Hello! And welcome to the very beginning of my journey into game development. Let me tell you a little about who I am, why I’m learning game development, and what this blog is about.
Who I Am
If you couldn’t tell by the name of the website, my name is Mitchell Opitz. I’m a professional web developer (Drupal backend) learning game development for fun in my spare time.
My background started in Information Technology. After a web design course, I asked my professor’s advice on how to pursue that more. Their recommendation was to learn a little bit of graphic design. So I enrolled in a basic course, fell in love with that, too.
Since I entered the workforce, I’ve always been in positions related to my degree. I’ve worked as a technical artist, graphic designer, programmer, and (currently) web developer. And (for the most part) I’ve always loved what I do.
Away from work, I’m a multi-instrumentalist. I play euphonium, tenor sax, and cello with several local ensembles (I just have a thing for tenor instruments, I guess?). Also play guitar and piano. Own way more music theory books than one person should. And during the Coronavirus pandemic, started teaching myself music composition.
Oh…and I’m a huge gamer. Played through many of the greats. I remember playing Double Dribble and Stealth ATF on my uncle’s NES when I was little. First console of my own was the SNES with the Killer Instinct bundle (still have my Killer Cuts CD!). Was one of the OG Pokemon trainers back in 3rd grade. Smash: Melee tournament player in high school. Halo 2 lan parties in college. Way more /played in World of Warcraft than should really be mentioned. Et cetera.
All around pretty cool guy. Albeit, extremely nerdy.
Why I’m Learning Game Development
I actually got started on this track because of my oldest nephew. He’s 11 and about the age I was when I really started to get into video games. And when chatting with him one day, he asked if I knew how to make games (because I was a developer). Told him the truth: I don’t know anything about it…but I’ll look into it.
Came across the Harvard GD50 game development series on YouTube (highly recommend if you’re also a beginner). Started watching the Pokemon lecture. Understood the code, but not certain concepts (state machines and entity component systems were somewhat new to me). Backtracked to the first lecture about 2 weeks ago and have worked my way through 5 games so far:
- Pong
- Flappy Bird
- Breakout
- Match 3
- Super Mario Bros. (currently in progress)
With my background, hobbies, interests, and skills, game development just makes sense. It gives me a chance to exercise some of my creativity. Learn some new development concepts (outside of just web development) and practice new skills. Connect with other gamers and developers. I’m actually pretty surprised I’ve never pursued this in the past!
And probably most important to me is what I’m teaching my nephew and my own kids. You can do something just to have fun with it. Not everything has to be about making money. It is perfectly ok to make mistakes and struggle. You’re never to old to start doing something new. There’s a whole list of things I’m passing on to those kids. And I actually am really proud of that.
What This Blog is About
Well, game development. Obviously.
But in truth, I’m not really sure past that. I’m gonna be completely honest: I don’t really have a plan for this blog. Truthfully, I probably won’t make a plan. Like I said, this is a hobby for me. I’m not a professional game developer, nor do I plan to become one.
That being said, I hope you’ll be just a little lenient with me. I’m not going to keep to a rigid schedule like most blogs should. Sometimes I may post several times in quick succession. Sometimes I may go months in between projects and posts. But I promise that when I do, the content will be what I feel is truly useful.
This blog is ultimately about my own journey in game development. It will be a repository of knowledge and experience as I work through this process myself.
As I learn, I’ll share the concepts I found most useful. When planning my own games, I’ll walk you through my thought process. During development, I’ll let you know the areas I struggled with and how I solved them. When I find great resources, I’ll be sure to share them with you. I may even start a section analyzing old video games
And I really hope you come along for the journey. Thanks for reading!
