Not sure if this goes here or not? but ive dabbled a little here and there with different things but i lack like every skill to make a game. Im wondering what aspect or skill is worth getting better at, for gamedev?
I cant code, i cant draw/3d art, i cant make music, im bad with ideas, etc.
Where do i even begin or what would you advise?
i cant draw/3d art
- Take a cuboid, place 4 cylinders on the sides, you have a car.
- Place it on a large horizontal plane and put a light somewhere on the top and you have a scene
- start small and simple. Even if you don’t end up making games, you will at least be able to make animations over time. I never took an animation job, but little animations were useful in the industry to show ideas.
- Blender, while hard to initially grasp due to the UI (as compared to stuff like 3dsMAX, which felt kinda intuitive to me), is still a much better option. If you are using it regularly, it won’t make a difference. Also, it is FOSS and cheap to install.
I cant code
- learn to program. It will be useful in general, because it lets you develop the mental pathways required for most engineering
- Difference between programming and coding: programming is defining the software, coding is understanding and using the language
i cant make music
- if you have a microphone, yes you can. Start anywhere really.
im bad with ideas
Game creation doesn’t need to be a 1 man show. Get some friends on. Ask around on Lemmy, what people would like to see and choose something that clicks.
Everyone of the above will still be useful somewhere even if you don’t end up being a gamedev
For me, I picked up programming as a kid through tinkering around with other people’s Scratch projects, modifying them to do strange stuff and learning more about how it worked. Also: books. I learnt Python through an excellent book, and it helped me pick up loads of programming concepts. Those skills can then be transferred to whatever programming language I tried (since they all have variables, loops, the sort)
If you’re starting out with game dev, I highly recommend Godot (specifically, Godot 4. Make sure to search for tutorials for version 4, not 3 since they are quite different!). GDScript is much easier to work with than the C# used in Unity and the C++ used in Unreal Engine, and Godot is also lighter on your system hardware. I recommend watching videos from GDQuest (for learning the basics, like the interface and such, they have a website too) and HeartBeast (loads of good starter projects)
One great way to learn game dev is to start out with a basic project and slowly expand it with cool new things that you search up how to do and thus learn as you go. When I first started (with Unity), I followed a basic tutorial on making a bean move around and making basic platforms and coins and such. I then expanded that to have evil bean enemies, loads of additional levels that all have their own unique flair (opening and closing doors by touching a button, lots of unique blocks, platforms, etc that I made myself, spinning blades, a rickroll block, a whole bunch). It’s a horrible, horrible game (the bean could fly and skip all the levels since I never bothered to implement ground checking), but I learnt a lot and had fun doing it.
Something easy to start with is basic pixel art. I was able to pick it up, and with practice, you can make it look quite good!
For music, I would recommend Jummbox (drag around beats until something sounds good), for SFX bfxr is great. Alternatively, go to somewhere like opengameart.org or Kenney for art, sound, music, etc.
Another good option would be to work with a friend, or multiple.
I cant code, i cant draw/3d art, i cant make music, im bad with ideas, etc.
So you have nothing to contribute. Why do you even want to make games then? What’s the part of it that inspires you? For me, it’s programming. For others, it’s art, design, music, etc. If you have no interest in any of that, then gamedev is a terrible career move.
My life would be much bleaker if I didn’t believe I can learn/practice doing things that sound nice, but that I can’t do, such that I can eventually do them.
Pick a game engine. Godot is pretty sweet. Get started and follow a tutorial.
Choose whether you want to do 2D games or 3D. If 2D, start learning pixel art. If 3D. Learn 3d modelling software like blender. There is plenty to learn, but you can do it, so just start. Maybe pick a ridiculously small scope project to start and learn.
Instead of learning skills individually, learn them as you go! Just pick an engine - I’d recommend Godot - and get to work.
Here’s a nice challange about building increasingly difficult games: The 20 games challange.
You start with Pong, which is super easy to get the hang of. You could even follow a tutorial for that one and then try to use less and less tutorials as you go down the list.
Just get going instead of watching endless how-to videos, which is an easy trap for beginners. Actually starting a project and finishing one are two of the most important skills. You’ll quickly learn which parts come naturally to you and which ones you need to focus on.
As for creativity, once you’re done with each game, try to think of a twist to spice it up and add it to the game. It can be a simple thing, like e.g. with Pong using multiple balls or maybe adding obstacles - just test what’s fun and what’s not!
Agree with this! It’s one of those things where if you want to learn to do it, just start doing. (Which it sounds like op is, so keep at that.) You find where the gaps are then focus on learning just enough to get past your roadblock.
I second this! Even if you study game dev at college (if that’s an option for you), you won’t get around that part in the end. Picking your tools and iteratively learning how to use them is the way to go. The Internet is full of tutorials.
At best set yourself achievable goals (like cloning simple games) and keep your expectations low. Don’t try to do too many things at once and take your time learning.
join a game company as a junior. Hate every bit of it and then realize you’re better off doing something else.
Or skip all of that and pick something you are somewhat familiar with today.
If you’re still reading that means you want to continue on this treacherous path. Fine, fastest way to start i guess is playtesting but with companies asking customers to do that for them… the role is kind of lacking at the moment.
best you can do in your free time is start with trying out every aspect of game design upto a beginner level: learn basic coding in a specific language like python. learn to make simple text based adventures and fill-in-the-blank puzzles.
