On the topic of priorities
Hi all, Sappy from Ditherbunny here (yes, I am the only dev, and I still picked a company name, because I am a pathetic man with grandeur delusions who knows what the future holds).
I have seen relatively often posts advising new developers on how to pick priorities. Work on your prototype first, focus on yojr vertical slice, ensure that systems are in place, get a demo, a trailer, etc. All rather good advice, especially if game dev is your way to earn bread. I would not dare tell you how to do your job.
However. For people like me. For those who come home from their daily job and invest two hours of their limited free time firing up their game engine of choice, trying to get their vision to life. For those who game dev as a side job, a passion project, a wish for the future. For you, whose deadlines are not as tight as the amount of time you have to invest, I would recommend, do what you want to do before what you need to do.
I have just spent three hours trying to get the Don Giovanni Ouverture to sound decently enough with a synthesizer to be my main menu theme. I don't even have a main menu. And it still sounds like crap because I am terrible at arranging. But I love that opera, and I loved trying to get the stupid MIDI file to sound good. I did not make any progress on my game code today, but I am feeling much better about the whole game than I did this morning. It was not as much of clear, straightforward improvement as I could have made if I spent that time writing state machines and pathfinding algorithms. But it made me FEEL good. And tomorrow I'll write the state machines and the pathfinding algorithms with a smile on my face.
So, if your lifeline is not relying on getting your game out soon, here is my appeal to not stress yourself to exhaustion on deadlines, prototypes, or vertical slices. Put some time aside to work on something you like. Game dev is a marathon, and as such you need to pace yourself and get some water and sugar every now and then.
Maybe spending a day on getting the goblin skin texture just right is not the most efficient use of your time, but if it makes you feel good, if it helps you take a break from worrying about mechanics, it will help you a lot more than pushing through the stress. If it reminds you why you chose game dev as a side project, if it makes you crack a smile every time those green bastards appear on screen with their beautiful skin, then it's a good use of your time.
Take care of yourselves, brothers, sisters, and siblings of all persuasions. Take some time to work on some sugar just for your sake. Remind yourselves of why you chose this route, before it devours you. Games are meant to bring joy. Don't let them rob you of yours.
Best of luck.