#getting started with game development

[askagamedev]

What would be your advice for an undergrad comp sci student who wants to get into gamedev?

It has never been easier to get into game dev than now. Pick a tool - Unity, Unreal, Game Maker, RPG Maker, whatever. Do some tutorials to get the program set up and working. Try to build your own game. Start small, build something interesting - especially to you. That's really it - there's no real barriers to get into game dev anymore. Even if you don't know how to code, do art, or do anything, you can learn. There are many tutorials out there to teach you how to do things. Work your way through them and learn. Then, use what you learned to make stuff. Learn from the process of making stuff and you'll get better at it. That's really all there is to it - try stuff, see how it works, fix the broken bits, then try again. Repeat until you've got something to play.

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[askagamedev]

So, I've been meaning to get back into game dev. Should I start with something simple and scrape by with what I have or go with a big and ambitious idea?

Always start small. Pay attention to what you learn, finish what you start, then parlay what you learned from finishing that project into another, bigger subsequent project. Take on progressively harder and more ambitious projects, which will result in the virtuous cycle of increasing your skills and your ability to determine what you're capable of, which will allow you to take on more ambitious projects.

When you lift weights, you don't just go straight to the heaviest weights at the start - that's how you get injured. Instead, you build up strength with weights just heavy enough to require effort to complete the set, but not heavy enough to cause permanent injury. When you want to go distance running, you don't jump straight into a full marathon, you'll wreck yourself and get injured. You start by running a kilometer comfortably, then two, then three, and slowly building up your ability until you can do the full marathon.

Jumping straight into your magnum opus game development project is no different. You want to start small, then gradually increase what you're capable of over time. We do this in professional circles by starting as a junior with lesser scope and responsibility, then leveling up to mid and senior levels by increasing scope and responsibility gradually. We do this in most amateur circles as well - you learn to cook eggs, rice, and other simple things before trying to bake your own croquembouche or smoke a craft barbecue brisket. Figure out where you are, then take on progressively harder tasks to level up and increase your ability.

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[askagamedev]

I’ve got two questions if you don’t mind:

1.) when making a game what’s the best place to start? (Story, character design, etc?)

2.) most have their brand/developer names, but do you need one to publish games?

Thanks in advance from a solo dev!

Sure, I can answer both.

1.) when making a game what’s the best place to start?

Always start with core gameplay. What will the player actually be doing? The player must be an active participant in whatever is happening in the game. If players are just going to sit and watch passively, they aren't playing a game at all - they're watching a show. What makes something a game is the active participation of one or more players to drive progress and make choices. In order to figure out how the player participates, you need to think about the various things the players will be doing and how those things are fun. A good rule of thumb is to list the actions as verbs. In a game like Call of Duty, the player verbs would be running, jumping, aiming, shooting, and throwing grenades. In a game like Street Fighter, the player verbs would be punching, kicking, jumping, blocking, crouching, throwing, walking, and performing special moves. Think about the actions player will be doing in your game and how you will build that out.

2.) most have their brand/developer names, but do you need one to publish games?

You don't absolutely need to have a separate brand or name to release a game - several solo devs have gone the route of full transparency. However, having a brand name does help to establish a separation of your work from you as a human being. That kind of association is pretty much permanent because the internet never forgets. Having the game, its community, and anything you post indelibly tied to any of your other public-facing actions on the internet (including personal social media posts) can be a double-edged sword. Having an intermediary name/entity be a shield can help a lot when you need it, and going 100% public is something that can't be taken back.

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[askagamedev]

I'm a recent computer science graduate and finished my military duty, where I also developed a strong concept for my first game. Game development is my passion, and I’d love to pursue it full-time, but I’m unsure if going indie can provide enough financial stability at the start. Should I focus on funding and self-publishing, or look for a stable job in the industry or another field and keep game dev as a hobby for now? My friends think I could succeed as an influencer if I started streaming, but I’m also unsure if I want to specialize—programming might be an option.

It's important to remember that you're still in your early levels and there's a lot of the tech tree you haven't yet explored. In the ideal scenario, you'll manage to find a job in the industry and use it to level up your skills. You'll be able to earn the skills and experience needed to make your dream game real while building other games and seeing some best practices in action.

Outside of the ideal scenario, I think that finding a job that can pay the bills and leave you with enough free time to spend on your passion is a worthwhile endeavor. The amount of crossover from regular software engineering and game development is not nil, and leveling up in software engineering is a net positive towards making your dream game work out too... and programming generally pays a lot better than indie dev work. You can even consider the day job as a means to earn some funding to build a demo that you can use to shop around for investors and further funding.

I would caution against starting off with streaming too - these are two entirely separate pastimes and require different sets of skills. I don't know how you operate - maybe you're naturally gifted at juggling multiple things at once or perhaps you have the gift of the gab so that you can keep an audience engaged while speaking into the void and also concentrating at the same time. I just know that it's difficult enough getting started without a lot of experience in one thing, let alone multiple things at once.

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[askagamedev]

Hi there! I am planning on making a jrpg style game, but was thinking of making fan games of other jrpgs to gain knowledge and experience, is it a good idea?

Yes, I think it is a good idea. It's always a good idea to practice and level up your skills, and it's important to remember that game development disciplines - design, programming, art, etc. - are skills. Because they are skills, practicing and earning experience with them will greatly expand your ability to make game content and features. It's always important to remember that you don't need to make your dream game first - you're always going to run into pitfalls and problems you didn't know existed while you figure out how to make stuff. Once you know how to make stuff, you can revisit your grand ideas and have the ability to come up with actual ways to make them real. This all comes from experience. Once upon a time, I could only dream of being able to make my own game. Now that I've leveled up so much, it's more often a question of what I want to do and how I'm going to do it.

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[askagamedev]

Hi, I just happened on your blog through a google search, as I am desperately trying to learn about the game's industry scenes and where to go for them. I really want to get involved with the game's industry and get into game design. I also want to pair that with becoming involved with a game industry community. Unfortunately, I am not sure where the bulk of the industry scenes are. I live in California (San Diego area). My question is: where is the industry scene, and where in SD can I find it?

You can try using [GameDevMap] and looking in your area. The website is updated fairly frequently (last update as of this posting was Feb 16th, 2025) and it collects the various developers, publishers, mobile, online, and gaming-adjacent companies across the world. They currently have [39 different game dev studios] listed in the San Diego area.

If you're interested in finding local game developers to talk to and chat with, there's also the [International Game Developers Association] (IGDA) which is a non-profit that hosts events and get-togethers for game devs to network and learn. There is an [IGDA Chapter in San Diego] that you can reach out to - they host Game Jams, Workshops, and even Mixers to meet up and talk with folks on a monthly basis.

These are how I would start reaching out to find my the local game developer community. Cheers.

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