How To Deal With Creative Burnout

I know I would of love to have seen a working coal breaker in action. It must of been something to see. Not so much for the men working inside, but for us nostalgic rail fans it would be like heaven. I'd also like to of seen a working rail yard of the same time period, especially one with a busy hump yard. I would probably sit there all day watching that. To me that is real railroading!
 
Switching between content creation, working on prototypical parts of a route (I have four large, detailed routes that I don't think I'll ever finish. Columbus, Oh, a winter route based on rural ohio, a Pacific Northeastern route based on Tacoma and my current project, a route based around Kentucky and Madison, Indiana)and working on "fantasy" parts of the routes (my favorite and I almost always draw inspiration from another area I like). I find different seasons inspire me to work on the different routes and create different content though I am trying to force myself to stick to one route and maybe get to the point when I can actually, ya know, "play" the game.
 
Switching between content creation, working on prototypical parts of a route (I have four large, detailed routes that I don't think I'll ever finish. Columbus, Oh, a winter route based on rural ohio, a Pacific Northeastern route based on Tacoma and my current project, a route based around Kentucky and Madison, Indiana)and working on "fantasy" parts of the routes (my favorite and I almost always draw inspiration from another area I like). I find different seasons inspire me to work on the different routes and create different content though I am trying to force myself to stick to one route and maybe get to the point when I can actually, ya know, "play" the game.

I'm curious, what generally gets you interested in a certain project? Also didn't you release some finished routes or am I thinking of somebody else?
 
I too am a sufferer of creative burnout. I've had projects go on for years with nothing to show for them because I hit that brick wall and spend hours in surveyor doing nothing.

I usually load up an existing route, usually one by someone else, and run some trains with no particular goal in mind, just to have some fun. Lately I've been revisiting TRS2006 and playing on the classic Marias Pass (and some Marias Pass X in TRS19), and that's given me quite a bit of inspiration. Maybe a branch line, like the Kalispell branch? Maybe an industrial module based off CFAC? Maybe a large scale intermodal facility based off that intermodal hub in Shelby? Sometimes, I find myself creating custom sessions in Marias Pass that helps me come up ideas for routes of my own.

Sometimes, if I'm looking for inspiration or ideas, I look at some railfanning videos on the interwebz, especially those that get real deep in the nitty gritty and show little details that are often missed in typical videos, or those that focus on yard or industrial operations. I recommend videos by Danny Harmon (Distant Signal on Youtube). Lately he's been doing a series on CSX in the 90's.

One of my big projects right now is a recreation of a real world shortline railroad. The Blackwell Northern Gateway from Wellington, Kansas to Blackwell, Oklahoma. Trackwork, roads, and basic textures are done, towns are mostly laid out, but for scenery I've hid a roadblock. I've found inspiration for the route in the past by driving down to that area, be it on it's own research trip or on the way to or from Oklahoma City or Tulsa, and checking out some of the area that is being modeled for features that don't show well (or at all) on Google, and letting me see some of the tracks, roads, and towns from a ground perspective when Street View lets me down on those back roads. I know this method of finding inspiration isn't always possible if the stuff being modeled is too far away or no longer exists, but I've found it helps if possible.

Hope you get your inspiration back soon, because I'm also here to find more inspiration methods.

Matt
 
I think I may be suffering it right now to be honest. I'm too much of a perfectionist so when I have something like real heights to plot, I find it difficult to remain focused. Lots of stuff going around in the real world makes me feel like I'm missing out on something. Never had the real following I had back in the Run8 days. Still I do feel I'm with the right sim and community.

Instead I spend time with my son on weekends taking videos of the line and trying to see the grades. That is where I'm focused on the most right now and it's not that much fun, but important before I get too far ahead.

Thanks

Sean
 
I think I may be suffering it right now to be honest. I'm too much of a perfectionist so when I have something like real heights to plot, I find it difficult to remain focused. Lots of stuff going around in the real world makes me feel like I'm missing out on something.

You would think that this would be a perfect time to work on Trainz but that's not so. There is a lot of people on edge for various reasons. I can sure understand the perfectionist part...I didn't realize it so much when I first started creating, but I sure do now!

