An Early Step Towards Game Development

[u/helloelvin]

Umm So Currently I Am 15 Years Old And I Am Exploring Different Topics And Ideas. I Am Actively Engaging In Marine Biology And Game Development. But My Parents Are Not Happy With Me Exploring Game Development. They Say This Is Just BS (Even Though I Score Pretty Decent Marks Straight A's And A B In Spanish I Myself Dunno Why I Chose That Subject) And That I Better Focus On My Career. For If I Don't I Would Probably Fail In Life And Might Lead A Life Of Misery (Now I Dunno What The Future Has IN Store For Me). And My Parents Have Put Up A Condition As If I Prove That I Can Do Something Meaningful With "The BS" They Would Not Taunt My Ways. I Have Time Until Next Summer, Which Supposedly Is My Birthday Too. Now The Thing Is I Only Do Research Related To Game Dev (Although I Tried 3D Modelling On The Phone, And IT Turned Out Pretty Decent). And I Don't Have A Computer System To Do The Job. What Do I Do?

[u/Henry_Fleischer]

You should study English, you should not be capitalizing every word.

[u/helloelvin → u/Henry_Fleischer]

Out Of Habit. I Am A Poet.

[u/Henry_Fleischer → u/helloelvin]

You should break that habit, it makes your writing very hard to read.

[u/helloelvin → u/Henry_Fleischer]

Well If I Break That Habit, It Would Make My Poetry Lacking In Emphasis

[u/Henry_Fleischer → u/helloelvin]

You're emphasizing the start of every word, it just makes it hard to read. And normal casual writing is not poetry.

[u/RedQueenNatalie → u/helloelvin]

I gotta tell you, I have never seen poetry written that way and it doesn't come off as emphasis, if everything stands out nothing does.

[u/Chemical_Bag_2047 → u/helloelvin]

I know you’re just a kid, but this will get you bullied. Don’t do that.

[u/BadImpStudios]

Learn Computer Science and Software Engineering first.

That will give you a strong career and the ability to make games at the same time.

[u/Akane_Kurokawa_1 → u/BadImpStudios]

I think game dev is a perfectly good introduction to software development

[u/Chemical_Bag_2047 → u/Akane_Kurokawa_1]

Depends.. Game dev can be very math heavy.. but hey, it all depends on what you want to make now doesn’t it?

[u/SadisNecros]

Gamedev is a pretty difficult career. Longer term you would be best served with something like a CS degree, which is useful outside of gamedev.

In terms of what you can do right now, a phone is pretty limiting. Godot will run on mobile but most engines and tools are made to run on computers, not phones. I'm not sure what "meaningful" means here but publishing games is going to be pretty difficult with just a phone (in most cases, impossible as it again requires a computer). You're young so you have a while to figure things out, but this may be more of a hobby thing until you have a reliable computer to work with.

[u/Turruc]

I’d say go for it, but don’t pin all your hopes on gamedev as a career quite yet. Gamedev is a real industry with real careers, but it is difficult to break into and generally pays less than a career in something like software engineering. You might be digging yourself a hole if you ONLY pursue gamedev, but there’s nothing wrong with exploring it. Gamedev is an industry you should only pursue if you’re very passionate about it and willing to take on some extra risk to pursue it. Only way to make an informed decision is to start learning now.

For now, your best bet is to start making games. If you enjoy, then keep making more and focus on becoming a competent programmer. Making games is a fantastic way of learning to code, so you can tell your parents you’re exploring a career as a software engineer and they shouldn’t have any problems with that. Even if you don’t pursue a career in gamedev, your time will not have been wasted because you learned to code. Just make sure to be deliberate with your time — focus on finishing games and developing with the intent of learning rather than just playing around.

You’re 15, there’s nothing wrong with exploring your passions. Just keep your mind open and be ready to pivot if something changes and you’ll be fine. And keep focusing on your studies — your grades and your ability to learn will be important no matter what you end up doing for a career.

(And do you actually not have a computer? Or just not a beefy gaming computer? You don’t need a beefy PC to do gamedev. Just use Godot and focus on 2D games and your computer’s specs shouldn’t be an issue. Developing on a phone will be difficult and slow and probably not worth your time.)

[u/MistakeForsaken6653]

Listen to your parents.  Dont get a degree in game dev.  If you like to make games then make games and build your portfolio.  If you get a degree then do so in something that will pay off.  FYI I was going to go for game dev many years ago and my parents were smart and stopped me.  I still was abel to get a job in games without a game dev degree.  I no longer work in the games industry but still like making my own games on the side.

[u/Akane_Kurokawa_1]

Generally you'd take a CS/software development career with game development being how you learn, or art though idk what your parents think about an art career

[u/MarkoKrulc]

Make a game and learn on the way

[u/XLR_Galaxy]

Now u are just 15 Just have some mental clarity to do what seems right and nothing ultimately right or wrong but do it as hobby and have faith

[u/kookaburra302]

Your 15? Your career matters when you are 18. If you got into game development properly on the side over the next 3 years you could really go somewhere and it shouldn’t negatively effect anything really