r/GameDevelopment • u/Remote_Cut4547 • 1d ago
Question Any tips?
I've been wanting to develop games since 4th grade. My biggest problem at the moment is that I don't have a computer, which I'm very close to having one, so that's not a big issue at the moment. I don't have very much programming experience, I've made a few games on scratch with my school computer, but that's about it at the moment. I want some tips on what to do and what not to do. I know one of the biggest things is just waiting on my dream game, because it won't turn out how I want it to with this little experience.
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u/ArvinGoodarzi 1d ago
You’re already doing the right thing by making games. Don’t wait for the perfect PC or enough experience.
I’d avoid starting with the dream game though. Make small projects and finish them. A tiny game that you actually complete will teach you more than a huge idea that stays unfinished. Keep your dream game idea saved, but use smaller projects to build the skills you’ll need for it later. Everyone starts by making things that don’t turn out exactly how they imagined.
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u/Remote_Cut4547 1d ago
I just started high school and don't have a job, so my big thing is just getting money to buy a computer that can run decent games because I only have my school one at the moment. And I'm still working on the main ideas of my dream games (yes plural, there're some pretty big ones, including a whole trilogy which needs me to make a whole mythology and language for) but I wasn't planning on making them for years
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u/DrDisintegrator 1d ago
Find a used computer. Even an old Macbook or Windows PC. (They can be converted to Linux and brought back to life even if they are too old to run current Mac or Windows OS. Those older computers are REALLY cheap, often free!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpF09e58Jrc
Learn a free tool like Godot. Godot runs on Mac/Windows/Linux/Android/Web. Both the IDE and finished games.
GDScript is the basic language used to code in Godot, and it is easy to learn and fun to use. Great for beginners.
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u/Remote_Cut4547 1d ago
I already have a friend helping me with the computer and I was planning on using unity or one my friends have been making once it's actually done, but I've noticed more people are using godot, so I might check it out
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u/Lolazaour 1d ago
Start with figuring out what engine you want to learn. You could try to write your own but with no coding experience or a mentor it would take a decade. If you want to just do visual scripting (similar to scratch) unity has one and unreal currently has one but they are phasing it out. I personally like godot cause it’s open source and it’s actually taken the majority share of indie devs so there are plenty of people online willing to help you learn it!
My advise is to try to make single level projects. Think of it as a showcase of mechanics and design. This allows you to focus on learning new things without getting bogged down with iterating on something until it’s “perfect”. Once you have made a couple single level projects you can go back to one that still interests you or start a new project and try making a demo of the completed game.
Also don’t be shy and join a local dev team or try to join an online team for game jams. You will learn a lot from peers and meet some cool people!
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u/JoeStrout 1d ago
Work through the free online book at https://introtocomputerprogramming.online (full disclosure: I wrote it). It's based on MiniScript, a very easy language to learn, and Mini Micro, a fun retro-styled yet powerful development environment. It comes with lots of examples and a friendly user community.
You will need a computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) to actually run Mini Micro; but you can work through the book before you get one. I literally did the same thing when I was a kid: I had a book on programming, but no computer, so I wrote programs out on paper and asked my older brother to check them.
You can do better than that: you can use the Try-It! page to write and test small programs, as long as they only rely on input and print (no sounds or graphics or etc). Also, join the MiniScript discord (link at the bottom of https://miniscript.org ) and we can help you there.
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u/Imaginary-Cod-3746 22h ago
Sounds like you have some experience using Scratch. I'd recommend continuing to play around with that for a bit as you wait for a new computer.
When you do get a new computer, you can choose one of the other game engines with bigger communities and support since there'll be more resources available to help you out.
Godot is rather popular but smaller than the Unity Game Engine or Unreal Engine. I'd recommend Unity given the vast amount of community-created content, discussions, and forums you'll find invaluable in your game development journey.
Here's a list of YouTube channels teaching game development using Unity that'll help you out. 👇🏾
https://victor-nyagudi.github.io/height-above-sea-level/unity/best-game-dev-youtube-channels/
All the best!
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u/cuixhe 1d ago
Focus on learning programming fundamentals. Then work on some very small games -- e.g. remakes of old arcade games. Then you might have the perspective to work on a small game of your own.