3 answers
Savion
Student
Chandler, Arizona
7
Questions
Asked
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What are possible ways to become a good game designer/developer/game-creator?
Ways to become amazing game developer.
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3 answers
Sean Halliday
Software Developer
6
Answers
Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Updated
Sean’s Answer
Just like the world of cinema, the realm of video games is filled with diverse roles waiting for your unique touch. It's all about discovering your passion and seeing how it can contribute to the creation of thrilling games. While many aspire to pitch their own game ideas, similar to movie concepts, this usually isn't the starting point unless you're focusing on small-scale mobile games.
Typically, it takes years of industry experience before one is entrusted with the resources to bring their own game ideas to life from scratch. However, don't let this discourage you! There are roles like Game Designer that allow you to shape the gameplay of a game you're part of. Consider a Game Designer as a contributor to an existing game concept, like crafting a challenging race track for a racing game, or designing an immersive city for a first-person shooter. They significantly influence the gameplay without necessarily defining its core essence (racing, fighting, and so on).
There are also key roles like programmers and artists, each with their own specializations. Programmers could be focused on various areas such as rendering, audio, AI, networking, gameplay, tools, and more. Artists, on the other hand, could be immersed in 3D modeling, texturing, images, animation, level design, visual effects, and beyond.
I strongly advise you to dip your toes into programming (Scratch is a great place to start) and 3D modeling (Blender is free, and there's a wealth of tutorials on YouTube). Discover what truly ignites your passion, and you could become an invaluable member of a team that brings exhilarating games to life!
Typically, it takes years of industry experience before one is entrusted with the resources to bring their own game ideas to life from scratch. However, don't let this discourage you! There are roles like Game Designer that allow you to shape the gameplay of a game you're part of. Consider a Game Designer as a contributor to an existing game concept, like crafting a challenging race track for a racing game, or designing an immersive city for a first-person shooter. They significantly influence the gameplay without necessarily defining its core essence (racing, fighting, and so on).
There are also key roles like programmers and artists, each with their own specializations. Programmers could be focused on various areas such as rendering, audio, AI, networking, gameplay, tools, and more. Artists, on the other hand, could be immersed in 3D modeling, texturing, images, animation, level design, visual effects, and beyond.
I strongly advise you to dip your toes into programming (Scratch is a great place to start) and 3D modeling (Blender is free, and there's a wealth of tutorials on YouTube). Discover what truly ignites your passion, and you could become an invaluable member of a team that brings exhilarating games to life!
Juney Dijkstra
Business Development / Production / Project Management
39
Answers
Hilversum, North Holland, Netherlands
Updated
Juney’s Answer
Most critically: Make games!
You can start doing tutorials in Unity, Unreal Engine or Game Maker any time, and the more you work on your projects, the more you'll learn.
Try different genres (platformers are a good place to start!), art styles (from pixel games to 3D), themes (something that's personal to you, maybe?) and be inspired by everything you see around you. What do you see, hear, smell, or touch around you that could be turned into a game?
Discover which pieces of the work appeal to you most. Maybe you spend most of your time finetuning the level design, or perfecting the art. Maybe you like creating truly innovative new tech, or you want to connect to a community of players to get their opinions & experiences. As Sean indicates, there are many roles & responsibilities in our beautiful industry, and you don't have to like all of them. If you've found a role that appeals to you, look up more information about that particular role to see if you want to learn more, as there are plenty of resources online. You could even reach out to someone that currently works in the game industry in that role to learn more about the day-to-day.
As a quick warning: Be prepared for considering your first, second, tenth, twentieth and beyond games being terrible. It's okay, as a creative we're incredibly critical of what we make! It's part of the learning process, and every game, feature, design, piece of code or art you make will boost your next to be even better :)
Do a tutorial in Unity, Unreal Engine, or Game Maker
Make games!
Explore which roles & responsibilities exist by searching online
You can start doing tutorials in Unity, Unreal Engine or Game Maker any time, and the more you work on your projects, the more you'll learn.
Try different genres (platformers are a good place to start!), art styles (from pixel games to 3D), themes (something that's personal to you, maybe?) and be inspired by everything you see around you. What do you see, hear, smell, or touch around you that could be turned into a game?
Discover which pieces of the work appeal to you most. Maybe you spend most of your time finetuning the level design, or perfecting the art. Maybe you like creating truly innovative new tech, or you want to connect to a community of players to get their opinions & experiences. As Sean indicates, there are many roles & responsibilities in our beautiful industry, and you don't have to like all of them. If you've found a role that appeals to you, look up more information about that particular role to see if you want to learn more, as there are plenty of resources online. You could even reach out to someone that currently works in the game industry in that role to learn more about the day-to-day.
As a quick warning: Be prepared for considering your first, second, tenth, twentieth and beyond games being terrible. It's okay, as a creative we're incredibly critical of what we make! It's part of the learning process, and every game, feature, design, piece of code or art you make will boost your next to be even better :)
Juney recommends the following next steps:
Melinda Bailey
Game Design
2
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Melinda’s Answer
I agree with the other answers to this question, but I'm going to go a little more foundational. Play games. Play lots of games. Not just your favorite game that you've got 100 plus hours on. Play mobile games, story-driven games, adventure games, JRPGs, survival games, Simulation games/sandbox, anything you can get your hands on. This could get expensive, but sometimes indie developers need beta testers to play their games, maybe you could volunteer, or stay up to date on the Free Game of the week from Epic Games.
Good luck!
Good luck!