Game Development: Getting Started
Many people think - I want to make games! It seems that I have a lot of ideas (although most likely they are not designed in any way), and in other games I see all the shortcomings at first glance and I can express my thoughts coherently and consistently, but ... Something is missing! What exactly to do if you want to try yourself in the field of igrostroya? There are only two ways: to make games as part of some professional team or to make games yourself. But even a quick overview in my region (St. Petersburg) showed that such a position as a “Junior Game Designer”, in principle, does not exist. And not even junior positions are very rare.
Apparently, this is a closed kitchen, which is difficult to get into from the side. From here there is another solution - to go to the office that produces the games independently for any open position, naturally, if you have the appropriate qualifications). But even here there is a nuance, personal experience tells me that being an ordinary developer, the chances of participating in writing GDD (yes, in principle, and any other TK) or at least in forming the initial requirements for it are very insignificant. There will simply be no time for this, and at general assemblies, with the participation of all departments, if any, you can learn only very, oddly enough, general concepts.
In order to fully make the game yourself, it’s necessary that there are too many stars, I’ll not consider this option now, I’ll just say that this is not my way (at the moment).
So what then to do? Now I will try to formulate a few theses, which, it seems to me, should help people who consider themselves novice game designers to at least begin to move at least somewhere).
1) Write, write and write again.
Write down all the ideas that come to mind. Ideas can grow into a full-fledged GDD, and sketches - into stories, and they, in turn, again in the plot for the game. And even if not, then once again to practice writing will not hurt. Indeed, in more or less large projects, a full-fledged script, dialogues of the main characters, a description of the missions, and even banal replicas of secondary characters are required. All this is written (well, I read it for sure), including the game designer.
')
2) Decide on the platform and genres.
Here, perhaps, many will say that the main idea, and where to implement it is a minor issue. But the game designer, it seems to me, should not only define the overall concept of the game, work out various mechanics, determine the style of the game world, but also tolerably own technical issues: engine capabilities, traffic volumes, issues related to the acquisition of game currency, etc. It seems to me that the range of issues related to the technical implementation of games is so wide that it is possible to study them only for years, therefore I will conditionally highlight the following areas:
a) PC games
b) Game consoles
c) Browser games
d) Mobile Games
e) Board Games
In order not to drown in a variety of complex engines, in the beginning, it seems to me, you should focus on the game for browsers, and of course the desktop. In the latter, in practice, you can even test the balance and see how this or that mechanic works.
The genre, it seems to me, is not so important which one to choose, you just need to understand that taking up the writing of your first GDD, based on the idea of ​​an RPG-style game or strategy, you may encounter so many underwater (and not so) stones that will disappear every hunt to do it. It is better to try with simpler genres, for example, a scrolling shooter or a tower defense.
3) Follow the news.
To be aware of the latest events in the world of games, at least, in the niche that you have chosen for yourself. What games came out, what technologies are used in their creation and maintenance. Why this or that game failed or, on the contrary, hit the top of Google Play. Not bad as to have an opinion on this)
4) Play games.
To constantly play new (and especially) old games. Even if they seem unsuccessful to you, always try to play the games to the end - this way you can see some non-standard techniques and moves from the developers and understand better what the potential user of your future game will be interested in, and what's not. This is especially true of old games, for example, for NES or SMD, when the modest capabilities of consoles made game producers think more about the plot and gameplay.
5) Bring the matter to the end.
It is very important (at least for yourself) to complete at least one GDD. It is possible to make corrections for him to “linger” for a week, to look again with a “non-shallow” look. Give friends to read, put on profile sites / forums and get at least some feedback. But opening your “creation” to the world, you need to be prepared for criticism (often, far from being constructive), and maybe even to completely ignore your ideas and texts. This, too, can significantly reduce enthusiasm, or even completely make it stop further attempts to engage in writing. Well, it means not really wanted.
6) Build a portfolio.
As a result of the implementation of the above points, in the end, we may have a dozen completed GDDs, perhaps even with game prototypes written on something and other accompanying literary material. Collected together in a resume, this can serve as a portfolio (albeit without real work experience), which you can already try to show to a potential employer.
I understand that a game of a game developer’s office probably has a lot of developments, which simply don’t have enough resources to implement, but perhaps they’re not so interested in the ideas themselves as in their implementation.
