does anybody have a day job?

rdcuberdcube Member Posts: 361
edited November -1 in Introductions
hi y'all,
I just wanted to know what y'all do for a living, if you're married, have kids, do you have a partner that is as 'tech savvy' as you, does anybody help you on your GS projects (design, coding, logic, etc), how do you manage to find the time to dedicate to GS and still fulfill your other priorities...for me family is very important and now I feel like I'm spending more time with GS...feels like cheating...or worst, with the twitter, facebook, researching and posting...it's becoming an addiction to be checking everything every single second =S

I guess like everyone if not all here, I would like to make the next big thing so I don't have to worry about money for a while, not to retire, quit my job or anything like that, I love what I do and GS is a great hobby...but...I'm not making any money right now (not even to cover GS or Apple license) and to be honest, I'm burning out...I'm only sleeping around 4hr a day...I'm seriously thinking about quitting all this :(

sorry y'all, I just wanted to vent a little...you don't have to reply if you don't want to ;~)

Comments

  • ChaserChaser Member Posts: 1,453
    You might want to search the get to know you post. But yes Fiber optic tech. I'm also an iPhone addict which is why I'm on here all the time. And a little OCD. I'm working right now
  • Player_EPlayer_E Member, PRO Posts: 604
    For our games its me and a friend. Although I do the majority of the work.

    I am a full time employee at a home security company as well as taking college courses full time.

    My friend takes full time college classes and works part time.

    yeah its draining especially when you have to decide whether or not to go out for the night, or stay in and work on a game. Maybe not as hard a choice for those of you not in college, but it boils down to either women or computers lol.

    Like T-shirt said dont quit altogether just take a break from it. in the middle of making my first game I was just sick of it and took about 2 weeks off and when I got back into it I cranked it out in no time. and now that I have showed my buddy that we can do it there is even more fire than before.

    Keep at it

    p.s. I choose women tonight over GS sorry :)
  • StormtrixStormtrix Member Posts: 256
    Nice Tshirt.. owning your shirt company.
    Yea, don't give up rdcube - just take a break..

    I myself am married with a 4yr old daughter, 11yr old son and work out of the house.
    I work for D-Link Systems as their southeast sales engineer for business products (network switches, wireless, surveillance cameras, storage, etc.) so, i travel the southeast - unfortunately i don't have a macbook pro yet and can only work on GS while at home on my iMac. Lately works been a little slow and so i've had few hours throughout the day to work on graphics and learning GS still. When kids goto bed i use to play WoW for a few hours a night, now it's playing with GS and finding graphics for 2-4hrs a night.. lol
    trying to make enough money from apps to pay off some bills and get a macbook pro.
    It just takes time - start with simple apps - I'm waiting for apple to approve my first app
    right now - very simple and when they do i'll shoot out some promo codes and see what ya think.

    Hang in there
    Storm
  • JamesZeppelinJamesZeppelin Member Posts: 1,927
    No just this
    not paying the bills but..... after working like a dog with 100+ hour weeks for a software startup that took off, i left my last job in a position to do what i want now.

    So between this and my two boys this is what i do :D
  • ChaserChaser Member Posts: 1,453
    I understand the cheating feeling. I put in about 30 minutes to 2 hours a day on GS. sleep about 5 and yes the wife is still waiting for the fruits of my labor. Small GS sessions do help me to think about what I'm making instead of rushing through a game and saying I should have done this or that. Take a break it really helps. Example. I have my latest Tropical totems sitting on my mac just waiting to be submitted tonight. Could have been late to work over it this morning but I had to stop myself.
  • rdcuberdcube Member Posts: 361
    yeah, I tried taking some time off during easter and I ended up spending the week creating 'crack and egg, find a bunny'.

    I think is hard for people like us to take time off...our mind is always running 24/7.

    I think I'm getting decent at using GS, so now my time goes on ideas, prototyping and since I'm not a graphic designer, I'm taking the time to learn how to draw on the computer.

    My first two games were experimental games to learn GS and release to the wild...no luck, only 4 sales :(

    'Franky's Fly Buffet' took longer because I dedicated more time on graphics and game play.

