Becoming a game developer

Deehjay

Deehjay

Deehjay

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Nottingham
Hi. First thing's first, I was wondering if you guys could give me some help and advice regarding becoming a game developer. It's something I've been very ambitious about since quite a young age and I'm determined that this is the career path I want to chase. Baring in mind I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever regarding game development or even programming. I've never studied anything to do with any form of programming as I'm only 15 (yes harhar a 'child') but I'm eager to explore the following:
  • Where should I start
  • What education path should I take
As I've said, I have absolutely nothing on any form of computing, so if someone could provide some programs/websites/tips for learning about computing, computing languages etc then I'd be really appreciative. I'd like to start learning now as it could potentially be advantageous in the future and I often find myself equipped with lots of extra time where I usually tend to doss, which is why I'd like to make better use of my spare time.

As far as education goes, I was wondering if the right choice would be to go to 6th form/college and study A levels in computing and 2 other subjects, and then to go onto university to study computer science. If this isn't correct and I need to be studying something else then please do correct me

Thanks for reading, all contributions will be appreciated
 
First off, there a re many many different facets to games design. You dont just have to be a programmer, have you considered level design (game design as its sometimes now called), 3d modelling, Texture artist, sound engineering... all sorts!

Basics:

Programmer: good knowledge of C and C++, then specialise in AI, physics, GUI's again theres a loong list of possible areas.

Level Design: 3D studio Max, and all other sort of basically CAD programs.

3D Modeller: Again something like 3D studio Max.

Texture Artist. Photoshop skills and a love of taking photos of brick walls :D

Your best bet is to get involved in the modding scene for an engine that will be around for a few years. Usually an ID, Crytek, or Unreal engine are your best bets. Download the design tools and see what takes your fancy.

It can be EXTREMELY frustrating at times, I've known people to literally smash their monitor to pieces, so you have to love it, you have to WANT to do it when you wake up in the morning.

Oh and maybe sign up for some volounteer game testing. It can very soul destroying and you'll never want to play the game when it finally comes out but it it can be a great way to get experience and also some initial contacts in a studio.
 
TruffleShuffle said:
First off, there a re many many different facets to games design. You dont just have to be a programmer, have you considered level design (game design as its sometimes now called), 3d modelling, Texture artist, sound engineering... all sorts!

Basics:

Programmer: good knowledge of C and C++, then specialise in AI, physics, GUI's again theres a loong list of possible areas.

Level Design: 3D studio Max, and all other sort of basically CAD programs.

3D Modeller: Again something like 3D studio Max.

Texture Artist. Photoshop skills and a love of taking photos of brick walls :D

Your best bet is to get involved in the modding scene for an engine that will be around for a few years. Usually an ID, Crytek, or Unreal engine are your best bets. Download the design tools and see what takes your fancy.

It can be EXTREMELY frustrating at times, I've known people to literally smash their monitor to pieces, so you have to love it, you have to WANT to do it when you wake up in the morning.

Oh and maybe sign up for some volounteer game testing. It can very soul destroying and you'll never want to play the game when it finally comes out but it it can be a great way to get experience and also some initial contacts in a studio.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help, any more information on getting involved into this 'modding scene'? Where do I download these tools you speak of from?
 
Programming requires a good level of maths as well really. Testing seems to be the way in to a company, it's a **** job really and then people move up from there within the company. Not sure how easy it is now with more companies doing things like public beta's.

When I was 15 (15 years ago) I spent ages getting a list of games companies and addresses, and I wrote them a nice letter asking for advice. I had loads of responses, some generic but some were great. I was even offered a testing position for Codemasters (i think it was them, old age ;) )but couldn't take it due to travelling at the age of 16 or moving away.

As for modding, try half life 1/2 modding through steam with the SDK. Check out the TWHL website, they used to be pretty good for mods. Some can be a little abrasive though ;)

Modding is a great way to learn what what makes a game. Then you can move in to coding or maybe even making or changing existing models.

As said, it's a thankless job really, long hours and can be very frustrating.

Also check out thinks like "making HTML5 games" or "python games programming - pygame" :)
 
Will these engine programs (Unity, UDK etc) teach me about the basics? Like I say, I have no knowledge whatsoever
 
First off, why do you want to be a games developer?
I'm sure all of us as kids wanted to make games, but if it's just because 'games are cool' or something then I'd say you're doing it for the wrong reasons.
I would have expected a 15 year old who had a serious interest to have coded up some little noddy things themselves to play about, but it sounds as though you've never programmed anything before.

I'm a professional developer and I would hate to do work on games. For what they make you do the pay is terrible and you'll frequently be working long hours to ship on time.

