I've attempted to build a game engine in the past and eventually realized that was a lot more work than I would ever have time to finish. Went to college and started working fulltime as a software developer which ate up all my time. I eventually had some money saved up and just decided I would quit my job and focus on building a game in Unity3D. I managed to make a significant amount of progress and almost have a playable game, however, I ran out of money and had to start working again... SInce then I haven't had time or the drive to start working on the game again and it's just sitting there in its partially complete state collecting dust.
Has anyone been able to build a successful game while working a full-time job? If so, how did you do it?
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How can I ever have time to finish my game?
Any reason you can’t just work at home after working at work? That’s literally what I just stopped doing in order to write this post, and to what I will return when I am done with this post.
Go to work, program, make money, go home at night, work on your game or personal project. What’s the issue? I don’t just work on my personal projects, I also practice piano for at least an hour daily (and piano classes on Tuesdays) plus practice chess for at least an hour daily, chat, write forum posts, plan and design my manga as time presents itself, and all while making good progress on my code daily.
Really, I am not sure how this can be an issue.
L. Spiro
I second L.Spiro. I have plenty of free time after work and on weekends to work on hobby projects, play games, cycle, etc.
Some things (like cooking) have a limited time in which to complete the task, and if you take too long the thing is ruined. Thankfully software is not one of those things.
The last 2 commenters sound like folks without kids. (I joke, I kid.. sort of.. )
Their advice is generally not bad, but I hesitate to agree fully with them, because I don't know you or your circumstances. All I can say is this: to finish your game, you'll need to make time for it. That might mean sacrificing time spent doing other things. Only you really know what you have on your plate, and only you can decide how to schedule your time. Just make sure to balance it out (personal project, job, other hobbies, family/friends, whatever fits you). And DO NOT SACRIFICE YOUR HEALTH. Grind hard, but also get good sleep. If you're a gym type, then keep going to the gym.
Good luck, and keep it up!
I have kids.
Whew! These 2 running around the apartment, keeping me busy! Except for all that time I have for working on my projects, chess, drawing, piano, Cartoon Network, watching the news, nightly Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, showering, eating…
L. Spiro
2 hours ago, Nypyren said:I have plenty of free time after work and on weekends to work on hobby projects, play games, cycle, etc.
Lucky ! 
One great thing about time is, if you need some, you can take it.
Basically, a day has 24h, 7h-8h of them should be sleep. Assuming you sleep 8h, you still have 16h left. Now you have to work on a full-time job (like most of us do). I guess it may not take more than 12h a day to get there, work and get home. If I got it right, you now have like 4h left. -1h of overhead (cooking, eating, showering, etc) and you end up with 3h.
In addition, you might not work on weekends, so you basically got 16h on weekends. Summing that all up leads to 16*2+3*5 = 47h per week (calculate the amount you got for yourself; I am just assuming things here). 47h per week is more than a full-time job and there is no way anyone can tell that they do not have time. I use about 10-12h per week for developing games besides my full-time job. The rest is just doing other stuff.
So the problem may be your priorities and motivation. To get that right, you should lower the scope of your projects and maybe learn how to motivate yourself. Once you got a flow, it will be easy.
1 hour ago, LukasIrzl said:One great thing about time is, if you need some, you can take it.
Basically, a day has 24h, 7h-8h of them should be sleep. Assuming you sleep 8h, you still have 16h left. Now you have to work on a full-time job (like most of us do). I guess it may not take more than 12h a day to get there, work and get home. If I got it right, you now have like 4h left. -1h of overhead (cooking, eating, showering, etc) and you end up with 3h.
In addition, you might not work on weekends, so you basically got 16h on weekends. Summing that all up leads to 16*2+3*5 = 47h per week (calculate the amount you got for yourself; I am just assuming things here). 47h per week is more than a full-time job and there is no way anyone can tell that they do not have time. I use about 10-12h per week for developing games besides my full-time job. The rest is just doing other stuff.
So the problem may be your priorities and motivation. To get that right, you should lower the scope of your projects and maybe learn how to motivate yourself. Once you got a flow, it will be easy.
Now, say you have a wife and a child. You must spend at least 1 hour with your wife, and 1 hour with your son. So it remains 2 hours per work day. During the weekend, your wife and your kid expect more from you. So 8 hours remain for each. So 26 hours remain in total instead of 47
But from these 26 hours, you'll have to buy food, to put your kid to school, to sport, you'll have to deal about papers, you lost a bit time in the transport. And except if you have a robotic life, you would have spent the remaining time with work overtime, talking with colleagues, talking with friends, on the phone, roaming on the internet, resting a bit, reading a book, trying to touch your guitar again, going to the doctor, having a walk in the park nearby, or simply sitting on the sofa, watching something on TV, listening to music....
7 hours ago, L. Spiro said:I have kids.
Whew! These 2 running around the apartment, keeping me busy! Except for all that time I have for working on my projects, chess, drawing, piano, Cartoon Network, watching the news, nightly Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, showering, eating…
L. Spiro
Pictures like this really make me consider getting cats, even though it'd be pretty tough for me to manage...dammit @L. Spiro you're tempting me! 
But to actually add some advice, while I am not working on a game specifically, I do have side projects that I work on as I get time to do so (specifically I'm building an app, doing CG art that hopefully will become a 30 second short, writing a book etc.). Admittedly it can be very tough at times. But just try to find small amounts of time daily. Even if it's just 30 minutes. It's ok if you don't have oodles of abundant time, all it takes is a little bit, if not daily then every other day or so. Even a tiny bit adds up over time.
Best of luck in your endeavors!
