I wrote something on the last page of a journal today, and decided to transcribe it here to my blog so I don’t forget it when I shove this notebook in a box in the basement. It feels like something I may need to remind myself later, and maybe something others might find helpful to hear too.
I have a problem, if you can call it that: I have very, very high standards for book design, information design, visual presentation. I know what I’m doing could be so much better, and I’m unwilling to compromise.
No matter that I literally cannot find “the perfect game” even by accomplished, professional designers, whose work I admire very much, that ticks every box for me. I feel like I should be able to achieve my perfect vision for my game as long as I’m my own boss. But realistically, it doesn’t work that way.
I can’t find the example of what I’m looking for out there not only because “perfect” doesn’t exist, but because my own version of it is a moving goalpost. Stuff I was really proud of months ago, or even stuff I was proud of yesterday, looks disappointing to me today. My standards don’t even necessarily get “higher.” My tastes just change. My criteria shift. What I want isn’t a fixed target.
The best I can do is literally the best I can do, and will always be necessarily a compromise. And that’s okay, as long as I can come to terms with it, and let myself call some things “done.”
Pretendo Games 