I guess for many out there they need to ask themselves is Trainz or railroad sims a hobby or a causal past time? I always thought of it as a full blown hobby. That is why I spent so much time learning how to make content. Later however, I can't help but question that. I think to myself "am I really doing this for myself or for others? " I also ask "is the effort I put into this really worth it?" I never really get the answers to either question. One thing that I do know that I enjoy is working in Blender and making the models.
 
You would think that this would be a perfect time to work on Trainz but that's not so. There is a lot of people on edge for various reasons. I can sure understand the perfectionist part...I didn't realize it so much when I first started creating, but I sure do now!

I guess for many out there they need to ask themselves is Trainz or railroad sims a hobby or a causal past time? I always thought of it as a full blown hobby. That is why I spent so much time learning how to make content. Later however, I can't help but question that. I think to myself "am I really doing this for myself or for others? " I also ask "is the effort I put into this really worth it?" I never really get the answers to either question. One thing that I do know that I enjoy is working in Blender and making the models.

Its best if you have a collaborator as you have someone else who also has an interest in your route or needs to know about it in order to progress. I've been fortunate to have people who will make stuff for me so far, Ben Dorsey and Paul Gorski. Ben was always up for something to build as that's pretty much all he did , make 3d models, knowing that I had to do the research and draw up plans for him or he might have nothing to do with his time forced me to keep on task.
I find I get discouraged if i don't get feedback, even if its negative its better than getting no response , I'd like to be able to talk to others about the Uintah, but I realize that is MY unfortunate obsession and very few other people have that level of interest. It probably helps if you work on the more popular routes , ones that have a lot of variety ( this is why fantasy/freelance lines are good as you can put almost anything you want in them within reason) as its familiar to many people and you can use rolling stock from all over the country , even locos from other lines if they share track rights ,whereas a niche subject like an abandoned 1920s narrow gauge is going to get far less feedback than a modern mainline route that hundreds are interested in as the former is highly limited to what stock can be run and assets are hard to find .

So my advice is, offer to make stuff for others for a while and accept work that has plans and measurements and are things you want to make, let somebody else do the research for you .
Lack of feedback is, for me, a big drag, one reason I miss guys like Norm Hart as he always appreciated any effort by anyone , seeing ones work in use by others is a big plus , Dave Snow was very discouraged when he released his Alma Valley line and got virtually no feedback, it feels like one has dropped the work into a void, no way to know whether its being used or not, or what was wrong with it .That's why I try to go round and praise stuff when I can , as I am sure that its disheartening for others to put work up and get nothing back, its of course not to be expected that one has to get any feedback, we all have busy lives, but from my perspective I find it helpful as it makes me feel like its worth continuing with a route.
 
So my advice is, offer to make stuff for others for a while and accept work that has plans and measurements and are things you want to make, let somebody else do the research for you .
Lack of feedback is, for me, a big drag, one reason I miss guys like Norm Hart as he always appreciated any effort by anyone , seeing ones work in use by others is a big plus , Dave Snow was very discouraged when he released his Alma Valley line and got virtually no feedback, it feels like one has dropped the work into a void, no way to know whether its being used or not, or what was wrong with it .That's why I try to go round and praise stuff when I can , as I am sure that its disheartening for others to put work up and get nothing back, its of course not to be expected that one has to get any feedback, we all have busy lives, but from my perspective I find it helpful as it makes me feel like its worth continuing with a route.

What you are saying is 100% correct, however if you go through all my content on the download station you will find many items I created for other people. So that is a path that I have been down already. It kind of got to the point were I was helping everybody else but nobody was never there to help me, so I stopped doing requests... it was becoming a little too overwhelming. I also came up with the idea of working on a more popular route...The Lehigh Valley Snake Path and The D&LW Bloomsburg Branch were two of the ideas I had. Neither got very far due to the research I knew I would have to put into them. Finding others that share an interest is something I would love to find, it just never happened. The very few that did have interest on what I was working on didn't have the skill set necessary to help me out. To find somebody that has interest in what you are doing and is a content creator is like hitting a million dollar jackpot. It very rare indeed.
Lack of feedback is a super buzzkill! However I'm as much to blame for that as everybody else. I don't often offer my opinions like I should. Maybe that something we should all try a little harder at.
 
