I get that feeling a lot.

I have grand ideas for making games, and I assemble a team, and start working - and three times so far my team has flaked out on me and left me holding the ball to do 5x as much work as I could. Other people never care about my projects the same way I do, so they don't make them a priority, they get pushed onto the backburner and then thrown out all together.

If you want to do these things, then just do them! Plan something you can realistically do alone - and make it small enough that you can achieve it. You'll learn how to do the things you want to do, and when you have experience you might be able to join a professional project or something among other people who know what they're doing.

Don't rely on others to get you where you want to go.

I'm not going to give you the advice you want.

because you see, i spent about 20 years of my life thinking word for word what you just said. and you know what? 'partners' never materialized.

'course i did end up making 2 small video games, composing some music, and doing some other such projects all by myself.

if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. don't waste your time looking for people who will probably never appear. If you want to do something, take steps to do it.

this is how:

1.make a plan.
2.get advice.
3.edit plan.
4.execute edited plan.
5.if plan doesn't work, make a theory why. make a new plan based on this theory.
6.return to step 2.
7. if plan does work, success! move on to the next goal.

example plan:
1.get a book from the library on computer programing
2.read the book and do everything it suggests.
3.practice what you have learned by making a simple video game.

then, ask deviantart or another community: is my plan good?
for pretense, say deviantart replies: yes it is a good plan, but you should probably try reading two books at once, because some of them are over technical and others are oversimplistic.

edited example plan:
1. get two books from the library on computer programming, one simple and one complex
2. read both books and work through both of them alternatingly
3. practice what you have learned by making a simple video game.

Then, execute the plan.

pretend results: I got the books, but I got bored with both of them about a quarter of the way through. plan fail.

make a theory as to why you failed. be positive in this theory. don't say "its because I dont have a partner."

pretend theory: I don't have enough attention span to learn programming this way. I need to find another way to learn programming, that involves less books!

edited plan:
1.find some websites which contain simple programs which i can copy and paste and therefore learn from.
2.develop and make a very simple game based on these programs

ETC.

I'm putting this whole system forward because I hope that it will allow you to discover quicker what I discovered in many years. extreme innovation can be a substitute for a mentor. not a great substitute, but a substitute.

hope it works.

P.S. Oh by the way, when you have developed real skills and abilities, and have finished projects of your own, you will be at the point that you can go on the internet and find internet-partners for your projects. but not before! nobody will want to work with an unskilled person, and if they did, you would probably fall short in your part.

I live in a really rural area so when I'm not at school I feel the seclusion. It's really hard to make friends over the internet that are close enough to do that with but if you take classes for something locally you might be able to make some friends who share your interests. I wish you luck!

Have you tried to see if there are any events going on in your area that might pertain to your particular interest? I understand though that being out of school makes that difficult. I've been out of college for awhile now (didn't get to finish but hoping to go back.) However when I was going to school I was aiming for my AA in Video Game Production and Simulation. I know my way around MAYA pretty well if you have questions about that. Also it's always nice to make new friends .

If you want to find friends in real life, then it's best to find activities near you that interest you, so that you at least have a starting point.

I don't really have any advice on how to get friends, as I tend to be a loner myself, but I can directly help with one of your aspirations: I often work on games in my spare time. A natural hobby for a computer engineering student who also happens to be a gamer.

I can show you those ropes, if you want.

Good luck on ur endeavors
I too had faced a similar predicament
People changes, takes off in different direction

:/