    I don't want to rush another game just because I can, you know? I want to create something that I'm proud of "quoting QS", and people really liking it...even if it's one that I can get an honest feedback that says, wow, that's is great...not wow, that is great...move on.

    I had already filled the 'get to know you post' ;)

    Thanks for the comments and support...I might quit temporarily, step aside and do something else...but definitely not giving up.
  • JamesZeppelinJamesZeppelin Member Posts: 1,927
    rdcube said:

    I think is hard for people like us to take time off...our mind is always running 24/7.

    Hit the nail on the head

    my suggestion is this......
    stop making games for a few weeks and only focus on marketing
    its just as important and there is a lot to learn

    after ipad launch i didnt open the editor for two weeks just to clear my head

    plus all the games in the world dont mean anything without a game plan
  • VmlwebVmlweb Member Posts: 427
    I wish I had more time for GameSalad
    School takes up most of my days
  • spaceneedlespaceneedle PRO Posts: 93
    You may want to come up with a set budget of time and involve your family in the decision. You may also want to try to involve your family in app building--that is if they are interested enough. Have them help come up with ideas, use them as test subjects .. maybe even let them try to build their own apps.

    GS is really a hobby of mine. I have a day job, wife and kids. I casually work on my off time on little projects and solicit their ideas. If it makes a little bit of money, great. I'd be flattered just having something in the app store to begin with.
  • ChaserChaser Member Posts: 1,453
    Good idea spaceneedle. I know my 6 year old boy loves working on GS and playing everybodys demos. I crack up when he starts telling me and mom I'm working on a platformer game.
  • StormyStudioStormyStudio United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
    Apologies for the below essay...got carried away...

    Evening, nice thread makes for a good read. See a lot of similarities out there.

    Me:
    28, work full time at a corporate video production company, doing animation and video editing. Not a bad job, 6 blokes, with Mac Pros in a little studio. But could always do with more money...and want to live the dream of moving to the big house by the sea, and want to be the one owning the cool studio...

    I became a first time father back in January this year. Started reading up about GS about a week before. Made a quick test game one evening, Penguin Rain, a simple web game. Then my wife went in to labour for a long 3 days (went on the forum via my phone) and we had our stunning daughter Phoebe.

    Over my two weeks of paternity leave, I made my first app, an hour a day here give or take. Contented Baby Sleep (Basically a sound board to aid baby sleep). That got accepted right away, I did one update and its still averaging 3 to 10 sales a day. So if it stays like that, then thats my GameSalad and Apple Developer costs covered at the very least.

    It was enough to spur me on to spending the last 3 months working every evening, for about 2 to 5 hours on my first game Quake Builder. Which I submitted on Wednesday. Its taken 3 months, tonight is the first night I've sat and watched a film without GameSalad or the forum sitting in front of me on my laptop....made it to the end of the film then I'm straight on here...definately addicted.

    Definately hit the wall on my game at one point, but a well timed week away down in Devon (UK), with lots of family time and friends, it forced me to step back for a while.

    I've learnt so much over the past 3 months on using GameSalad, and have so many ideas I want to put out there. Hopefully some won't take as long as 3 months.

    Right, my wife has gone out for the first night since the baby, so I'm 100% in charge....I need to go get a bottle ready for the monster.

    As everyone says, don't give up, it such a cool feeling knowing that just maybe the next thing you make might be enough to either get you a new mac book pro, a holiday, a car, a house or the chance to go full time doing something you love.

    Oh !@#$% 'Alexander' the film has just started....I know its rubbish but I'm gonna end up watching it...

