How to get a good Starting point in the field of Game Design
So i'm looking to peruse a career in Video game design and currently gonna be a senior in high school and want to know a good starting point for getting into it before going off to college.
#gamedesign #games #computer-science #computer-graphics #programming #game-design #design
3 answers
Ed’s Answer
First of all decide whether you're better at art or programming, as no one is going to let you be the designer on your first job. You should have a talent in one or the other. Unity is a good game engine that is available free until you make enough money that you have to pay them. Download a copy and watch tutorial videos on YouTube or Unity3d.com. See if you actually enjoy trying to put together some simple games from a tutorial.
Ed recommends the following next steps:
David’s Answer
Game design is a diverse field. Do you want to be an artist making models, or a programmer writing scripts? From your tags you seem more interested in the programming side of things. Computer Science would be a good fit. I actually took a Game Design class as one of my options courses. We learned to use Unity and how to write scripts, create objects, and build basic games. The class culminated in a project where we worked together to make a simple VR game!
You can get Unity for free and there are millions of tutorials on the internet. One of my favorite youtubers is a programmer who uses Unity to create games for competitions like Ludum Dare (where you have 72 hours to make a game). He is a great resource. I'd recommend trying to follow the tutorials and making some basic games yourself. In college, if you make a complex enough game it could be a really good addition to your resume.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/c/quill18creates/playlists
https://ldjam.com/
Sachin’s Answer
https://www.coursera.org/specializations/game-design and https://www.coursera.org/specializations/game-development
You can evaluate the courses for free - and get upgrade to a certification later if you like it. But what doing these courses would do, is give you a basic understanding of what game design/development actually is. Then you can better plan what you would like to do in the future.