thesilentman said:
Any tips on how to actually get the ideas out of my head? I've been learning to program in C++ for a while, but I haven't really done anything yet besides some terminal programs. I just had a game idea, but not only do I have no idea where to start and how to get myself into the mindset of making a game.
I'd say pick up Unity and start on something small, a throwaway to bite your teeth on how the various systems interact. You can see my progress here [http://thrikreen.com/unity/]. Notice how I start off with one feature (camera look) then add another and so on. It should be pretty obvious I have a particular goal in mind, but the game design is VERY small in scale, something that can be thrown away. And as I learn more about how the various systems interact and get more proficient in C#, I often end up rewriting what I did for a better design and move one step closer to my actual goal.
Currently learning how to do a finite state machine for object behaviour and redirecting function calls right now for easier AI management.
The Unworthy Gentleman said:
Does dolling myself up in a pretty dress and shoes help at all? If not then good because I'm not sure I'd be able to pull off women's clothing.
Did that before, trust me, it doesn't help.
(Shame, I do look super cute in said pink dress too)
Glad this "there is no ideas guy" was near the start of the thread.
Back when I was deciding which uni to go to the only open day seminar I attended was about a degree in games design. I didn't really do my research well and figured games design was going to be actually making them. Turned out it was the closest you can really get to ideas guy; leading the project, keeping things spinning and making calls on what would happen in the game and essentially what boiled down to 'game theory'. The guy speaking even said that chances are it would be a long time before anyone actually got into being a part of the development process and most would end up in games journalism and we all know how honest that job is, though The Escapist runs a pretty factual ship website wise from what I see. The first thing the guy said was that we wouldn't actually be learning how to make the game itself.
Yeah, those types of courses aren't that useful, because rarely to people get into a senior/lead game designer position straight out of school. You're probably better off learning how to code instead, or at least script, that way you can work your game design ideas into a prototype.
That's when I decided to quit that path and took a course in animation for 3 years with an option to do a year in the industry. 5 months on and I don't regret the decision. The only change is that I've went from wanting to focus on video games to thinking about film too.
Yeah, that's the one problem with aspiring devs is that they "want to make games" but not realize there's tons of disciplines within the industry that's all valid in "making games":
- 2D concept art, textures, materials
- 3D modeling, animation, cinematics - also remember in-game and FMV/prerendered are totally valid fields too
- programming graphics, systems, engine, network, tools, tech art (like me!)
- writing story or dialogue
- environment modeling, level design,
- systems design, combat design
- QA testing, QA tools
- Advertising, PR, marketing
- production (scheduling, etc).
That's the good thing about games, you're not tied to one particular area for life after all, and the more broad your skillset, the easier it is to integrate other aspects into your work.
Like making environment? Great, but if you also knew about combat design, you'd start thinking as a level designer too, making sure your models account for and laying it out for combat to flow better. Like making sure cover is always this high, there's enough space between walls, etc., transitioning to a level artist+designer. This also reduces the cycle of creating a level and requiring testers, you know what they're testing for and can design the level to factor that in, reducing iteration time.
