Game Development

[Tixek]

So, I've been contemplating my future in life every now and then and have realized that my biggest passion is of course, Gaming. I've pretty much always wanted to create my own video game ever since I was young and naive. Video game development can get pretty competitive in this day and age so many potentially great developers with such lovely ideas can be swallowed up by their own ambition.

So I've come to the following conclusion: "Don't jump straight into game development right away." If I am going to be successful and create great games for others to enjoy I've got start small and learn how things work before I can do something big like that and risk losing time effort and money.

With that said, I was hoping to ask all of you guys on the escapist maybe help me out with this little goal I have if it's not too much trouble. Don't freak out, I'm not asking for anything big here. Just for maybe a little tidbit of elderly wisdom or two. Any advise or help will be greatly appreciated and duly noted.

 

[Freechoice]

if it's not too much trouble. Don't freak out, I'm not asking for anything big here.

Game development is too much trouble. It's a big thing even for one person. Share your idea so everyone else gets an excuse to list their big idea.

 

[Tixek]

Ah, Sorry. I really should have been more specific there. I don't mean ideas about the actual game itself but rather on how I am to go about accomplishing the goal. I've heard things about game development being a pretty competitive thing. A lot of people want to work on video games and stuff like that but it's supposedly somewhat difficult to actually achieve that. I was hoping for advise on things like that.

While it probably would be good thing to discuss with others about my idea for the game itself, I've never really trust others much and am sad to say that I don't really want share it for fear of someone to take it from me...

 

[Freechoice]

Ah, Sorry. I really should have been more specific there. I don't mean ideas about the actual game itself but rather on how I am to go about accomplishing the goal. I've heard things about game development being a pretty competitive thing. A lot of people want to work on video games and stuff like that but it's supposedly somewhat difficult to actually achieve that. I was hoping for advise on things like that.

While it probably would be good thing to discuss with others about my idea for the game itself, I've never really trust others much and am sad to say that I don't really want share it for fear of someone to take it from me...

Wasn't there an episode of the Jimquistion or something on this site that said if you're afraid of sharing your idea, it's probably not that good? I remember reading that article.

Are you good at programming, drawing or modeling? If none of those, your chances just went from unlikely to abysmal.

Ah, here it is.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks

Depressing, but better to have the cold coffee rather than the piss-laden absinthe.

 

[Tixek]

Thank you very much for that article, it was very informative and has given a substantial amount of insight on the subject. I'm not good with programming and have no idea of how to do it but I am planning to take classes for it in college. As for drawing I am good at it and have done it throughout my whole life as it is one of my favorite hobbies and hope to improve get even better with it. As for modeling, well I'm just gonna go with a no on that since I'm lacking any training or practice on it whatsoever. I do not doubt I could learn that too however. Maybe I should start off as video game tester first rather than jump start off with developing as I now have more of an idea of how the process works. While I do not exactly feel up to the challenge, I am not going to just abandon it. After all the best way to climb a mountain is to not think about how tall it is and just work on it at a steady pace.

Again, thank you very much for your help.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well someone didn't get their coffee...

OT you got the right approach, start small and do your thing so you figure out what you like to do and how things really come together.
One of the most daunting things to accept is that the idea is always grander then the realization, your game will never be as perfect as you imagined, just make sure it comes close enough.

And then really just get out into the world, there are thousands of garage devs desperately looking for people to help them out.

 

[Esotera]

My advice is that you jump straight in, but start very small and unambitious. Programming well is mainly down to practice, and even if you don't end up becoming a game programmer, it'll help you develop games.

So spend a couple of weeks learning the python programming language, as it's really easy to pick up & there's a lot of documentation. Then install the pygame library, which basically lets you use code others have produced to make a game really quickly.

http://python.org/download/
http://www.pygame.org/news.html

I'd also recommend going to reddit.com and joining r/python, r/learnpython, r/programming, and r/learnprogramming, as you will almost certainly get stuck and need help at some point. They also have a pretty good list on the sidebar of what you should be doing.

 

[Kahunaburger]

My advice is that you jump straight in, but start very small and unambitious. Programming well is mainly down to practice, and even if you don't end up becoming a game programmer, it'll help you develop games.

So spend a couple of weeks learning the python programming language, as it's really easy to pick up & there's a lot of documentation. Then install the pygame library, which basically lets you use code others have produced to make a game really quickly.

http://python.org/download/
http://www.pygame.org/news.html

I'd also recommend going to reddit.com and joining r/python, r/learnpython, r/programming, and r/learnprogramming, as you will almost certainly get stuck and need help at some point. They also have a pretty good list on the sidebar of what you should be doing.

+1 to python.

OP: if you like roguelikes, there's also libtcod and an excellent tutorial on roguebasin for making a game with libtcod+python, which I'm playing around with and so far has been a lot of fun. If a programming illiterate like me can do it, you can too.

 

[DoPo]

My advice is that you jump straight in, but start very small and unambitious. Programming well is mainly down to practice, and even if you don't end up becoming a game programmer, it'll help you develop games.

So spend a couple of weeks learning the python programming language, as it's really easy to pick up & there's a lot of documentation. Then install the pygame library, which basically lets you use code others have produced to make a game really quickly.

http://python.org/download/
http://www.pygame.org/news.html

I'd also recommend going to reddit.com and joining r/python, r/learnpython, r/programming, and r/learnprogramming, as you will almost certainly get stuck and need help at some point. They also have a pretty good list on the sidebar of what you should be doing.

Ninja'd.

Well, yes - start small, start with programming. You don't start making games by learning everything (and there is a lot involved). Make your first application, learn some stuff, code something small but what you think is cool (a calculator of some sort, or maybe a deck shuffling simulator - I did that) - it doesn't even need to have any GUI to it - just text based things are fine. Once you get the hang of it, go on and learn more things - another language (C++/Java...maybe Java) and try some advanced things, like creating things that move on the screen and so on. Maybe you'll make your first game. It wouldn't be spectacular (doesn't even need to be good) but a simple platformer or maybe a card game would show you how things are done. And from then on...well, you'll just need to continue expanding your knowledge and skills.

It's not going to be easy - it may take a year or two until you start making an actual game but it could be fun. It would be better if you try entering a project with some buddies of yours. It may end up a disaster but you'd get lots of useful information out of it...a lot of "don't do this and that" but not only. Or consider starting a small-ish project and work on it on the side and try to improve it with what you learn. Say, you want to make a platformer - lay down some ideas (don't bother with plot and such - just technical ideas - mechanics and such) and then when you think you have enough to start, lay the foundations. Then when you learn how to make things appear on the screen, do that - make it as simple as possible - a block that moves up down left and right on a green line or something. Then when you learn how to make better animations and visuals, make the block a person, add some textures, and so on. You get the idea.