    Night... Draper 3000...
  • KamazarKamazar Member Posts: 287
    Student here, but like anyone else with a full-time job, it takes up a LOT of time. Besides school (my parents are hell-bent on me doing really well, so they work hard to have me go to really nice school that expects a lot out of the students, and it keeps me busy. I've been up more than once working past midnight on a paper, without procrastinating), I do either swimming, crosscountry, or track after school, I can't stand being out of shape. Then there's the weekends when I chill with friends, guitar lessons, reading and writing for the heck of it, and then GS. I really wanna be able to do something I love as a career when I go to college, since there's so much I wanna do, and if I get a 9-5 desk job, besides going ape**** insane, I'll never have time to do anything.
  • JamesBoucherJamesBoucher Member Posts: 433
    I'm 46 and married 25 years with three kids. I graduated from Ball State University in 1988 in computer science. I've always been in software development. Currently senior web developer for a company that makes software for medical and surgery centers (That's my 40 hours a week job). Also do support on the side for three other companies and about 40 individuals. I just started doing Flash and .net websites for small businesses. I have six websites and four more to do over the next couple of months.

    I started making games for the Android phone a little over a year ago. Made some money with the Android games and bought a MAC mini. Been making apps for the iPone for about ten months using xCode. Signed up for GS in September and made three iPhone and one iPad game. Total games are 11 Android 12 iPhone and one iPad.

    I've been away from the GS forum for about a month. I started back in a couple of days ago. I will be making one more game then I will probably work on the websites and go back to making some more Android games. I know I've said this before in other post, but I make better money in the Android market than with the iPhone. I've made enough money to pay for my sons second year of college at Ball State. Back and fourth and back and fourth and...

    I would say if you like doing this (GS) then keep doing it. I think the key is to make something new and original. If you need to walk away for a little bit, then walk away. You really need to enjoy what you do, or what's the point.

    Wow,,, I may have rambled longer than draper3000.
  • StormyStudioStormyStudio United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
    JamesBoucher said:
    Wow,,, I may have rambled longer than draper3000.

    :-).... yeah....under in this new morning light...I definately rambled.. ah well...
  • jweaver911jweaver911 Member Posts: 439
    Hey everybody! I thought i would chime in as well. I haven't taken the time to introduce myself yet in the intro forum however. Anyhow, I'm 27 and live with my wife in western Colorado. We're expecting our first child in October. So I can relate a little to draper on here. :) I just started using gs about a month ago and Hope to finish my first childrens game in the next month. I currently work 40+ hours a week at a large print company here doing design and variable data printing.
    My next gs project is going to be for the iPad. I love this thing. :)

    And I'd like to add that Im very impressed with the camaraderie on these boards. Thanks for being so helpful!
  • butterbeanbutterbean Member Posts: 4,315
    @ Rdcube: I feel the same way as you do :) It's important to balance family life with gamesalad life with work life, with social life...

    I'm in a relationship and it's important to balance that along with doing game stuff.

    Getting anywhere with Gamesalad takes time, patience, and learning from past mistakes.

    The toughest thing though is to know when to place limits on yourself. It can be quite addicting trying to make games and apps, and I find myself in the middle of 4-5 different projects at once. On top of Twitter, facebook, T.A forums, and other sites, as well as checking your daily stats and sales, it can be very time consuming.

    I've had to place limits on myself recently and try not to go into the wee hours of the evening or cut into relationship time.

    Don't give up, keep making apps, find your niche in the app store, and you will start to make money :)
  • BarkBarkCoBarkBarkCo Member Posts: 1,400
    @Jweaver,

    Do you guys do any Direct Mail work? I work for a fairly large mailing software company that seems to be marketing to print shops a lot lately.

    Might as well post a bio... ;-)

    I'm 25. Married. Two sons; one is 2 years old, the other is 6 months. I live in "upstate" New York. I'm trainer/consultant for a company that makes software for printers/mailers seeking US postal discounts. I started using GS as a way till kill time while traveling for work, but I've noticed it creeping into any/most of my free time lately. Wife isn't too thrilled, but that'll change once I make my killer app...

