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How to start developing games even if you were an accountant before

Before I became a game developer, I (and everything in my environment) considered myself a site designer.
Not bad, by the way, but the site designer. A profession that is almost never used in game development.


There is such a stereotype - when someone says that he develops games without a team, everyone immediately introduces him to a programmer. In fact, the stereotype is not so far from the truth: most likely, the developer described above can really program, but he may not consider himself a programmer.

After one game project with a stream of the entire development process, beginner developers often write to me, ask for something, show something and complain about something. Recently, I had to get into a dispute between two guys, where the topic of the dispute was: “What is better to know 3d-modeling or programming, if you are going to develop games?”. He got into a dispute with the proposal to take the first step from the scheme that was born in the process of participating in game projects and creating his own.

Step 0. Become a game developer


It is the first, or rather even “zero”, step that will make you immediately the game developers. These are not projects that you may already have behind you, not skills you may own, but a simple but very important step: tell yourself, and at the same time the whole world, that you are a game developer. As soon as you answer the question of what you are doing - game development, you will immediately become for yourself and those around the game developer.
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How to say this to yourself and others?

I am sure that you already have some kind of profession. I am also sure that you visit sites / forums related to your profession every day, read blogs and maybe even books.
The first thing to do to become a game developer:


Everything, you are a game developer . Indeed, an elementary step can give you access to such a “closed” profession as a game developer. True, without experience and regalia, but no one ( neither you nor those around you ) will ever dispute that you are a game developer.

Step 1. Find yourself an application as a game developer.


Now, when you can safely consider yourself a game developer, you need to find a use for yourself. As writers can stay in two states: they are looking for the idea of ​​a book, they are writing a book, and so are the developers: they are looking for a project (idea), they are doing a project. Sometimes, of course, they also support the project, but personally I always combine it with the process of finding a new one.

The words “find a project” mean something different for each game developer, here’s a list of popular ways to search for projects:

You need to get out of the “project search” state as quickly as possible , and it is advisable to go to the “make a project” state and make a project with chances of success: release and popularity.

This stage is the first check for a novice developer. Making a choice in the absence of experience is very difficult, but, fortunately, any choice will bring us experience.

Here are some tips for completing this step:
  1. Start something of your own . Its from idea to realization alone. Even if you have programming skills or draw a fair amount, don’t join existing projects. Do something small, not requiring serious skills.
    For example, I made my mother a gift for NG - a 3D game using the psychological method:
    I had no experience developing in C # and I didn’t know how to program (I knew a little python) and had never modeled before.
  2. Tell yourself the passphrase: “ If someone could, I can too .” No matter how ready you are for the game project, there will always be a task that you have never encountered. For example, even experienced software programmers often have no experience creating shaders. Tell yourself the code phrase and learn along the way .
  3. Find like-minded people . I was greatly helped in my development: Skype chat for social game developers (now the creators: Pripyat 3D Voice, Tanks Heroes, Contract Wars, Battle, and many others) , as well as classmates from Scream School in the course of game design . Their success will push you, and the exchange of experience will accelerate the development process.
  4. Choose a platform for development . Identify the platform that suits you. This may be, for example, Unity - for its capabilities, a huge community and a relatively low entry threshold. Regardless of the platform, become its evangelist . This will allow you to establish communication with other developers and develop faster.
  5. Do not let emotions take up . Errors and failures will become your companions for a long period, and if you share the development process with Russian-speaking developers, be prepared for tons of shit a lot of negative feedback. Do not let emotions take up: listen to any feedback and suggestions, but treat everything with the necessary criticism. Keep your mind critical .

Step 2. Help yourself finish at least ONE project!


