We spent ages tweaking things, getting things to play right and appear right. Then the feature creep stepped in, took off its hat and said: "Hello fellows, I'm here to mess you up." And mess us up it did. This by far is the biggest problem throughout development. I'm not blaming it directly, I'm blaming our design document (or lack of) directly. Plus I'm blaming myself. I would come up with an idea, code it and like it. Then I'd get bored, come up with another idea, code it and like it. I came to realise that I liked the challenge of writing things more than the result. This meant the project became more an exercise in willpower. I had to stick to the idea we planned and not attempt to augment it. It took me years of part time work to realise that if I didn't stop adding things it'd never get finished.

5. Were there times that you just walked away from development and/or wanted to just stop all together and move on to something else?

When I got home after work the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck into the game. I felt it was building in pressure everday. I felt like all our work was on the line and if I didn't get it done I was going to waste it away. When I talked to Mic I felt like I was letting him down and went straight to work on it. And then I would stop again. Then I'd get stressed and think, just like you would when you're at the gym, "why am I doing this to myself?" Then, as if in reply, I'd hear from myself, "But you promised yourself you'd finish this one." That alone kept me going. The coding side of the game was a pleasure to begin with. I love to code. The graphics were also fun for Mic too but towards the end I started to dislike the game and anything related to it. It was like a metaphorical ball and chain. I began to resent it for making me work on it.

By now you're thinking "If it was so bad, why didn't you just quit?" I did quit. Quite a few times, but every so often I get a tinge of guilt, kick the feature creep in its testicles and get down to it. I started to respect the game more as it overcame its roadblocks. Pieces started to fall into place, gameplay ideas started to become gameplay and towards the end I actually started to enjoy writing it. So the short answer is yes, it's extremely easy to leave something and move onto something else. It's even fun to do that, but it doesn't get things finished. Unfinished games can't be sold - with the exception of Frontier: First Encounters. ;)

6. Since you didn't walk away from this project, what kept you motivated to finish?

I might have mentioned this above, but motivation isn't really how I'd define it. Pressure and willpower did it all. When I first started I thought it would be fun and challenging. It taught me much about myself and how I handle work. Apparently, the results are in: we're human after all. They always say that the last part of a project is the hardest. The hardest you say? I'd go as far as to say the last part *is* the project.