    What is my killer app, you ask? I have no f'n clue yet*! ;-)

    *don't mention that to the wife...thaaaannks
  • jweaver911jweaver911 Member Posts: 439
    @bark haha.yeah we do direct mailing. That makes up about 98 percent of our variable printing! :) but Im not the guy in charge of picking software. Hehe. I'd say the logic involved in setting up the rules for the variable printing has helped immensely in my jumpstart into GS.
  • BarkBarkCoBarkBarkCo Member Posts: 1,400
    I figured, with the variable stuff. Any idea what software you use for presorting? I'm not trying to sell anything, it's just interesting to see someone in the same industry!

    re: logic, same here with working with all the Database software we run. I'm no programmer, but I understand the logic...
  • peachpellenpeachpellen Member Posts: 977
    For me, I switch between being self employed and unemployed - I have never had a "day job" as such; I have only ever made money online. I just think up some new little project when I need to pay a bill or the like.

    Luckily this leaves me with a good amount of free time for other projects, which now consist almost entirely of GameSalad.

    I balance my family life out by ensuring my partner and I watch movies once a week/fortnight and have drinks; the night usually lasts 12 odd hours, so it is a good chunk of time together :)
  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    Unfortunately the games company I work for has no work, and most of the studio is being made redundant.

    This is the second time in less than a year for the sheepy. Still, at least I'll have a bit of time on my hands :)

    I'm looking forward to at least a month of solid GS work - not something I could really do while employed - it's been like working two jobs! :D

    QS

    Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
    Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io

  • scorelessmusicscorelessmusic Member Posts: 565
    I have one business (software consultancy) and one occupation (scoreless music training). No points for guessing which one is the revenue stream and which one is my purpose for living. :)
  • beaudoin_nbeaudoin_n Member Posts: 184
    Hi all...

    So about me, I am 39... mother of 3 kids.. An a full time consultant (well 4 days a week now) as a business analyst in a telecom company.

    I don't spend enough time on GS or the forums these days, i am trying to juggle it all. We have a new dog, my daughter moved back in, and all the everyday routines...

    At first when i discovered this i was almost hooked to the forums and to the engine, but i encountered many problems with my app ideas and gamesalad that It made me reconsider.. maybe i should just go ahead and use XCode or even better Corona.. then there was the big debate with Apple's announcement (which i am still not clear about what will happen in June)..... So anyhow I am back here for a while, i decided to give GS another go with an app that has less logic involved and it is basically a tool rather than a game.

    So i may be hokked again, only time will tell ;)
  • rebumprebump Member Posts: 1,058
    @beau: What telecom company, if you don't mind answering? I worked for USWest/Qwest for a handful of years.
  • beaudoin_nbeaudoin_n Member Posts: 184
    Videotron
  • rebumprebump Member Posts: 1,058
    Similar beasts! I miss that job sometimes. It was pretty laid back and did some traveling.

    If you ever get into Corona (from another reply of yours on a different thread), let me know how you like it. I found that and GLBasic to be interesting alternatives to GS but without too much complexity (such as Unity and its brethren). Appcelerator and PhoneGap are cool for non-game apps but their current feature set is not too great for graphics stuff unless you go with the HTML5 canvas embed.
  • design219design219 Member Posts: 2,273
    Yes, I'm a graphic designer and photographer and have worked for the same firm for 21 years this month. I got into GS because of work (Food Fight! was made for a client) but I've gotten a little distracted by GS working on personal projects since that one (Tickle Stones was a personal project).

    I do have a family, son 8, daughter 11, and I have found myself a bit too distracted by GS. I've made myself walk away a few time for the very reasons you discuss. I really want to crank on my next idea, but I'm finding it hard to dedicate the time.

    _______________

    Tickle Stones http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tickle-stones/id363484260?mt=8
    Food Fight! (free) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/food-fight/id352646643?mt=8
  • rdcuberdcube Member Posts: 361
    wow, it seems that I'm not the only one with this thoughts...nice, I thought I was going crazy.

    I have completely stay away from GS, including the forum for about a week...I felt like a drug addict trying to peek every now and then...having the iphone so close to me was very tempting...I switched my wife's phone and only have temporarily send a couple of 'twits' on twitter.

    I have cleared my mind a bit, still out of ideas for what my next game will be, which to a degree is helping me cuz I'm not at GS a lot, but definitely not giving up and writing some concepts and concentrating at day job ;^)
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