If you'll be happy working until 10pm to fix a bug that causes a bit of landscape not to display properly when you're in a particular position (or something equally as obscure) then it may be for you, but make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

Sorry if I sound overly negative, but I'm sure you don't want to end up doing a job that you regret by the time you're 30.

If you still think it's the thing for you then I would say maths and physics are equally as important as computer science, especially if you want to do stuff like making the engines for games.
 
UDK is pretty straight forward and nice to use to get in to games. It has a steep learning curve but then almost everything in this area does.

Start off by thinking exactly what it is about games that interests you. Do you appreciate clever level design, find 3d modeling interesting or maybe it's coming up with new cool game mechanics? When you pin point one area you really like, concentrate on that.

Personally, I started with modding games (the original Doom), changing the sounds and graphics and building levels. From there I started 3D modeling before dabbling in coding and music. I ended up working in the games industry for a few companies as a games tester (I wouldn't really recommend it). Eventually, to get out of the testing side I built a mod with a friend which took stupid amount of hours and several times of wanting to just give up (my wife only saw the back of my head for just over a year). After all that to become a level or games designer I'm now a photographer... Which was kind of a waste. :P

These days I'd recommend you learn Objective-C (you may be better to start with Java or something easier?) and do some iPhone apps, you can then go on to making small and simple games that are manageable for just a single person to make. Also, play about with UDK and see if you enjoy that and just take it from there.

To be honest I'm a little out of the loop now so my advice might not be the best. Good luck with it though, it is rewarding but a hell of a lot of work.
 
Deehjay said:
It's something I've been very ambitious about since quite a young age and I'm determined that this is the career path I want to chase.
Click to expand...

Baring in mind I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever regarding game development or even programming. I've never studied anything to do with any form of programming as I'm only 15
Click to expand...

Not to be a cynic, but the above two statements are contradictory :p
 
Deehjay said:
Will these engine programs (Unity, UDK etc) teach me about the basics? Like I say, I have no knowledge whatsoever
Click to expand...

Do you have steam?

Check out Halflife + their SDK's, lots of tutorials online and will help you get to grips with the basics.

Then try other engines and dev tools until you find something you gel with :)
 
For games development, advanced maths is an absolute must-have. To start with I'd say the best thing to do is learn an object-oriented language and get yourself used to creating classes and the ideas of inheritance, polymorphism etc. It'll stand you in good stead for the first year of a degree.

If you're serious about this, the language to learn is C/C++, however they will have a near vertical learning curve if you're starting from nothing. A good engine to start reading and understanding is the Quake 3 engine as it's now completely open source.

Also, have a look online for the best unis for computer science/games development. When I was looking Abertay Dundee and Aberystwyth were up there, although this was 12 years ago... wow, suddenly I'm old :(
 
Pick a language (I would suggest C# to begin with) and find out if you enjoy programming at all first.

From all accounts the games industry is not as glamorous as you probably think it is. Companies often take advantage of the fact that their employees have a real passion for making games by requiring them to work insane hours for long periods of time, often for very little reward. Pay in general is terrible in the games industry compared to other software development.

Source: Lots of friends went into games development after uni. Personally I joined a 'normal' software company so maybe I'm biased. I did originally want to get into games dev though.
 
If you want to be a software engineer then I wouldn't recommend games engines. Study hard at maths and programming, do computer science (not games development, or computer games technology or whatever, just plain old traditional comp sci) at the best uni you can get into.

Do that, and you should get a job at a decent company no problem.
 
Watch this video and if you still want to do it; learn Maths, programming, make little game prototypes or actual games with XNA/UDK/Pygame for your portfolio. Goto Uni study your arse off!

What area do you want to get into is an important question, so you really should consider this.

 
I did beta testing for Creature Isles - an addon to Black and White in 2001 for a week at Lionhead Studios. It was very gruelling, but a 20 min nap and food nibbles and drink kept me going. Really got an insight on how game developers work. P.s. at work so will continue this post later on....
 
Like others have said, learn math, and lots of it. The best programmers are very good at math. And if you don't go into programming, math will still help you with any kind of digital art and help you communicate with other people doing game development. You will mostly use linear algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Occasionally, you get to use some calculus.

The most active online gaming and game development community I have seen is on reddit. Start reading subreddits such as r/gamedev and r/indiegaming and you'll get a better idea of the areas of development you could go into.
 
Most game developers start out as modders for games already on the market.
The very talented modders tend to be asked to join the company in some cases, it's basically where game developers got their ideas anyway, the modding community.

So get some modding done for the games that can actually be modded, it's easier than you may think.
This is where you'll usually learn 3D modelling, animation, texture creation and to use in-house tools.
Really you only begin to learn in-depth programming when you start university, you've got a fair while to go yet ;)
 
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