How do you stay motivated on large-scale projects?

The title pretty much says it all. I have the knowledge and skills to do very large projects, but about a week after I start it I get bored with it and start something else, which results in me having about 20 unfinished projects at any point in time. How do you all stay focused and motivated to finish a project?

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Hello!

When most developers are gathered to work on a large scaled project, they start to plan and create the game they desire. ( I just want to say that being unmotivated is normal in some cases, and most developers have been unmotivated at some point working with others, or theirselves )

One of the few ways you could stay motivated on a large scale project is if you’re personally interested in the genre/concept of the game yourself.

Example: You got hired with other developers to work on a game that you were always thinking of recreating in Roblox, or creating a game that is unique to the current Roblox games in the front page, and had always wanted to make this a reality.

Another way multiple people stay motivated/focused to complete a large scale project is the amount of robux/usd they would be rewarded when they complete their task. For large scaled projects, developers are usually rewarded big amounts of robux (??,???R$ - ???,???R$), and since they’re determined to work on a project to receive their amount of robux, the payment would motivate them to complete tasks.


If you are working by yourself on a large scaled project, it is definitely much more time consuming and requires a lot more hard work and dedication. Before starting any large scale project by yourself, I would try to gather a team using the #public-collaboration:public-recruitment section.

If you’re unable to gather a team on that section due to complications that you may encounter, one of the ways I would stay motivated on a large-scale project is to find other projects similar to mine and test them out, usually (for me anyways) I find inspiration in the other projects, and then proceed to continue with my project.

As I mentioned before, motivation isn’t always going to continue throughout your entire project if you’re working alone, or with others. Some may come in conflict with others when working, and people who work alone may find boredom in working on the project, and simply dump it, thus moving on to another project.

In conclusion, if you work alone, try to find some inspiration on other people’s project, and also work with others and communicate. Communicating and making friends with other developers can really set some inspiration into completing a project. Developing isn’t only about building with no communication, you can also have some fun and develop games at the same time. :smile:

And if you work with others, try to come up with some crazy ideas that might give your project a huge boost of motivation!

I hope you find a lot of motivation on your future work, and hopefully (if not) work with others to help find motivation and inspiration :slight_smile: (sorry for such a long post lol)

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If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right

Try to think about these words for a moment, maybe they will change your approach to big projects.

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It’s really hard to finish a large-scale project with motivation. When building, I often get distracted very easily. Luckily, there are a multiple methods I use to stay motivated:

  • Pretend like you’re going to release your build as a game, or you are going to sell the build, even if you aren’t
  • Inspiration from your favorite television show or novel can motivate you to do more
  • Expand your current build to something much bigger, and use new and innovative techniques and strategies

I’m actually creating Diagonally from Harry Potter, and I’m thinking of hiring a full-time scripter to program the game (I probably won’t because I’m on a short budget). I have been very motivated about this project.


Losing motivation is very common and normal; most projects I work on, I discard because I have no motivation.

If you’re working on a large-scale project, but you aren’t publishing, showing it to friends, or selling it, there really is no incentive, therefor you’ll lose motivation hastily.

I’m actually thinking of selling the Diagonally map, that’s also a motivation. :blush:

Receiving assistance and being able to develop on no time limit is (depending on the project) a privilege, and an incentive on its own.

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Unfortunately, the Robux-motivator doesn’t work for me because I dev for a group that I own. Right now I’m working on a map of NYC that is around 15-20 baseplates big and it’s just hard doing the repetitive stuff like making roads, sidewalks, etc.

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I just want to bring one idea here since there are a lot of things that may demotivate you from a project and many have been said by others.

Here is my point:
What we tend to do is take a break on a project when there is a problem we cannot fix or because we are too tired to face it. I think this isn’t a good idea because then, you will not have much excitement to work on that project the next day since you know you have this hard task left to do.

What you have to do is work a little bit but more often and try to take a break when everything is fine and you are inspired. This way, it is most likely that you will want to work on the task the next day. Don’t wait until you are exhausted because it will take you more time to recover and during that time, you may lose motivation.

It is like doing and expedition, if you want to last long, go slowly and take breaks because once you are tired you are done for while and you lose motivation.

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Hey Steve!

I’m glad you asked the question because it’s definitely one that destroys most developers. Let me tell you a couple ways to stay motivated.

  1. Breaking down the project into segments of work that you plan on finishing at the end of the week, then take a break on the weekend to refresh.
  1. Planning beforehand, a creation of a gray box model or a trello to dictate what you’re going to do will definitely give you a better understanding of how much progress you’re making. When we measure progress we can measure success.
  1. This one is more personal to me but I like to funnel into this “work” mode where I’m in the zone. This is achieved by closing the blinds, dimming the lights, turn on that lofi and not seeing the light of day until I’m done. ( Don’t make fun of me pls :c ) Environment is key.
  1. A lot of my friends like to talk and work in a voice channel or think tank whenever we’re in a team create to not only have fun but to motivate each other: ultimately keeping everyone of us accountable. Communication is key to large projects because you don’t want to have anyone in your group to feel undervalued or ignored.
  1. Finally, if the money doesn’t appeal to you try creating something you’re incredibly passionate about. This will make you more willing to open that team create each day.

Goodluck! Hope I helped!

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For me it’s developing a community / hype team early on in development. Getting friends in a hype channel or something like that can often feel very rewarding when you make progress on the project.

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Staying motivated on large-scale projects can be challenging indeed. A couple things I do to keep myself going on a project include working on small models first or taking breaks in between working on large models or repetitively having to place many small models and going back to working on either small models or another part of the map. A big thing that loses my motivation is having to place the same model hundreds of times (models such as trees or street lights). I usually work on placing them for a little while then switch it up and work on something else for the rest of that day then return to it later. Another suggestion that is helpful towards keeping motivation is to work on a project related towards something you’re interested in. If you’re interested in cars, build a game based on vehicles, if you’re interested in animals, build a game based off animals. Doesn’t matter what you make as long as you’re interested in it, makes you happy and keeps your motivation up. A happy developer is a motivated one.

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I’ve had a similar issue and honestly as much as I hate to admit this… I’ve given in. Not fully to where I’d resort to a simulator or obvious cash grab yet in comparison to my original concept it’s less complex, and production is more affordable.

However unlike my scenario, it seems as if you’ve overwhelmed yourself with complex tasks which unfortunately happens whenever you work alone rather than with a team. If however you’re doubting what you’re capable of I highly recommend you watch this.

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Maybe watch stuff like names on YouTube maybe, or follow tutorials, maybe get some friends to help you! :slight_smile:

Just saying, it’s a thread asking about staying motivated, not how to get help with building.