I would suggest just downloading Godot and following a few tutorials. That’s how I got started anyways (well, with Unity but Godot wasn’t half as good back then as it is today).
I would suggest watching the Godot Tutorials from Brackeys, because they are excellent: You could start with this one. If you want some more tutorials, maybey have a look at Gdquest (they also have a YouTube channel linked on their website, which is really good).
And most important of all, just try to not take it too seriously. Have some fun! Your games won’t be good for a while, and that’s OK, because everyone starts out this way. But if you really enjoy the process and stick to it, I am certain that you will create amazing things! And if you find out, that you don’t like it, that’s totally OK too, then you can just keep looking for other hobbies, because there are so many cool things to do in the world.
Consider what you want to do mechanics- and UI-wise. Read up on existing engines like Unity, Godot, RPGmaker. If none fits, read up on popular UI-frameworks and tooling for creating games from scratch.
Don’t hesitate or overthink it. Just dive headfirst into it. The day you start is the best moment. The thing you chose to do, is the best.
Learn by playing around. Play to your strengths. Dabble with coding, sound, graphics, mechanics, and figure out what gets the fire going. Feed that fire.
When you’ve had a bit of taste, try to complete a small simple project. This is surprisingly difficult! Learn to remove features and complexity, simplifying until you can actually finish the game.
Careful with that advice. The wrong tooling can make you twice as much work, the project half as fun and the result a slow, buggy mess.
Join a game jam.. You might not get far, but joining and trying will get you started down the road. A theme will be provided which can help get your ideas flowing, and you can use existing assets to pull stuff together along with tutorials.
For your first jam, you can even just make a physical game using cards or tokens from other sets to explore different ideas.
From there, pick a game engine and try a bunch of tutorials then pick something you want to make and use tutorials and documentation not as guides, but as references to achieve the thing you want to build.
Also, start small, like really small. Smaller than you think you need to. Pong and Snake are significantly easier than Battleship or Risk.
+1 for game jams, they’re great!
I second that. Many jams are meant to have participants team up. There’s nothing to win, so you can use it as a learning opportunity and let more experienced participants teach you a bit.
Global Game Jam might be the best bet here, as the site organizers often offer workshops in preparation for newbies. Unfortunately the last one was just a few weeks ago, so you would have to wait for almost a year for the next.
That Brackeys one I linked doesn’t have the same kinda workshop, but they do have a number of tutorials on their YT channel and it starts this Sunday.
Get a journal started. Write and take notes, preferably digital notes. Get your head clear on what you’re trying to do. Maybe there are people out there who can execute a big undertaking by just bumbling forward on the thought/motivation of the day, but I haven’t met them.
Perhaps you’re trying to save time by asking others where to start, but I advise you to get used to making judgement calls on where you ought to put your attention.
Slow down and settle in. Work on it a little every day. Record your progress. Learn and practice.
And go easy on yourself. Everybody starts somewhere.
Game dev is multidisciplinary but let’s get real, you need to know to code. Without this you won’t get far. Realistically it will take you years to learn the fundamentals.
I know coding but I don’t have a single clue where to start if I want to learn how to make video game. What would you think is the second step.
I would recommend taking a crack at some frameworks and engines while simultaneously reading up on how games work (in general, as there are no hard rules).
Broadly speaking though, games are basically control systems. It’s one big loop where the output of the previous loop affects the state of the next loop.
Modern engines and frameworks schedule the game updates and rendering separately to provide better/consistent frame rates.
Some engines I’d recommend checking out:
Thank you.
From a programming point, SDL 3 is a good starting point, if you are doing C or C++.
It is not a game engine in itself, but a library that can help make an engine or a game directly (you don’t really need an engine), so it is as “from scratch” as I would recommend going. Furthermore, it is also made to directly support Vulkan, OpenGL etc, so you can try those out.The +ive part of that is, you are not attaching yourself to any particular engine and you can use it to understand the underlying concepts behind game programming.
The -ive is that you can’t claim being experienced in any particular game engine, so the job boards asking for “Unreal Engine Developer” or “Unity” developer are inaccessible.Another point of game programming is that it also has use in making stuff like simulators and that is where the real money lies, if you are willing to work for the military.
Thank you for explaning it to me.
I don’t think this is a good answer but a funny anecdote. I was pretty obsessed with video games starting with the NES. I got really good with computers, programming, etc and more than 10 years into being a professional software developer, I figured it was time to actually look at making a game, arguably the reason I got into coding to begin with. Turns out that so little about game development is actually coding these days, been that way for decades now.
There are so many parts to making a video game, as you mentioned. If you want to do everything yourself and from scratch, yeah you will need to understand code and physics/math formulas, etc. Maybe some graphic design for the world you’re creating, maybe some music and audio effects knowledge. But there are also game engines out there that will do virtually or literally all of this for you.
I guess my real point is, figure out what you enjoy doing, and how you can contribute that to making games. It doesn’t matter if you’re good at it or don’t even know where to start, the important part is that you do start and stick with it.
Did you actually end up doing game dev?
Little bit by myself, mainly some puzzle stuff in the browser. Turns out I really enjoy writing code than making games.
Two options:
Mod games until you get better at those. Start small, replacing textures with minor changes.
Help manage a mod project and fill soft skills gaps that the team has. Don’t push the actual people working on the game too hard, help organise
