I have the imagination. I need the tools.
Welcome to one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. If you are looking to get rich quick, please stop reading and leave because I don't want to waste your time. If you’re still reading, then you must be up to the challenge. And that’s good, because you’re also in line for a career where you can feed your passion for gaming—and turn the skills you've honed into a career where you do what you love. Your future starts Now! With the help of my Resources Page, you can learn the very skills you need to become a key player in the game creation process from actual practitioners in their field. Using technology similar to what professionals use, you’ll explore what it takes to get games into the production pipeline. And get yourself into a dynamic industry. What are you willing do? How far are you willing to go?
Are you willing to surround yourself with people who match your future and become inspired by other talented, creatively driven students? Are you willing to be disciplined enough to push yourself, challenge yourself, and, above all else, believe in yourself even if you lack the support? How willingly are you to put your talent and commitment to the test? Are you willing to gain experience through failure, trial and error? Are you willing to expect more from yourself than relying on others or based on chance? Are you simply waiting to get hired into an entry level position starting out or are you taking action while you wait? These are questions you have to ask yourself in order to place yourself in a position to succeed. If you answered yes to any of the previously mentioned questions, then let’s get started!
Ask Questions! Don't Make Excuses
The first thing I did was write down and address excuses. Why? Excuses are one of the most dominant things holding people back from getting started. I wrote down not only my own but other excuses I have heard, turned them into questions and provided possible solutions.
Excuse 1.) I don't have a high school diploma or a college degree?
Do I need a degree? Should I go to college to learn this stuff?
No college degree is needed in the age of the Internet to have a successful career. The world is constantly changing and sadly, our education system has not caught up to what is current. This day in age, you can learn real skills from anywhere in the world from your mobile cell phone. For starters, to avoid making anyone reading upset, I am not saying college is a scam. However, I am saying that a college degree or high GPA no longer determines the kind of income you will make. They still play a factor, but how much money you will possibly make are no longer strictly based on those things. If you want to be a scientist, doctor, nurse, lawyer or engineer, then by all means go to college. For fields such as computer science, graphic design, website design and development, its just not necessary to spend all that money when there are so many other alternatives to learn those same skills. This day in age, you can learn these skills for the price of Netflix all online, on your time and at your own pace.
Excuse 2.) I don't have enough money, time, patience or resources
Most people tell me all the reasons why they can't make a game or what they don't have. There is just never enough time, money or resources. I provide all of my resources as well as online tutorials entirely on my Resources Page. I did this to not only help myself but to help others learn from both my successes and my failures. My Resources Page will save you time and money. All you need to make a game this day in age is the internet.
Making a game is not easy and takes sheer will power. There are times I felt like giving up, had no idea how to tackle a project. Times I didn't feel like opening my project files but the only way you will finish your games is if you power through these times. However there are an over abundance of tools readily available and accessible for you to thanks to the internet. These tools in short help make it easier on you for what you are trying to create. The problem I often see this day in age are asset flip games. These games are created by people claiming they want to make great games but try to put in as little effort as possible to create them looking for a quick cash grab.
Asset flip games
So often, I hear from people, "Why don't you just cobble together a bunch of assets and starter kits from the Unity Asset Store to make your game?" I don't recommend you do this because Games like these give Early Access on STEAM a bad rap. So what are asset flip games? In short asset flip games are created with minimum to low effort. This is done by purchasing pre-made starter kits and art assets from other developers, and re-selling them as the final product with barely any changes or alterations. They have the nerve to claim they are just one person when they solely used bought assets and starter kits. There is nothing wrong with buying assets to help you not only learn but save development time. If you are eager to finish a game and struggling with development time, don't asset flip games. Start small and build on that.
Asset Flip Games are Bad Business Practices
People who buy assets from the asset store who turn around and sell them as finished products with minimum changes are common bad business practices among the indie game development community. It's a slap in the face to customers looking to make a purchase and indie developers who actually worked hard to create their games. You are not a game developer if you asset flip games because you are essentially trying to make a profit off somebody else's work by marketing and reselling it as you own. Claiming others work as your own in hopes to get big is basically scamming consumers because its false advertisement. Taking others base core projects and throwing them up for a profit is a slap in the face! Developers who asset flip are continuing to get away with this by changing their company names and identity to hide the fact that they aren't creating actual products worth a dime. It's games like these that flood the STEAM's store space and its upsetting for newcomers who don't really understand the marketplace. A newcomer who sees a game that looks decent who plays a game like this will leave the platform for good because they feel baited.
