With your project, are you self motivated from start to finish?

I have never worked with any project really. I only recently had some plans on one. But, the truth to be said; I need more people to work on it. Otherwise, if it's just me, it's not going to happen since I cant get myself to it just like that.

Third option, having people following is a way to gain motivation, but even then motivation tends to wane. It's an ebb and flow situation, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's no where in sight.

I've written stories, but basically it's the same thing... -.-

My vote goes to 3rd option! I started many projects with 3DsMAX, Sanny builder (for cleo3 codding), google sketchup, but failed after while. I always give up or get bored after some time xD

Vietnam Glory Obscured has been going for 6 years and I've been there for 5, and while enthusiasm for it goes up and down in waves we're still here, still working on it and still pushing for a 2010 release. :)

Might have been done quicker if there was more than three of us...

I admit that tthe folowers are exential for the progress of a mod and many mods came back from the death because a huge number of fan, like C&C Battlefield 2142

It really helps if you're working on a project with at least a few people who are as passionate about the project as you are. Going at a project alone can be very difficult. It's easy to get distracted if you are just self-motivated. I give props to any lone modders/indie game devs out there. You know who you are.

Well i don't work on anything right now but if i were to work on a mod or indie game i would finish it if i can for me or if i have people following i will try harder to finish it for them! :)

Sometimes I can finish stuff by myself. But in the case I start to lose motivation, positive feedback helps a lot.

If I had not the will to sit this through 'til the end the project would not exist anymore as finding dedicated people is very difficult. So option two is the way to go if one wants to get it done. But this doesn't mean help would not hurt. Projects need option 2 to begin with and go 'til the end but without option 1 it can't fully take off (in terms of quality and time used to build it).

This is probably one of the things I struggle with the most. Starting strong then not doing anything.

What's the point of something that nobody else, except you, your family and close friends, needs? (Read: What's the point of a product that can't be sold?)
Even if I don't get money for any project - I wouldn't enjoy it alot if I sit in my room with a closed door and window and simply look/play/listen to my own project that isn't needed to anyone else.
I live to make other people happy, that enjoys me. I want my products to be useful to other guys all around the world.
Hope you got the idea, so Answer #1!

Third option. I've always wanted to make a good SDK map, but when i get into it usually ill stop and get caught up in doing something else and completely forget about the map.

I start new maps pretty often. The problem is I'm motivated as long as I stay active with it so a few bad days at school or a ton of homework and I end up grinding to a halt. Sadly this happens with everything else as well as maps including reading books and stuff like learning the guitar.
Option 3 if you couldn't guess.

in the beginning: YESS I CAN DO IT!!
after a while..: meh i cant do it... =_=

For me it's the third option. I have great ideas but then getting all the way through mod and coming up with more ideas can be very challenging.

I usually stop on some mini projects due to that I make it to complex then what it needs to be. Or I get a new idea.

It can be very hard to stay motivated with all the awesome games and mods there are out there to play instead. Gotta focus on joining the ranks of those awesome games and mods instead of just watching them as they parade by.

Start to finish,... however long it takes... by myself...

I always begin strong but then fade away...

I always aim to finish what I start...but finishing usually takes a very long time with sporadic bursts of progress. If I don't finish something, I'll turn it into something else!

Yeah, I like to finish what I start, but at some point you may not have an option. If you're working on a, let's say, total conversion, and you're the one in charge of the coding and the ones responsible of modelling drop out, there isn't much you can do for the project at that point...

But in my experience projects don't start strong and then fade out, they... fluctuate. They may be started by one person, then pick half a dozen in the way and finally continue to be carried out by two or three people (like the one I'm working now).

The most of time i tend to stay quiet motivated. Often i do loose concentration but normally after a week chilling i get back on with work.

i've started more projects than i can count. the closest one to being finished i deleted on a whim.

i sorely regret it. :/

I used to get 1/3 of the way done with a map and just give up. I found that after finishing your first few projects it gets easier and easier to motivate yourself.

Recently I've been thinking of a mod that takes place in the Half-Life 2 universe, instead of a city it will take place in the rundown suburbs. I feel like this is the project that I really want to do and will finish for once in a long time.

I start motivated but i just get bored and stop. Thats why i have no mods

I worked on my project once, which i started in august 2009 and then i almost got distracted alot and its now dead.

I'm quite self motivated, i would do it all alone if i could, but i can't.
So im pretty glad that Robo , dlpnd and tacef stayed in the mod since the start.

When I first started on ZP:S there were some interested yet unmotivated developers at hand. Our community from the original ZP1 mod was small to begin with but with it being 2 years from the release of ZP1 and a year after our last patch the community had dwindled. I immediately thanked the developers who were there for their time and began from scratch. Frikazoyd had offered to help and I immediately jumped on that opportunity. Then I spent the next year and a half hiring/firing developers until a more solid team formed. There were many times when I felt as if I were wasting my time but then I'd just have a smoke and return to work. Because of the many unfinished works on ZPS I was forced to learn damn near every position on the team to finish them but it helped that I also got started modding nearly 15 years ago. I voted "I want to play this game and i'll finish it myself if I have to" because that's exactly how I felt and how things got done for the most part. But truth is... Without Frika, Killah, Marks, and a few other key members I'm not sure ZPS would have been released (even though I'd like to think different) but am absolutely sure that it would not have released end of 2007 like promised or that it would have done anywhere near as well as it has. Finally have to thank the original founders of Zombie Panic Twilight and Rhone for it was their work on ZP that caught my attention and it was their original design (that was borrowed by many a mods/games which I think they should be flattered) that really got things going.

im not very motivated with hl2 stuff, but if its 2d and indie
(are there even any non indie 2d games worth playing?)
i will usually see a mod thru to the end.
just so i can see how my hack at gameplay turns out

Started out strong, got a team to help me, but I'm a little distracted atm. Hope it will not take long to get back.

I have a great project but am now blocked by the lack of a programmer. Just like any other project.

I get an idea when nothing is going on, start, and then I get crazy busy and don't have time to work on it.

Here's a tip guys, when you guys want to get a project done, make a to-do list (my bad if this idea's already among the comments)
Checklists WORKS!

Get some free ebooks friend :)

@ SPTX