Original Post
What does it take to be a Game Developer?
What does it take to be a Game Developer?
One of my serious ambitions is to be a Game Developer, and if I'd become a Game Dev, I can help to the development of Toribash.
My question is: What does it take to be a Game Developer? What college course should I take? How many years is that college course? etc.
One of my serious ambitions is to be a Game Developer, and if I'd become a Game Dev, I can help to the development of Toribash.
My question is: What does it take to be a Game Developer? What college course should I take? How many years is that college course? etc.
Last edited by Sc1ence01; Mar 21, 2016 at 01:05 PM.
Reason: Grammar
Weirdest Tori in Toribash
<Diuwaybuns> Toribash is unprotected sex
<Diuwaybuns> Toribash is unprotected sex
Originally Posted by Sc1ence01
I can help to the development of Toribash.
lmao
to be a game dev you just need to learn how to code like fuck there are tons of tutorials out there
computer science/it in college
Hey op, this really depends on what you want to do specifically. Since you said game developer I'll assume you mean the technical side of things.
Assuming you want to go indie or small team or have input in what the game is:
Know what makes a game fun.
Be able to critique your own ideas.
Be prepared to change, pivot, adapt or start over.
Know who you're targeting and (assuming you want to make money) have a plan or flow as to how this game will make you money.
Have some understanding of psychology.
Have some understanding of marketing.
Good communication.
Assuming you want to go big leagues in an established company:
Not much especially that I can think of. Have culture to fit the company, be hungry, driven, be able to take criticism but also defend your ideas, excellent communication.
Common to both:
Obviously the technical ability - be that in the specific technologies the company or you want use or competency in something similar that you can adapt learning anew from.
Portfolio of bangin past work.
Enthusiasm, passion etc.
Contacts and network of relevant people to what you want to do.
Roadmap to getting there:
1. Tertiary degree or study are useful but not completely necessary. For sure they will help keep you focussed on learning skills you'll need but you may find that you can do that with free resources on your own. They are also great at opening you up to internships, networking opportunities, events, jobs etc. But by joining communities and keeping an eye out for things around the place you can do this on your own too.
2. Build things. Have a portfolio of work to show. It shows that you are competent to at least that degree and have enough drive to actually make something. If you don't want to do your own thing then contribute to open source or community projects.
3. Know people. Again, super useful for breaking into a job or opportunity. It will be hard otherwise but if you're a beast then you'll make it.
Edit: Re uni/college degree - think really hard about what you actually want to do. If you're going to be doing mostly technical things but in regards to games then it might be better to do a cs/tech/programming focused degree with game flavours as minors or added in your own time externally.
If you want to do "game design" (good luck) then a games/interactive entertainment degree is probably what you're after.
Animation and more creative side? Do an animation/creative industries degree. It's not hard, just make sure you give it thought.
Assuming you want to go indie or small team or have input in what the game is:
Know what makes a game fun.
Be able to critique your own ideas.
Be prepared to change, pivot, adapt or start over.
Know who you're targeting and (assuming you want to make money) have a plan or flow as to how this game will make you money.
Have some understanding of psychology.
Have some understanding of marketing.
Good communication.
Assuming you want to go big leagues in an established company:
Not much especially that I can think of. Have culture to fit the company, be hungry, driven, be able to take criticism but also defend your ideas, excellent communication.
Common to both:
Obviously the technical ability - be that in the specific technologies the company or you want use or competency in something similar that you can adapt learning anew from.
Portfolio of bangin past work.
Enthusiasm, passion etc.
Contacts and network of relevant people to what you want to do.
Roadmap to getting there:
1. Tertiary degree or study are useful but not completely necessary. For sure they will help keep you focussed on learning skills you'll need but you may find that you can do that with free resources on your own. They are also great at opening you up to internships, networking opportunities, events, jobs etc. But by joining communities and keeping an eye out for things around the place you can do this on your own too.
2. Build things. Have a portfolio of work to show. It shows that you are competent to at least that degree and have enough drive to actually make something. If you don't want to do your own thing then contribute to open source or community projects.
3. Know people. Again, super useful for breaking into a job or opportunity. It will be hard otherwise but if you're a beast then you'll make it.
Edit: Re uni/college degree - think really hard about what you actually want to do. If you're going to be doing mostly technical things but in regards to games then it might be better to do a cs/tech/programming focused degree with game flavours as minors or added in your own time externally.
If you want to do "game design" (good luck) then a games/interactive entertainment degree is probably what you're after.
Animation and more creative side? Do an animation/creative industries degree. It's not hard, just make sure you give it thought.
Last edited by Solax; Mar 21, 2016 at 12:58 PM.
Just make games. That's all there is to it. you will learn everything you need to learn along the way. There is 1001 tutorials on how to make games.
Getting a degree or whatever is just a waste of time if all you want to do is make games.
Getting a degree or whatever is just a waste of time if all you want to do is make games.
<Faint> the rules have been stated quite clearly 3 times now from high staff
There are a lot of roles in game development, from marketing to programming. If you plan on joining a big game development team, just pick a role and focus on it. on the other hand if you plan on becoming a indie developer, you may need to know a little bit of most roles.
As you didn't specify which way you are going I'll just suppose you'll take the indie one and recommend you to choose Computer Science as college course. Most indie devs use engines such as unity, unreal, etc. You may read on the internet about coding a whole game from scratch with c++ but just don't, it'll be a pain in the ass and using engines is way better for a small team/solo developer
Also, I'm not someone that enjoys destroying dreams but...
It probably ain't gonna happen but you can always try! Always do your best and if it doesn't happen, you can join another game development or even create yours
Most of the times when you use tutorials for something you just copy whatever it says but you never really understand what's going on, college actually teaches you all of the concepts you need to know. It's also a nice place to know people with similar interests.
As you didn't specify which way you are going I'll just suppose you'll take the indie one and recommend you to choose Computer Science as college course. Most indie devs use engines such as unity, unreal, etc. You may read on the internet about coding a whole game from scratch with c++ but just don't, it'll be a pain in the ass and using engines is way better for a small team/solo developer
Also, I'm not someone that enjoys destroying dreams but...
It probably ain't gonna happen but you can always try! Always do your best and if it doesn't happen, you can join another game development or even create yours
Originally Posted by ImmortalPig
Just make games. That's all there is to it. you will learn everything you need to learn along the way. There is 1001 tutorials on how to make games.
Getting a degree or whatever is just a waste of time if all you want to do is make games.
Most of the times when you use tutorials for something you just copy whatever it says but you never really understand what's going on, college actually teaches you all of the concepts you need to know. It's also a nice place to know people with similar interests.
Last edited by Lite; Mar 22, 2016 at 12:55 AM.
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