1 Have multiple hobbies, interests and pastimes. Cycle through them in a periodic fashion. Include some physically demanding as well as mentally demanding stuff.

2 Set high but achievable standards; avoid perfectionism for the mental plague that it is. Trying to copy reality in software is bound to fail as only reality can be reality. Its arts & crafts we're doing, not trying to be a small god.

3 Form creative partnerships as well as obligations to others to make things, to avoid disappearing up your own compulsive obsessions. :)

4 Regard errors, dead-ends and other "failures" as valuable lessons. All creation goes via an evolution that tries and discards the unfit as a means to get to the fit (or fitter).

These have all been said above so that's just a summary of the things I do to avoid the black dog of what you call "burn-out".

Lataxe
 
You know I wonder if what I consider inspiration in awesome screenshots is actually setting too high of expectations? There was once a time where I said I could run a model railroad on plywood only provided the operation made sense.

For me elevation in DEM vs the real world has been the stumbling block. I need to simply get the best estimate and go with it. Until I have the track down where I like it, and the roadbed set I won't be able to move on at my own pace. Once I have the track down where I want then I can add the scenery and do other things at my own pace but still have fun operating.

I have to stop live streaming everything I do as well. That's only putting added pressure on me to do something entertaining.

Thanks

Sean
 
You know I wonder if what I consider inspiration in awesome screenshots is actually setting too high of expectations? There was once a time where I said I could run a model railroad on plywood only provided the operation made sense.

For me elevation in DEM vs the real world has been the stumbling block. I need to simply get the best estimate and go with it. Until I have the track down where I like it, and the roadbed set I won't be able to move on at my own pace. Once I have the track down where I want then I can add the scenery and do other things at my own pace but still have fun operating.

I found that the DEM data never really matches up perfectly with the Google Earth data. It usually calls for a + or - 3 or so meters from what the Google Earth is telling me. From there I just eye it up manually. In my project, most of the track has been long gone for decades, all I had to go by was the elevation of the known grade crossings!
 
i usually just play the game a bit, mess around, refresh, etc. ive stepped away for about 6 weeks was my record while resetting and ive been less active with making stuff recently as i too am going through a block. Even just going out and railfanning feels good.
 
Yeah I'm taking personal video from all the grade crossings and zooming further down the track than what you would get in Google Mobile images.

Again once I have decided and the tracks are at the final position then I can get to operating a bit which is a motivator as well. It's just a long grind to get to that point.

Thanks

Sean
 
I'd sure hate to have all these modeling skills I learned over the years lost or forgotten. Let's say from one creator to another... what would your suggest be on what I should do?

I know your pain, I've built some monster routes over the years. My personal recommendation to stave off burnout when routebuilding is to set a linear distance for each day's progress that is sustainable for you. For example, when I was building my long Pilbara Iron route, I did about 10-15km (6-9 miles) of work each day, whether it was tracklaying, trackside stuff, or scenery work. When the day's goal was reached, I walked away and did other things for the rest of the day. I found that by using this strategy I was actually looking forward to working on the next 10km section when I got to it the next day.

Each routebuilder is different of course - your limit might be 1 mile per day or 20 - as long as you are consistent your route will progress well.

Maybe such a strategy will work for you.
 
I know your pain, I've built some monster routes over the years. My personal recommendation to stave off burnout when routebuilding is to set a linear distance for each day's progress that is sustainable for you. For example, when I was building my long Pilbara Iron route, I did about 10-15km (6-9 miles) of work each day, whether it was tracklaying, trackside stuff, or scenery work. When the day's goal was reached, I walked away and did other things for the rest of the day. I found that by using this strategy I was actually looking forward to working on the next 10km section when I got to it the next day.

Each routebuilder is different of course - your limit might be 1 mile per day or 20 - as long as you are consistent your route will progress well.

Maybe such a strategy will work for you.


Funny, I just announced something similar just a few minutes ago...
https://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?160303-New-BDW-Content/page5
 
I like the idea of setting small limits. I think for me it's more procrastination than burn out. There are some things about route building for example that is fun and other things tedious and boring.

Doing live streaming is probably my own worst enemy. I don't waste time doing editing etc. so at least I'm not that perfect when it comes to my youtube channel. But I know there are days I get lots of accomplished where others is like a writer's block.

