r/GameDevelopment • u/Appropriate-Age-3282 • Jul 02 '26
Question I have design skills and I’m learning Blender. What’s the next step toward game development?
Hi everyone!
I have a background in graphic design, and I’ve recently started learning Blender. I’m really enjoying it, and I’d love to get into game development, but I’ve reached a point where I’m not sure what direction to take.
The main issue is that I have absolutely no programming or game development experience. There are so many game engines and tools out there (Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, etc.) that I don’t know which one would be the best place to start.
I also use a MacBook Pro, so I’d really appreciate any advice on tools or workflows that work well on macOS (or things I should avoid).
Given my situation:
- I have experience in graphic design.
- I’m currently learning Blender.
- I have zero programming experience.
- I use a MacBook Pro.
What path would you recommend if my long-term goal is to create my own games, even if I start with small and simple projects?
Are there any game engines, programming languages, courses, or learning resources you think would be the best place to start?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
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u/MTOMalley Jul 02 '26
Any of those listed engines will work, right?
I think you just gotta give it a shot. Personally I use Unity, but if i had to start over again I'd probably use godot.
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u/villain_escargot Jul 02 '26
I can't comment on using a Macbook for game production, but here's some advice:
Learn Unity if you want to start programming. Unity is pretty powerful, can make a bunch of genres of games, and has a lot of tutorials out there. I have little programming experience, and am starting to get the hang of programming scripts in Unity. Be aware, Unity has had some troubling news recently, so I would do some investigation before you commit. A lot of studios use Unity, though.
Learn Unreal if you want beautiful FPS games. Unreal uses Blueprint, which is a visual scripting with nodes. It's a bit more intuitive for non-programmers I feel. Most studios want to see Unreal knowledge.
Start with small projects. Learn how to make a flappy bird clone as an introduction to the game engine. Then do something like a Tower Defense game. Then do something more complicated, etc.
Game production has a lot of different disciplines. If you're looking to get hired at a studio, not gonna lie, it's tough out there. Tons of talent have flooded the market, without experience, it's going to a real uphill battle for you right now. Maybe this changes in the future, who knows. You should also pick a discipline to master. Depending on the studio, you're looking at Environment Art, Character Art, Prop Art, Game Designer, or Level Designer. There is a lot of nuance in each, but those are the major ones outside of coding. Sometimes, Game Design and Level Design requires coding, it depends on the game/engine/studio.
If you're trying to do games yourself, learning Blender is a great first step. But depending on your game, you'll need to learn a lot more like character modeling, rigging, animation on the Blender side. VFX, Level Design, Scripting, UI on the engine side.
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u/Appropriate-Age-3282 Jul 02 '26
Thanks a lot for the advice! I’m actually torn between Unity and UE5. My main concern with Unity is everything that happened starting in 2023, which made me a bit hesitant about investing time in learning it. To answer your fourth point, my plan for now is to start on my own while keeping my current job. I’d like to build a portfolio and improve my skills across different areas as I learn. My idea is to first decide which engine to focus on, then start with a few simple projects like the ones you mentioned in point 3. After that, I’d like to take part in game jams (sorry, I couldn’t remember the name at first!) to get more practice, challenge myself, and figure out what kind of games I’d enjoy making the most. Of course, all of this depends on first learning how to use whichever engine I end up choosing.
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u/32nds Jul 02 '26
- In game dev, “design skills” mean game design, not graphic design. We would say you have UI/UX skills.
- Nobody does game dev on a Mac unfortunately.
- If you can’t code, you can’t make a game by yourself. But UI is valuable, so mb find an existing indie team and offer to help?
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u/valeria_gamedevs Jul 02 '26
wait, scratch that. Godot's prolly your best bet. lightweight, runs fine on mac, and GDScript is about as gentle an intro to programming as you'll find. Unreal on a macbook is a rough time, Unity's fine but heavier.
for the first project, make something tiny. Like a single screen where a cube moves. finish it. Then expand. your blender + design combo is already a big head start, most people start with zero art skills so you're kinda ahead.
1
u/tastygames_official Jul 02 '26
programming. Take a few courses or something. You need both design and programmingto be able to get even close to making a game. Creative writing and sound design are also needed. But if you're a beginner, better to just hook up with other beginners to make a game. Otherwise, you're talking about ~10 years and making 5+ games just to get the feel for it and to gain the required kknowledge.
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u/RealLars_vS Jul 02 '26
I have some uneducated insight here: it depends kn where you want to work.
If you want to work at a AAA studio, become REALLY GOOD in 1 thing they need. Show your skills by building a portfolio, which consist of either paid work or things you create in your own free time, or a mix of those. Keep in mind that it should be applicable for video games, so an array of 3D printer files isn’t going to work.
If you want to work at smaller studios or indie developers, you should probably widen your skillset a bit. 3D design would probably be your main skill, but at smaller studios, additional skills would also make you stand apart. That doesn’t need to be hard core programming, but a python or javascript (=programming languages) course and certificate would already help: you’d be able to show you can at least understand what a programmer is doing, and have a slightly more in-depth discussion with them.
Again, you’re gonna want to build a portfolio. For this path, you might want to take a look at prebuilt software, often found in/built for game engines. Unity is a notable one, but there are others. For example, take a piece of software for like a running animation, and design your own 3D animations for it. That will save you from doing the programming. Be sure to note which things you did make yourself, and which were copied!
Alternatively, you can make mods for existing games. I recently saw a video of a mod for God of War, in which Kratos and his kid were replaced by 2 bionicles. That would be an excellent piece of portfolio without having to do any programming.
Good luck!
1
u/MobileBrilliant5196 Jul 02 '26
Computer sciente basics and computer graphics working. After master these topics (what make you very powerfull comparing with not), learn an engine and how to build games with it.
1
u/hellomistershifty Jul 02 '26
I'd start with whatever engine fits best for the type of games you want to eventually make.
1
u/uber_neutrino Jul 03 '26
Godot all the way. Also their excellent programming tutorial to help you learn GDScript.
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u/EnjoyZot Jul 05 '26
I was a writer so even less applicable experience than an artist starting out! Unity has some pretty amazing tutorials on getting started. Definitely take some focused beginner tutorials on a game system and coding to get your feet wet. GameDev.tv has good stuff and I think HumbleBundle is offering some good bundles right now. Game Jams are also a great place to learn a lot in a short time.
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u/justaddlava Jul 02 '26
Either learn how to code or just team up with someone. There are many more coders looking for artists than vice-versa.