Making progress as game developers is hard. With so many different things to learn, where do you focus your time and energy? That’s exactly the question I have been asking myself recently. So I did some serious soul searching about myself as a game developer. And it has really helped me focus on where I want to be going. If you’re a game developer (especially if you are just starting out), I urge you to really take some time and think about your own answers to these three questions. Hopefully it will help you focus your time and energy as well.
Be sure to check my personal answers to these questions.
What Is Your Ultimate Goal as a Game Developer?
Before you do anything else, ask yourself what you really want to be doing as a game developer.
- Join a AAA game studio and help develop your favorite video game.
- Own and operate your own small indie game development studio.
- Develop your own video games just for fun.
- Make a lot of money.
All of these are valid answers. Game developers have all kinds of goals. And you can even have multiple answers. But you need to really do some deep thinking about what your end goal actually is. Your ultimate goal as a game developer will help you decide what steps you need to take to get there.
What Genre(s) Do You Want to Focus On?
Depending on what your ultimate goal as a game developer is, you may need to decide on what genres you want to work on. If you have a certain AAA game studio in mind, you may be limited to the genre of video games that developer makes. In that case, this question doesn’t apply as much. But for your own games, you likely have more freedom.
Think about the games you love to play. Do you think you would enjoy developing those types of games as well? And be honest with yourself here. You may enjoy playing every genre of video games. But would you really be able to spend months or years developing a racing game, a puzzle game, or an FPS?
There’s a good chance you probably have a certain genre you already lean towards. Think about your top 10 or 20 favorite video games of all time. Most of them probably fall into one of a few genres. And there’s a good chance those genres are the ones you’d prefer as a game developer.
My recommendation is to pick only one or two genres. Especially when you are just starting out as a game developer. Narrowing your focus will help you understand that genre much more in depth. Over time, this will mean you can develop faster and increase the likelihood of your game doing well.
What Game Development Skills Do You Have/Need?
There are a lot of skills that go into developing video games. Programming, graphics, audio, animation, even just coming up with the initial idea. The list goes on and on. Learning how to do it all on your own is really hard.
Yes, you can learn every skill and do it all yourself. There are some wonderful examples of a single person creating entire games. But chances are good you still need some of those skills. And trying to learn them all at the same time is not recommended.
Instead, make a list of all the game development skills you want or need to learn. Think back to what your ultimate goal as a game developer is. Start to prioritize your learning based on what is most relevant to your goal.
For the skills you haven’t yet learned, be patient with yourself. Don’t feel like you must do everything to be a legitimate game developer. It is absolutely ok to hire someone, ask for help, or use free assets.
Conclusion
Knowing who you are as a game developer is important. It allows you to better focus your time and efforts. In doing so, you are much more likely to hit your ultimate goal as a game developer (and in much less time). Take a day or two (even a week) and really think about your own answers to these questions.
We all have different answers to these questions. Do you feel like these are the right questions to be asking? What else do you feel could help focus learning for game developers? Let us know your thoughts or answer these questions for yourself in the comments below.
