosity, creativity, and passion.
To be curious, is to be hungry.
It’s like the final issue of the World Earth Magazine, which Steve Jobs pointed out the words,
Stay hungry, Stay foolish.
If I had to sum up curiosity in one word, it would be inquisitive. To always want to know more, to be an eternal student.
This is because you never know if the next new thing you learn will start that creative spark in your mind and heart.
The next pillar is creativity.
It’s simply being open to
every and any possibilities of the past and present.
Don’t be afraid of going with your gut.
I’ll give you a fake example.
Let’s say there are many people within the game development community are against Norse inspired fantasy.
Well, if your creativity leads you to Norse inspired fantasy, then follow your gut, and ignore those that may bring you negativity.
Because creativity is about being open, and not being what I call, a creativity bigot.
A creativity bigot is one who is open to everything, except the things they don’t like.
But that is just my opinion, you must find your own creative path.
The last pillar is passion.
Passion is what keeps you moving forward. It’s the energy that gets you up at 4 in the morning and keeps you up for 24 hours.
Passion is powerful, but it can also be dangerous.
There are two types of passion, slow burning passion, and explosive passion.
There are no right or wrong types of passion, however based on personal experience, slow burning passion is longer lasting, and safer, both physically and mentally.
Here is a fake example of slow burning passion.
Let’s say Norse inspired fantasy dominates the game industry.
Let’s say you want to make the best modern fantasy game ever because you’d like to change the status quo on the fantasy genre being created by the game industry.
You are tired that the mainstream fantasy genre is Norse inspired and you want to change that by making a game so great, others will follow in your footsteps to follow the money.
This type of passion is what I like to call slow burning because, it’s a passion that’s based inside of compassion, not anger.
Unlike the creativity example, you are still open to anything and everything. You are not stopping others or hindering others with negativity, you are just showing them through monetary proof, that modern fantasy genres is currently in trend, and what the market currently wants.
And perhaps in the process you borrow an element or two from norse inspired fantasy genre as well.
Basically, this is a passion born from positive energy, not negative.
Next let’s talk about explosive passion.
Explosive passion is powerful, very powerful.
This is because explosive passion is rooted in negative energy.
That could be anger,
resentment, and even jealousy.
It truly is powerful, and from personal experience, it blinds you.
In college I once used explosive passion, the main source was anger, it got me what I wanted, but at a cost.
As Alphonse from the Full-metal Alchemist anime once said,
“To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.”
Well, again, there are no right or wrong answers, whichever type of passion you decide to use will be up to you.
Ok so next let’s talk about finding your inspiration.
Everyone is different, I’ll provide you with an anecdotal blueprint.
First understand who you are, and what you want to accomplish.
This is important, you need to truly understand what exactly you want to do.
If you know what is driving you to make a game, you will also find the limitations to that energy source as well.
For example, perhaps you want to make games because it gives you the opportunity to hang out with friends, which is a good reason to make a game.
Just keep in mind that hanging out with friends is a good source of motivation, but not inspiration.
In this case, the moment your friends stop making games, you’ll most likely stop as well, because your energy came from an external source via motivation, instead an internal source via inspiration.
You need to dig deep, look inside yourself, and find out what exactly you want to accomplish when making a game.
And, again, there are no right or wrong answers.
Once you have found your inspiration, you need to keep feeding it with motivation.
To reiterate, motivation is an external force that compels you to do something, so use it.
You can find motivation from anywhere, but here are a few things.
You can find them with family and friends, travel, books, nature, history, and of course money.
Family and money are unique because they can act as both a source of inspiration and motivation.
Another source for feeding inspiration with motivation is looking into the past.
This starts with your past.
Your personal past, your families past, your countries past, the past of humanity, past of the earth, and lastly the universe.
A lot of sources to investigate for sources of motivation to feed your inspiration.
For me, it’s the nighttime stars.
Something about it truly moves me.
It’s
like, that one specific star I see up in the nighttime sky, there may have been a human a century ago that saw the exact same star I’m looking at.
For me that’s a source of motivation, not a strong one, but it helps relax me during moments of stress.
The Lion King touched on that as a motivation for the main character as well, FYI.
Next up is a dream journal.
Now dreams are the gateway to our soul and the very core of who we are.
Dreams can show us what our unconscious mind is thinking of.
In a sense, it’s a vision to our desires, passions, and fears.
I recommend keeping a dream journal with you.
Dreams are vivid when you get them, but easily forgettable within the first few minutes.
As a matter of fact, sometimes inspiration hits you out of the left field when you are awake.
Because of that I also recommend keeping it on you when you are awake as well.
Ok, homework time.
It’s very simple, all you must do is answer this question.
Why do you want to make games?
It’s a very important question to answer, especially if you want to get into game development.
Think very carefully, and don’t lie to yourself.
It’s ok if it takes you a while to come up with that answer.
The answer will show you what you may need to learn, and what you may need to prepare for.
Well, that’s all I have for you in this episode.
Thank you for joining me.
Thank you for liking and subscribing to my channel.
I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.
Have an amazing day.