Oddly enough my son has the same issues with his Trainz creations. Except he is not live streaming it, and just get to that block phase. I like some of the suggestions I see here. Taking is in shorter bursts, and colabroation I think are two ideas both of us are thinking about doing.

Now he has downloaded quite a bit in his spare time as a typical 12 year old. If I share him a package of my route as a backup to allow him to continue, I can see installing the package on my end may wind up taking a long time to download of the DLS :) I guess it's just a matter of taking things slow and keeping within limits. Perhaps dealing with 1 asset at a time in various locations might be a plan.

Thanks

Sean
 
I like the idea of setting small limits.

Thanks

Sean


And it is strangely satisfying to finish the designated section for the day, then roam around for a minute or two admiring your handiwork. And you get into a rhythm - I found that if I missed a day because of something boring (like going to work for example) it was tempting to do a double portion the next day to catch up ! So the jedi mind-trick is that your brain starts to want the project to proceed at the determined pace, rather than fighting burnout by doing too much. That's how it goes for me anyway.

And when you finish a major section's track/infrastructure/scenery, the test drive to see how everything came together is very satisfying, as you get to do something different for the day, even if you notice a few little things you need to modify. This also helps keep burnout at bay.

I hope it works out for you and your young'un !

A71
 
I'm curious, what generally gets you interested in a certain project? Also didn't you release some finished routes or am I thinking of somebody else?

Usually I like to model areas I grew up around or that have some significance to when I was a kid. I tend to stick to NS and Conrail stuff in Ohio but the relatively flat terrain here can get boring so I like to do Appalachian based stuff too. Aside from that I find the Pacific NW to be stunning though I much prefer east coast and eastern midwest railroading. I haven't released any routes, just content.
 
Yeah A71 I agree, and have had some success in that. Unfortunately my memory is not the greatest so when I am distracted away from it, the more I'm away the more I forget how good it is. But I'll have to try that again for sure.

As for the last post I also do my home area right now because I have as much data and personal observations I can obtain. Grade charts and engineering diagrams is probably all that I'm missing at this point other than blueprints of local buildings :) But there is more than enough data for me.

Again elevation and grade are hardest to determine.

BTW sorry to ask again, someone mentioned Google Earth and DEM being off by + - 3 M. What is more reliable when it comes to the grade crossings elevation? I'm hoping it's Google only because then I can at least determine an approximate grade by observations. I notice that the roads do increase towards the grade at the rates I expect in Google. I believe the best I have is 10M dem but often is not enough to be fully accurate with the roads and roadbeds.

Thanks

Sean
 
I am looking for some folks to start my project up again. I'm looking to start a group of 4 or 5 and work in small sections of the Laurel Line Route. The Laurel Line is a project I've been researching for well over a decade now...lots of info! The Laurel Line is a 19 mile Interurban railroad that ran between Scranton PA to Wilkes-Barre Pa. I'm modeling it around the 1950 era. I'm hoping that with a group of people working on small sections at a time the project won't get stale and create the all mighty "Creative Burnout". I'd like to make this in TS2019 or Tane...this can be decided by the group when formed. After giving some thought I have broken down the positions in the group as followed...

1. Lead Person (Me)- I'll do the track works, build the models, coordinate work flow, release the route versions.
2. Scenery Person-Background scenery, research
3. Texture Person-Add ground textures, Trees, plants and bodies of water.
4. Scenario Person-Make scenarios, work with rolling stock, add interactive passenger and industry service.
5. Modeler Person-Help Making scenery and historical models.

I need positions 2, 3, 4 filled before I can officially start.
All reference material will be shared between group members through my Dropbox folder.
Freight Motors and Trolleys are already done thanks to Pweiser.
Around 85% to 90% of the Laurel Line infrastructure has been modeled. Many items may just need small update if anything.
There are plenty of historical models yet needed to be built...mostly other railroad content DL&W, LV, Erie, CNJ and PRR.

If you want to work in a friendly group on a Trainz project and one of these positions fill your expertise, then please PM me let me know what you are interested in. Also feel free to PM with any question you may have. I usually have s quick turn around in answering time.
 
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