We live in an age where honest YouTubers are exposing asset flip games to educate and help consumers make informed decisions and to not simply throw their money at something based on hype. I see far too often other people's hard work being stolen by someone else using it as their own with false promises and hyped up advertisements. Then players get excited without actually seeing any gameplay and start throwing money at these false campaigns. This is the reason why players are pissed off with early access games because they feel ripped off and baited into a scam. Then when consumers call out these developers scamming people and asset flipping games, the developers on early access act as if they are being attacked and insulted consumers instead of correcting their mistakes. Indie game developers are following BigFry and many other YoutTubers because we are actually trying to create something, learn from our mistakes and listen to community feedback to see where we can improve. Yet we can't get a good foundation on STEAM because these games are flooding the platform. Some YouTubers are profiting off covering asset flip games.
Asset Flip Games are Unprofessional
Asset flip games lack creativity, authenticity and uniqueness. You have little to no game design or programming experience if you steal from others hard work instead of creating content that is your own simply because you aren't creative enough. This is the real reason as to why I get frustrated with people who claim that making games is easy when they haven't made or programmed one themselves and exercise bad practices like this. Too many people this day in age have ideas but want to rely on others to do all the work for them without actually contributing anything to its development. You can have all the best ideas in the world but you need to acquire the skill-set to execute them and make them a reality. This day in age, too many people going into game development look for shortcuts. Developers starting out fall into the trap of getting caught up in delusions of grandeur. We are seeing developers ban people when confronted with criticism about their assets being used in their games on funding platforms like Kickstarter. Asset-flipped games have become a growing issue in the indie game development scene and makes honest developers look bad. These games are blatant carbon-copies of pre-existing projects, many which can be found on the Unity Asset Store.
STEAM Early Access
Ironically, STEAM Greenlight made the exact same mistakes as Xbox Live Indie Games back on Xbox 360. Later it evolved into Asset flip games which gave early access on STEAM a bad rap. They are worse than Xbox Live Indie Games back on Xbox 360 because they are usually completed within a day and require little to no effort. They are worse because too many developers are getting away with claiming other's work as their own without giving them any sort of credibility. Its frustrating as an indie developer because I open my engine blog and other forums for discussion and I just get trolled. When I first pursued game development, my peers in school laughed and made fun of me for even trying. Yet here we are now years later and project creators of asset-flip games censor valid criticism by deleting comments, entire discussions, and or blocks commentators who disagree with them. Today game companies and publishers are normalizing micro-transactions in a full priced $60 game. Players who were initially defending these companies are now angry because they are losing money. It's frustrating because I'm actually trying to do right by my community and I just get hated on. So if you are reading this and pursue this field, I encourage you to stand up for what you believe in, even if it makes you unpopular.
"You need to set your price point low so that you can get players in.
This allows you to build a fan-base. Once you eventually add
more content, you can raise the price from there."
-- BigFry
This allows you to build a fan-base. Once you eventually add
more content, you can raise the price from there."
-- BigFry
My experience working in the game's industry was mostly negative which lead me on an ambitious bold journey to becoming an entrepreneur. This is real. I know my experience doesn't reflect what people see on YouTube or that of most people, but I wouldn't be here today without it. This is my story and my experience; not everyone else. My goal is not to discourage you from working in the game's industry but to shed light and provide insight from my experience. So many people have son many misconceptions on what working for a major game company is really like. My negative experiences is why I am cynical towards going back to working as a play-tester or another job role for a game company. This is why I am pro entrepreneurship. Major game companies tend to think their employees are expendable. When thousands of people are applying for one position, they aren't concerned abut laying off people when there's an overabundant of people applying for those same positions. There is no job security, no company loyalty and so many false promises.
So what is crunch-time? In short, its a period before the launch of a game where game company employees are working crazy amounts of overtime. I worked briefly during this period as a play-tester. It's hard to put into writing how incredibly stressful this experience. I can remember the fast deadlines approaching hanging over our heads like a weight on our shoulders on top of putting in 80 to 100 hour-weeks with no extra pay. My co-workers and I formed a strange bond unlike your typical friendship. We were "in the s**t" together, sacrificing personal time with family and friends on the weekends, destroying our health by downing bulks of energy drinks for the sake of hitting our goals. It became even more stressful at the time because it was difficult explaining to friends and family why I had to devote so much of my time and energy to help with the game's launch. Looking back I still ask myself, "Was it truly worth it?"
Massive Job Layoffs
In 2019, massive job layoffs hit the video game industry, but the real question is why? When game companies weren't struggling financially and making millions of dollars, why were employees getting laid off and developers being asked to cut costs. What sort of challenges were these large companies facing to make such life changing decisions of their workers? While the debate over whether games as art is for the most part settled, arguments are now over the unethical business practices that plagues the games industry. There is a massive gap between the CEOs and the employees who work incredibly hard to develop the games. What's crazy is after eliminating roles, these companies are so quick to replace people who were in those roles and other positions. A few reasons as to why layoffs hit the video game industry were mistakes in companies' acquisition costs which lead to aggressive monetization strategies, the cost structure as well as allocations being unsustainable and corporate greed.
