By Matthew Haas
Instructor
Computer & Info Science
Corning Community College
haas@corning-cc.edu
Creating Games Requires
A plan
A plan: what are you making?
is it feasible?
are you sure? Especially if you've never done it before.
A particular set of skills
creativity
problem solving
troubleshooting
programming
reading / observing / comprehension
attention to detail
experimentation / research
abstraction - be able to dive deep into many levels of thought
writing - ability to express thoughts
math / numerical literacy - know how to manipulate numbers in a favorable way
Follow-through
ability to focus and pay attention to minute details for long periods of time
ability to work on a large, multi-faceted, and complex problem without being able to necessarily see tangible results until it is much closer to completion
ability to experiment and dabble; there's no “recipe book” you can follow to make a game. You need to understand underlying concepts and know how to apply them in a particular situation
Avoiding dead-end temptations
GameMaker
Unity
What development environment / system / game engine you're going to use
while many of these things are productively utilized by professional game developers, they ultimately require a knowledge of the underlying basics of logic - the process of instructions the computer is performing to accomplish the task at hand.
focusing on these gamedev tools without a fundamental underlying understanding of programming and problem solving will lead to dead ends, as you will be “boxed in” with respect to what you can do
you can have the finest, latest, and greatest jet, but if you don't know how to pilot it, you're not going to be able to do all that much with it.
CREATING games is NOT the same as PLAYING games
whatever “fun” you experience playing games will NOT translate to creating games:
creating games can be frustrating
creating games will result in many failed attempts
creating games involves coming up with ideas
I daresay creating games is MORE fun than playing games, but it isn't possible until you disconnect from it needing to be as fun as playing games.
the more you want to create a game (at the cost of anything else), the less successful you will be. To become good at creating games, you need to focus on many things that don't seem game-like (programming, reading, writing, math, thinking) for an extended period of time before you are able to successfully undertake such an endeavor
CREATING games IS possible
It just takes perseverance and effort.
In my Spring 2019 Computer Organization class, we learned aspects of how the underlying hardware of a system works.
This semester, I chose (well, I asked, the class enthusiastically agreed) to explore the 1980's Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), where the aim was to create games (ROMs) as a demonstration of concepts learned and efforts expended.
language: the more languages you know, the more tools you have for expression. You'll become better at communicating.
philosophy / logic
humanities
music
learn how to program
dabble, experiment, and explore with all these skills
writing games is a form of expression. The more fluent you are in the arts of expression, the better your game writing efforts will be.
while there are an increasing number of “Game Design” programs popping up at schools, please note:
competition is EXTREMELY high. EVERYONE is wanting to get into these programs.
high competition means you need to stand out from the crowd. The more capable you are in all these skills (especially the seemingly unrelated ones to gaming) the more valuable you will be.
competition in the game industry is even higher. There's SO MUCH SUPPLY, and very little demand. Game companies have no problem getting applicants. But there are far more people WANTING to make games than are actually hired making games.
professional game design jobs are abusing and grueling. 80+ hour work weeks, tight schedules, and burn-out is very high. Roll-over is not uncommon (and with the excessive supply, replacing a vacancy is practically effortless).
Perhaps consider an alternative/insurance plan?
My typical recommendation, for those who want a well-rounded, effective, and long-term foundational preparation where one CAN do game design (but can be qualified for many other jobs) is Computer Science.
CCC has a 2 year transfer degree in Computer Science.
It is the ultimate umbrella degree, because everything else out there is basically “applied Computer Science”.
at the rate technology and the world changes, do you want to be caught up in an endless, stressful cycle of continually needing to be retrained, or do you want to take control and be able to learn how to learn (on your own), and adapt to changing patterns?
Want a taste?
Let us explore some basic concepts of problem solving:
Logic Puzzles are very useful in cultivating these abilities. A beneficial class activity I utilize is letter division puzzles. I have prepared a worksheet.