It’s been a little over 1 year since I first started teaching myself game development. I started on Thanksgiving day 2021 and here we are just before Christmas a year later. I’ve gone through at least a dozen different game development or design courses, watched (and rewatched) countless hours of videos and tutorials, created more than a dozen games, and participated in a handful of game jams. Needless to say, I’ve learned a lot about game development in the last year.
While the technical side of things is important, it isn’t as important as you would think (just my opinion, of course). The most important lessons I’ve learned from 1 year in game development are more about myself as a developer, the process of actually making games, and the mindset you need to be in. And I think they are some important lessons that anyone interested in game development should be aware of.
- Game Development is Hard
- Making Time is the Hardest Part
- It ALWAYS Takes Longer Than You Think
- Ideas Are Easy (if You Know How to Get Them)
- Other Developers Don’t Understand Your Vision
- Without Clear Goals, You Move in Different Directions
- Every Game Genre is a Different Learning Task
- There Are Very Few Resources to Get Started in Game Development
Game Development is Hard
There are a ton of skills that go into game development. Graphics, audio, programming. Not to mention the planning that goes into designing a game that’s actually fun to play. And unfortunately, those skills are all necessary to creating a good game (there are exceptions, of course).
Each of those skills could be an entire career path on their own. You are probably pretty good at some of the skills. But the rest, you probably suck at. Sucking at something makes it really hard to put the creative energy into doing it. Especially over a long period time.
Fortunately, you can learn and improve all of the skills needed. Seeing yourself get better and create things you are proud of is incredibly rewarding.
Game development is hard. But damn, it’s a lot of fun.
Making Time is the Hardest Part
I’m speaking as hobbyist. Game development is not my primary form of income (yet!). And over the last 1 year, just making time for game development has been the hardest part.
You spend most of your energy at work or school. Come home to do chores, take care of kids, make dinner, whatever the case may be. By the end of the day, you would rather play games than make them.
It is so easy to just say “I’ll get back to it tomorrow”. But tomorrow you do the same thing. And then a week goes by and you haven’t touched your game.
Forcing yourself to sit down and spend an hour on game development when you just want to relax is (in my opinion) the absolute hardest part.
It ALWAYS Takes Longer Than You Think
If you schedule 2 hours for programming, it’s going to take you 4 hours. Think 3 days is enough time for that game jam idea? It’s probably going to take a week. Have an hour to watch a new game development course? You’ll spend 20 minutes of it typing out the code.
Regardless of the circumstance, we always tend to overestimate how much time we have and underestimate how much time a task will take. Especially in the game development industry, it is a known issue.
If you have an idea, either double your timeline or half your expectations.
Ideas Are Easy (if You Know How to Get Them)
When I first started developing my own games, I had this issue where I could not figure out what game I wanted to make. I felt like I had no ideas and no place to start.
What I’ve learned since then is the ideas were there the whole time. But with the ability to make any game I wanted, I was so overloaded with possibilities that nothing was coming to me.
The trick that worked for me was limiting those possibilities. Giving yourself a few creative limitations works surprisingly well for getting the ideas flowing.
Other Developers Don’t Understand Your Vision
Once I started participating in game jams with other developers, I noticed something. What I had in my head and what our team produced were not the same. Typically, it was the other developers that were the issue.
Of course, they were not actually the issue. What happened was I failed to communicate to the team precisely what I was envisioning.
Communication is another skill you need in your toolbox. Especially if you design the game yourself and work with others to bring it to life, you need to be able to get everyone on the same page as quickly as possible. (Definitely still working on this skill myself.)
Without Clear Goals, You Move in Different Directions
This could expand the point above about other developers not understanding your vision. But I’m actually meaning it on more of a personal level. Whether it’s your day-to-day tasks or your long term game development plan, you need a clear goal in mind.
Personally, I saw progress in my own game development. But all my games were all quite different. And none of them were great.
Looking back, it was largely because I wasn’t learning one genre and improving at it. Instead, I was moving in different directions each time. Which brings me to my next point…
Every Game Genre is a Different Learning Task
Making a racing game is very different from making a platformer. Puzzle games are different from sports games. Even first person shooters and side scroller shooters are different.
Sure, there are some skills that will overlap in each. But for the most part, each genre is its own entity with its own tropes and patterns.
To see the most improvement in your game development, I recommend narrowing your focus to one or two genres. Otherwise, you will have to learn new processes and structures each time you make a game.
There Are Very Few Resources to Get Started in Game Development
Don’t get me wrong. Resources are out there for game development. There are, of course, books on game development, websites like Gamasutra (now GameDeveloper.com), and entire YouTube channels like Brackey’s.
But surprisingly, very few of them are truly beginner friendly (at least not in my opinion). Most require you to have a background in one of the skills already (usually programming).
In the last 1 year, I’ve taught myself game development. Even with my career in programming, there were areas I really had issues. I know the struggles because I just went through them. And that’s why I want to focus this blog on helping beginners get the right information they need to get started in game development.
Conclusion
Over the last 1 year, I’ve learned a ton about game development. It’s hard. Many different skills are required. It takes a ton of time. And sometimes it’s really frustrating (especially as a beginner). But is it worth it? You’re damn right it is.
Think back to your first years of game development (maybe you’re going through it right now). What are some of the biggest lessons, struggles, or pieces of advice you received? Let us know in the comments below.