If you finished your first project as a game developer, most likely you did something wrong. Even an epileptoid will not be able to finish his first project, and by the first release he will have a couple of (minimum) frozen projects in the archive. This is normal . We learn from our mistakes, and only idiots or those who do nothing do not commit them.
But at some point you will need to collect all your experience from trial and error, and finally make your first release .
Each developer has his own story of the first release, but I have a couple of tips that will help you:

  1. Throw yourself in extreme conditions , and release them. Set yourself a real, but very short time for release, for example, 48 hours or a week, but you will sleep 4 hours a day. This will give a strong push, make optimal use of time and focus on the result.
    • Short time
      By squeezing deadlines, do not leave yourself time to risk. Squeeze to the last, a 48-hour example is a good one.
    • Lack of sleep
      Complete or almost complete lack of sleep is a good motivator, but do not go to extremes. Practice shows that even a young body should be given rest.
    • Time management
      You should not allocate a lot of time for time management, but do not forget to set yourself milestones (milestone). For example, tell yourself that after 5 hours you need to make a playable prototype.
      For example, in my first 48-hour marathon (I just drew on it) , I found the style of the game for the first third of the time, I drew the main, game screen and all the sprites of the enemies. And for the remaining time, I made 170+ animation sprites and finished the interface.

    • Contests , especially events, such as HackDays or Ludum Dare, where there is no time to think and have to rush to work right away, are a great help for the points above.

  2. Set yourself a frame . For the first release, especially in a short time, it is critical to know the scope of the project. Write yourself a minimum of what is needed for the release, and do not go out of it. Of necessity:
    • Trim the list of features
      It would be great to make it possible to fly on airplanes, but if you are making an infantry shooter, focus on shooting.
    • Reduce play time
      You probably expected to make a single player for 5 hours of play, but you will be a winner with a demo for 20 minutes.
    • Remove some content
      Of course, an additional map will not be superfluous for your tactical shooter, but the release will remain a release even with one card.

  3. Look for simple ways . Remind yourself that you need a release, not a masterpiece . You have the right to make mistakes, but you have lost the right to freeze the project.
    • Use crutches and hardcodes
      Do not focus on the versatility or performance of the code. Optimization will also wait. Just go to the result.
    • Copy and not invent
      If there are difficulties with the answer to any question before you, copy the decision of colleagues.
    • Use experience 150%
      Accounting for mistakes made is undoubtedly good, but as long as you made them, you collected baggage of work. Try to use something from it.
    • Connect all resources
      If you have friends who are ready to help, do not give up, and if you have a monetary resource, invest (buy ready-made solutions, content and working hands). Your investment will pay off in the future.


Step 3. Make a full release


When the past steps are behind: the release is over and the experience is already there, I want your hobby (non-income occupation) to become a real profession and a source of good, steady income. Each developer understands that for this he needs a full release, not the one (s) that we got from the second step, but a full release with a chance of success. Alas, but the release from the last step is only needed to feel victory, not success.

Making a full release is already a task with a million solutions, and you will definitely have a solution by the time you have the opportunity to create it. But here are some tips for real indie (guys that live hardcore and develop their games without the publisher’s investments and money):
  1. Do a project every day . All indie beginners have classes with which they have to combine development. But do not forget to add at least one line of code or a new sprite to the game every single day. This is very important, this is item number 1.
  2. Set yourself small tasks and try to do them every day. A long open task, for example: “developing an inventory system”, can quickly turn into a “hanging” with a very low priority. Set the task “Interface of the main inventory window” and close it on the same day, and then enjoy the progress.
  3. Two steps forward, one to the side . No matter how varied you are planning a game, you should not immediately make 50 types of enemies and thousands of levels. Focus on the realization of the player’s capabilities, not on how to manifest them. Do you do slasher? - Implement the opportunity to cut down the enemy, and clone the enemies.
  4. Prototype . When you are focused on this release, you need to be aware that the game should be good . You can verify this by prototyping.
  5. You make the game . Do not make your game engine or framework. No, I'm not talking about the purity of the code or the ability to reuse it. Work well and the result will be good. You should not realize the opportunities before you realize that they are really necessary for your game . For example, if you are not sure that it will be possible to change the color of the hero's clothes, you should not draw a mask to change the color in the shader. Make sure your design implies the presence of items before creating the Item class.
  6. And most importantly ... Do not be afraid to go back to step 2 . Perhaps not yet time for this release.

Successful releases and rapid development.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/191236/

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