Examples of aggressive monetization strategies are loot boxes, microtransactions, and pay-to-win mechanisms which have come under mainstream scrutiny over the past few years. We have witnessed Electronic Arts dispute loot boxes being linked to gambling. I was against microtransactions when I first witnessed the industry moving more towards games as a service model back at GDC Next 2013. Its crazy how its led to gambling mechanics in games marketed to or played by children. It looks bad on the gaming industry as it stands. As consumers, we can do so much more than vote with our wallets. I've been writing blog posts and sharing videos about these unethical business practices because its important to be vocal about these things. Now these mechanics are in games tailored towards kids whom are susceptible to spend money easily without fully being aware and misguided. It leads them down a dangerous path into addictive personalities all tilted by these loot box systems
TIME
Anyone Can Make a Video Game
Most of the skill in making video games comes from following through with executing your idea, not necessarily how you go about doing it. Below is a video by Extra Credit on Failing Faster and how you can use failure to your benefit and why it's not entirely a bad thing. No one creates a perfect game, book, or project on their first try. Don't waste time trying to polish your idea: put yourself out there, create something, and learn quickly to improve upon your failures.
Fail Faster!
Excuse 3.) I don't have any programming or art skills?
Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be a master programmer or artist in order to make a video game. If you don't want to program, there are plenty of tools and resources at your disposal so that you don't have to write a single line of code and still create a finished product. If you feel like you can't draw to save your life, you can still make a video game. If you are a parent and don't know how to program, you can still make a video game.
So you want to be a Game Developer/ Programmer?
Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be a master programmer or artist in order to make a video game. If you don't want to program, there are plenty of tools and resources at your disposal so that you don't have to write a single line of code and still create a finished product. If you feel like you can't draw to save your life, you can still make a video game. If you are a parent and don't know how to program, you can still make a video game.
So you want to be a Game Developer/ Programmer?
Start Small! Don't be too ambitious
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You have probably heard this before but don't be overly ambitious. It's true. Don't let your ambitions get the best of you. Every project that I have seen failed is usually a result of over ambition or reaching too far or wanting to do too much with it. Especially if its your first game, you really need to start simple. Start with pong. I know it sounds like it sucks but really it doesn't. If you can finish it, then you will be ready to move on to the next level. Then you will have something to show in your portfolio or something. When you are not reaching your own standards, it’s easy to lose motivation. So start simple and then slowly progress harder and harder.
Be Realistic With Yourself
It's not uncommon to get overly ambitious. If you are just starting out, you need to be realistic with yourself and be mindful about what you are actually trying to accomplish. If you start out making your scale too big like a massive online action game but don't know how to code, how to network, create 3D models, animate... or pretty much the skills to do anything, you are being overly ambitious. So many people just starting out get caught up in delusions of grandeur. They start off trying to make the next RPG with crazy AI and multiple party members that is action based. I don't recommend that at all. Start off making Pac man or space invaders. Do something like that; something that is realistic enough for you to create. You are not making Modern Warfare. When you make something like this, you don't necessarily need a team. Then you can work your way up and make a mario bros clone. Work by yourself for a while and then when you feel you are good enough; you can start asking people to join you. So don't reach too far with your first projects.
Don't make your dream game when you are just starting out. It's so easy to fall in love with an idea and get carried away with it until it becomes a magnum opus that you sink all your time into, and there's nothing more demotivating. It's far more rewarding to work on games that you can actually finish! Every time you finish a game, you'll learn something. If you want to be a better game designer, the best way to do it is to make games. Lots of them. Most indie developers start by working in a well-established genre. I like shooting things, but also because it's easier to put my vision for the game across when I'm not having to work around some sort of physically accurate setting. They're also a good showcase for more abstract graphic styles. If inspiration is lacking, remaking a classic title is a good way to flex those creative muscles. So be realistic, think indie and work on small games.
Don't make your dream game when you are just starting out. It's so easy to fall in love with an idea and get carried away with it until it becomes a magnum opus that you sink all your time into, and there's nothing more demotivating. It's far more rewarding to work on games that you can actually finish! Every time you finish a game, you'll learn something. If you want to be a better game designer, the best way to do it is to make games. Lots of them. Most indie developers start by working in a well-established genre. I like shooting things, but also because it's easier to put my vision for the game across when I'm not having to work around some sort of physically accurate setting. They're also a good showcase for more abstract graphic styles. If inspiration is lacking, remaking a classic title is a good way to flex those creative muscles. So be realistic, think indie and work on small games.
What is a game engine?
How do game engines work?
Do Game Engine Matter to Gamers?
Do Game Engine Matter to Gamers?
Should I use an existing engine, utilize a framework or make my own?
