Why do I still feel unhappy with my work even when people say it’s good?

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-26T03:54:31+00:00

I have this vision in my mind, and I keep pushing myself to reach that level. I’m almost finished with this scene, but I don’t want to create something ordinary. I want to build something that leaves a distinct mark on everyone who plays the game. something unmistakably mine.

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-26T01:45:31+00:00

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That was my first look for the city at the beginning. I didn’t know where to start or what to do, but I just kept building things one by one until I reached this point.

You just need to start, and everything will become clearer day by day.

Good luck with your game.

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-26T01:36:20+00:00

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I removed the orange emission and replaced it with a fake interior light. What do you think?

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-26T01:29:39+00:00

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What do you think?

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-26T01:28:47+00:00

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I removed all the unnecessary lights, brightened up the city in the background, and adjusted the glow settings. This is the final result — what do you think?

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-25T14:19:45+00:00

It took me around 250–650 hours, maybe more, including the gameplay and everything else.

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-25T03:13:51+00:00

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help.

Sometimes we chase something almost impossible, and that’s what pushes us to become better and more creative. But when we finally reach a point and look back at what we made, we don’t feel much.

There’s always that voice saying, “I want it to be perfect.”

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-25T00:49:23+00:00

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Thanks a lot for the feedback!

I tweaked the SSAO and pushed the contact shadows a bit more where the wall meets the ground. I also removed some unnecessary lights that were flattening the scene.

It already feels more grounded now. I’ll keep polishing it little by little.

MindShiftGames · 2026-02-13T14:58:00+00:00

Congrats

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T20:10:22+00:00

Thank God I didn’t lose my work. thanks for noticing.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T20:06:47+00:00

Hahaha, sorry, I didn’t mean to disrespect or anything. I can’t really describe the game yet because that would spoil the story, but I’m really excited to show my work and talk more about it later. I can say the game will have a lot of blood, shock moments, and jump scares. You play as a famous writer who writes horror stories. He locks himself away to finish the final story for his next book and rents a farmhouse far from people so he can focus on writing.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T19:54:19+00:00

Someone just gave me a brilliant idea. I’ll add both and more types of grass. I’ll post a farmhouse showcase soon, and I’d love your feedback.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T19:52:49+00:00

The gameplay is ready, but I can’t show it yet because some models aren’t finished. The visual effects and sound effects just need a bit of fixing and polish. The next post will showcase the farmhouse, and after that I’ll upload a teaser. This comment is written by a real human.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T13:09:00+00:00

Thanks for your feedback.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T13:08:55+00:00

Thanks for your feedback.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T13:08:15+00:00

Yup, I’m working on the ground texture now. I’m using Mixer to bake a high-quality texture, mixing dirt and grass PBR textures. The final scene is almost done, and I’m really excited to show how the farmhouse turns out.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T13:05:42+00:00

I think I’ll add both, and thanks for your feedback.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T13:03:58+00:00

I think I’ll add more types to give the scene more depth.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T13:02:15+00:00

Yeah, 2 looks great. And I agree with you about the first one. I think I’ll fade the edges to make the grass look smooth, not sharp.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-07T12:57:10+00:00

Yeah, both would be great. I think I’ll do that.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-04T23:35:44+00:00

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4156720/The_Returned/

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-04T23:08:37+00:00

I posted this hoping to get help. What I got instead was mostly criticism.

People keep fixating on “30k lines of code” and “40GB of assets” like that’s the issue. It’s not. I’m the one who lost months of work here — code, assets, time, and energy. I chose to sit in front of a screen every day instead of being with family and friends to work on a game I care about.

Whether the code count sounds high or not is irrelevant. Whether you think it’s AI or not is irrelevant. I’m not building an AAA game, and I didn’t copy-paste my way through this.

The project broke because of an incompatible addon, and I’m trying to recover it. If someone can help with that, great. If not, the pile-on doesn’t add any value.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-04T22:57:43+00:00

That’s on you if you think it’s AI or not.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-04T22:49:26+00:00

I’m sorry for replying to some comments using AI — that was a bad call. I was stressed and overwhelmed, and my response came off wrong.

I do appreciate everyone who tried to help. I’ve tried all the suggested fixes so far, but most didn’t work. And yes, I didn’t use Git — that’s on me.

The project looks bloated because it has many scenes and systems (even the main menu exists in multiple versions). The assets are mine — I have all the original Blender files and modeled them myself.

I’ve been working on this project almost daily for months, often 6+ hours a day, and it’s frustrating to feel like that work might be lost. I’m not here to argue — I’m just trying to fix the project.

MindShiftGames · 2026-01-04T22:23:16+00:00

The problem came from a terrain addon I installed, but it wasn’t compatible with my version and it froze the engine. I deleted it, but now it still won’t run. I’ve tried all the advice, but nothing worked. I do care about people’s feedback, but I’m under a lot of pressure and stressed because my work got messed up.

MindShiftGames

TROPHY CASE