Why Should I Be A Game Developer?

why should I be a Game Developer?

You know…I asked myself the same question, no doubt you love video games and all that comes with it, but you always wondered what can you contribuite to the game developing arts, maybe you think that this carreer is for you…and I’m not going to lie, it’s hard, contantly…but it is trully amazing. So buckle up and I’m going to try to tell you what it is all about.
Game Developing it is like playing god…it’s cliché saying that but the truth non the less, you are building a world, telling a story, enganging in interaction and playing with people emotions, so I’m going to start with saying “if you ever wished to tell a story, to paint a picture, to programm an object, to teach something, to solve a problem or just express yourself in an artistic way…then ABSOLUTELY there is a space for you in game development.”, and you should take this to heart, there is one million way someone can contribuite ou conceptualize a game. Game itself it is a concept that is ever being changed and expanded.
If you are a young man figuring out what you wanna do with your life and is considering start in the game industry, you can find so much information on how to get started but before that, lets divide a little what you will probably learn.
First is Programming, no surprises here, right? you know that was coming. Yes, programming is hard and can be very intimidating at first, people usually reffer to a programmer as someone who turns caffeine into code…probably not a total lie but in reality it’s more like a person that can talk to computers, it’s a language after all, and if you never learned another language before, at first it’s confusing and hard to grasp, but luckly there is logic behind it that makes it easier to understand, and before you are discoureged to start programming cause it’s LOTS of numbers and letters, don’ be…programmer sconstatly look and check for answers in their codes on google, even in the most simple of subjects. It’s a language that takes time and effort, but guess what…when you learn it, you can do pretty much everything. Programming skills are not gonna be exclusive to games, the same skill will make you an possible app developer or software engineer. To be honest, one of the best things about game develpment is that feeling when you code runs without issues, it’s such a satisfying feeling…or maybe it’s just me.
Second subject it’s gonna be your learning your engine, A LOT can be said about engines, trust me, but for now let’s just talk basics when choosing your very first engine. The most popular engines nowadays are Unreal Engine and Unity…so what is the difference between them? well, they are both amazing…Unreal Engines will have more realistic graphics and more intrinsic lighting, it has all you needs as a beginner developer and a little more, it’s was built for AAA companies make these wonderful realistic games, and it shows! Sounds amazing right? an engine that has all that you need for making a beautiful game, and you are absolutely right, BUT…it’s not exactly begginer friendly, I’m sure you can dedicate yourself and use the Unreal Engine and be amazing at it but consider Unity, because it has incredible graphics an they have been updating their lighting and graphics even further to compete with Unreal, Unity engine will make you game look amazing too, what stands out as your first engine is that Unity it is very user fliendly, making it the perfect engine for you starting in game development. There is A LOT of information online, youtube tutorials to help you a long the way. There is a few details about Unity and Unreal percentage on your game, Unity is not charging on your game revenue till you make U$100.000,00 a year and Unreal Engine charges 5% of your game revenue, may not look much to you but really wheigts in game studios decision, in special indie studios. So…Why am I saying this to you? Well, I don’t want you to give yourself the anxiety that you should learn the hardest engine to make you first game and be amazing, you can make a gorgeous and cool game using a more friendly engine for begginers, but it is completely up to you.
The third subject you will probably learn it is Art Design, if your game it’s in 3D, you will learn 3D Modelling, making everything visual that composes your game, from your player character, npcs, weapons and even terrain, and much more, luckly there is free softwares like Blender to get you started right away in 3D Modelling. Personally, I made my Grimm Assets Pack with more than 50 models in a particular artstyle with less than 48 hours since I started learning 3D Modelling with Blender, I made it available for free in the Unity Store but you can sell it for how much you think your work is worth, and I highly recommend that…but more on that later. You don’t have to be the most impressive 3D Artist out there, but the software is easy enough that if you lean a few basics you can make your assets and save a few bucks and a time for you not depend on an artist to progress on your game, and if you would like being an artist so much, there is so much to learn and opportunities that being a 3D Artist gives you. If your game is 2D, there is no problem, you can make a LOT of 2D Art using Photoshop, and if you are a lover of Retro Games and Pixel art, you can make it in Photoshop as well, but there is specialized softwares for pixel art such as Aseprite.
So…you have your programming skills, your engine knowledge and Art design to start developing games, what else is there? Well…a LOT, everything else really and in between, fun things like particle systems and shaders, game design it is really “Info Heavy”, there is so MUCH to learn that something it feels overwhelming when you first get in to it, but that’s a good thing, you don’t really have to hug the world and do everything at once, start with what appeals to you the most and work from there, but there is a LOT more a person can contribuite to a game por instance, if you are a musician you can help give life to a game through sound design, if there is a particular story you want to tell or you are a writer that loves to build worlds, make a game about it, if you like puzzles and mazes, hey that level desinging, maybe you are an actor, that’s amazing, you can do voice acting and motion capture…anyway Game development it is really solving problems, one the worlds most rewarding puzzles and you can start right now for free.

Where can you get educated about the aspects of game designing? you can learn so much on youtube, there it is a LOT of content there about game development, it is all scattered around you might have to frankentein a game together, but it’s all out there for free…but if you want something more guided, there is tons of courses on Udemy for cheap prices that you definetly will make you and expert at being a beginner, a lot of you may be still a teenager and doesn’t really know how to explain to your parents that you want to be a game developer, game are at a all-time popularity but there it is still a lot of people out there that think that games are really not a viable carreer and they really coudn’t be more wrong, what you learn with game development can branch out to so many carreers and paths that will most likely lead you to great things and financial stability, and you might need a little help trying to argue your dream of being a game desinger, so stay tuned for my article on how to tell your parents that you want to be a game developer and maybe help you out.

How to make money being a beginner game developer? The skills that you learn can lead you to a great job in a studio, besides that you can make money in other ways, obviouly you can make money with you game but there is much more ways and it is only limited by your imagination, programming gives you the ability to make whatever you want and make money with it and be a business owner, making softwares or even lending your skills to someone that needs your help or even on Fiver as a freelancer, same thing as a visual artist, you can lend your expertise to someone, or even sell your assets online, there is your engine’s store like Unity Assets Store, you can also sell them on Itch.io CraftPix, Blender have their own market place for 3D Art and there is the Game Developers Market and in all theses websites you can sell Art assets, scripts, shaders and pretty much anything that you make for your own game you can sell it to others that may need the same and as you are the owner and creator of these assets you can sell them everywhere at once…it’s really up to you. That concludes this article, hope I was of some help to you future game designers.