Man I've hit a wall in my game project. I've accomplished a huge amount, and nearly all the features are in place (although of course there is a ton of testing still to do). I am at the stage where I am putting a lot of my resources into upgrading all the art (mainly by hiring freelancers), and so I am feeling a loss of direction for what I should be doing to move things forward.

Of course there are dozens of things I could be doing... networking, growing the website, writing the story, testing, adding mobs, and so on. But I just feel a little paralyzed about it all. Its a strange feeling, and I am not sure if some of it is anxiety over making big decisions and choosing directions, or wanting to wait until I have more art, or having trouble prioritizing what I should be focusing on first...

I am feeling a loss of direction for what I should be doing to move things forward.

Make a list.

A nice long list of all the things that you want. All the things that would be useful. All the things that would be good, or awesome, or would accomplish your goals.

Then sort it by what is important to you. Often that ranking is based on topics like "must be present to succeed in marketplace", or "fun features" or "legal requirement" but it can also be other criteria as well.

Sorting the list can be hard. Many things sort easily, they naturally fall far down the list. Other items are much harder to sort, but do it anyway. Sometimes you might think some feature is so good that you have to have it even if you otherwise and justify it being up that high, that's okay, prioritize it anyway where you think it fits. Maybe you think building your website is more important than adding mobs. Maybe you think putting in consumable DLC items is more important than the glowing VFX around treasures. Decide what is most important for your own definition of success, and your sorting criteria will be different from other people's sorting criteria.

With the list sorted, pick the thing at the top and do something about it.

What Frob said, and make sure the topics on the list are not to abstract and described as a result instead of an action. So you can mark them done

Thank you, that's all great advice. When I come to some kind of ranking today, should I post it here?

I mean, do you think it will be useful or interesting to anybody?

I/ we'd be happy to give feedback if you post it.

I hit this wall every time. At the early stages, everything you're implementing tends to have huge, visual results. I usually gravitate toward the fun stuff. Eventually, with the large pieces in place, I find myself down to the difficult portions that have little payoff (but are very necessary). It's the proverbial broccoli on the plate (though, I personally love broccoli ).

In my limited experience, these days I try to balance the fun rewarding stuff with the tedious. Go back and forth depending on my motivation, rather than wait until I've run out of fun stuff to implement and find myself facing a wall of difficult tedium.

And, as others mentioned, lists :P This also makes it easier to keep an eye on how much of either type you're building up.

I am in the same situation. I have majority of the programming done and almost no finalized art. Basically I focussing on art so o can get my game to look right, now that functionality is there. At this point, it's just a matter of forcing myself to do what needs to be done. Since I kniw I want to release around the time schools get out for summer break, this is motivation enough for me.

Sometimes, when you hit a wall, you need a change of perspective / a break / however you want to call it.

That means stop working on your current project for a while (if you can afford that, if you are a fulltime Indie that might not be possible, maybe make sure that you don't do overtime for a certain period and use your free time for something different), and do something else.

1) start a new Mini Project that sounds fun. Make sure its something easy that you can finish. Maybe you can create a small mobile game that you might be able to sell?

2) switch priorities on your current project for some days, work on something that is not as important, but easier to achieve. Do something different, get a success story, while still progressing on your project.

3) Take some time off, relax, read a good book....

Often, you will return to your project and the topic you hit a wall on earlier refreshed, with new ideas and new energy. That might be just enough to push through the wall, or maybe you came up with an idea how to get around that wall while doing something else.

Helps me keep my sanity often. Baning your head against a wall for hours is even less productive than doing something else for some time. And in the end, the level of frustration is much lower that way.

I agree with Gian-Reto. If you can, stop for a bit. You don't want to burn out, as you'll delay the project even further and risk never coming back to it.

Personally i tend to have several projects on the go at any one time (some of these aren't even to do with programming or a computer!) and alternate between them. It means they take much longer to complete, but they do get finished without burning out.

How's the list going?