Intro to Game Development

Often I'm asked by people who love to play games but don't know how they are made to explain to them, how is this process. How can you have an idea, and turn into a piece of software that does what you imagined.

This article is for those people how are curious about starting their creations but don't know where to start. So first of all (and this is not to discourage you) if you have already an idea for a game, and haven't created one yet I can almost guarantee it is way to big and complex.

This, is one of the best concepts a beginner should understand. Everyone who started in game development, me included, starts wanting to create their own Call of Duty, or GTA with some great new features. It's a no-brainer to know these games are made by thousand of people, over years and with a lot of investments.

The true is: your first game will suck, the second, the third and many of them. You will not even complete them. You will lost motivation, will be stuck at some point in the development, and maybe will give up all of this. I gave up a lot of times.

I've tried to create games since I was 12 and it's a non-ending frustration. You try to form teams, that's what the pros do right? Then you will know, the people with more excitement are the ones who also know nothing and it becomes a group frustration.

Why am I telling you this?

Because you can already find hundreds of courses who will try to sell you the idea of how fun it is to create a game, as would be play them, but I now know that the 12 years old me would have a much different view of game development if someone said what I'm saying here.

If you haven't watched yet, go see Indie Game - The Movie it will show you how indie developers struggle with all kinds of things that is not clear when you want to create your game, because you like games.

So if here are some of the things people tend to think about game creation debunked:

There is no such thing as a "button only game creator"

You can find out there some software who will try to convince you that you can create any game without learning to code. This is bullshit. The more easy to use a game creator is, the more limited you will be, and you can create something with it but without coding (or at least some 'code blocks') your game will be the same as everyone else.

You can't ask your game to the software as a wish to the lamp genius. You have to work for it, if you want something decent you will have to code (or have a programmer).

Be prepared to draw a lot

Here is another misconception some beginners have.

You will want to start with 2D games, since 3D is a lot more complex and the learning curve from 0 would be much more difficult. I've talked with a considerable amount of people who think that you have to draw, let's say, a character once, and then the computer magic will make this character to walk, jump, fight, die, etc.

This is a really silly thing to think. Again, there is not magic button, and you will have to work, and work hard. Either by frame to frame pixel animation, or vector motion tween. You can find a lot of sprites already animated on the internet which can be really helpful when you want to test your code, but this give as the next point:

Do not use copyrighted content

Well, at lease if you don't have the right to. It's also common to see some games with a mix of free sprites grabbed from internet, megaman are one of the favorites. Of course it's easier, but your game will look amateur.

And if you happen to have a great gameplay you will ruined because you will not be able to generate any money from it. Even if it's a pixel art, always prefer to create your own art for the game.

Go for small steps alone

Before trying to form teams, study by yourself. A totally beginner team will not reduce the time to learn the concepts of a game creation. Maybe it will increase it. Try to create something simple by your self. An asteroids, pong or tetris clone. You will see how difficult is to create these games.

Have something to offer. Only by that you can require that the other members of your team can be at least at the same level as you, otherwise you will be stumbling among people who will hold you back.

Conclusion

All of the things I mentioned here is for you to be aware of what you are getting into. I love games. I have quit my (well paying) data analyst job to finally try to make a living creating games. If you love them so much as well, go for it. I'll try to help you if you want.

It will be hard, but love games by the effect they have on you. You feel good when you play a good game, you can forget time, problems and a game can help you to think faster, to develop yourself. Of course they are hard to make, everything of great value is. Trust me, after years studying it's awesome and even ONE person send you an email telling how they played your game for hours, and how they love it.