I wonder what the community thinks about this opportunity to get into game dev. Maybe someone went this way and is now a game designer. Or maybe everything here is written nonsense and completely unrealizable in our universe?
Apparently, this is a closed kitchen, which is difficult to get into from the side. From here there is another solution - to go to the office that produces the games independently for any open position, naturally, if you have the appropriate qualifications). But even here there is a nuance, personal experience tells me that being an ordinary developer, the chances of participating in writing GDD (yes, in principle, and any other TK) or at least in forming the initial requirements for it are very insignificant. There will simply be no time for this, and at general assemblies, with the participation of all departments, if any, you can learn only very, oddly enough, general concepts.
In order to fully make the game yourself, it’s necessary that there are too many stars, I’ll not consider this option now, I’ll just say that this is not my way (at the moment).
So what then to do? Now I will try to formulate a few theses, which, it seems to me, should help people who consider themselves novice game designers to at least begin to move at least somewhere).
1) Write, write and write again.
Write down all the ideas that come to mind. Ideas can grow into a full-fledged GDD, and sketches - into stories, and they, in turn, again in the plot for the game. And even if not, then once again to practice writing will not hurt. Indeed, in more or less large projects, a full-fledged script, dialogues of the main characters, a description of the missions, and even banal replicas of secondary characters are required. All this is written (well, I read it for sure), including the game designer.
')
2) Decide on the platform and genres.
Here, perhaps, many will say that the main idea, and where to implement it is a minor issue. But the game designer, it seems to me, should not only define the overall concept of the game, work out various mechanics, determine the style of the game world, but also tolerably own technical issues: engine capabilities, traffic volumes, issues related to the acquisition of game currency, etc. It seems to me that the range of issues related to the technical implementation of games is so wide that it is possible to study them only for years, therefore I will conditionally highlight the following areas:
a) PC games
b) Game consoles
c) Browser games
d) Mobile Games
e) Board Games
In order not to drown in a variety of complex engines, in the beginning, it seems to me, you should focus on the game for browsers, and of course the desktop. In the latter, in practice, you can even test the balance and see how this or that mechanic works.
The genre, it seems to me, is not so important which one to choose, you just need to understand that taking up the writing of your first GDD, based on the idea of ​​an RPG-style game or strategy, you may encounter so many underwater (and not so) stones that will disappear every hunt to do it. It is better to try with simpler genres, for example, a scrolling shooter or a tower defense.
3) Follow the news.
To be aware of the latest events in the world of games, at least, in the niche that you have chosen for yourself. What games came out, what technologies are used in their creation and maintenance. Why this or that game failed or, on the contrary, hit the top of Google Play. Not bad as to have an opinion on this)
4) Play games.
To constantly play new (and especially) old games. Even if they seem unsuccessful to you, always try to play the games to the end - this way you can see some non-standard techniques and moves from the developers and understand better what the potential user of your future game will be interested in, and what's not. This is especially true of old games, for example, for NES or SMD, when the modest capabilities of consoles made game producers think more about the plot and gameplay.
5) Bring the matter to the end.
It is very important (at least for yourself) to complete at least one GDD. It is possible to make corrections for him to “linger” for a week, to look again with a “non-shallow” look. Give friends to read, put on profile sites / forums and get at least some feedback. But opening your “creation” to the world, you need to be prepared for criticism (often, far from being constructive), and maybe even to completely ignore your ideas and texts. This, too, can significantly reduce enthusiasm, or even completely make it stop further attempts to engage in writing. Well, it means not really wanted.
6) Build a portfolio.
As a result of the implementation of the above points, in the end, we may have a dozen completed GDDs, perhaps even with game prototypes written on something and other accompanying literary material. Collected together in a resume, this can serve as a portfolio (albeit without real work experience), which you can already try to show to a potential employer.
I understand that a game of a game developer’s office probably has a lot of developments, which simply don’t have enough resources to implement, but perhaps they’re not so interested in the ideas themselves as in their implementation.
I wonder what the community thinks about this opportunity to get into game dev. Maybe someone went this way and is now a game designer. Or maybe everything here is written nonsense and completely unrealizable in our universe?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/223517/
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