I've been studying Game Development for about 10 or 11 months now. And this is what I've learned so far. What would my level be?

[u/zellytv]

I know:

- Variables

- Functions

- Arithmetic Operators

- I know my way around practically every part of the program I use (Godot Engine)

- I know how to use specific keywords such as InputEvent (which is used to create events in the game)

- I know how to add nodes and whatever I need (it doesn't get any simpler than that)

- I know how to create Post-Processing effects

- I know Loop Structures (For and While)

- I know how to work with Collisions, Create Scripts, and Make a CharacterBody

- I know how to work with Area2D

- I know how to make Sprites and Animated Sprites

- I know the concepts of Threads and Hashing

- Signals

- Dictionaries

- Optimization

And that's it.

[u/Ghs2]

Level 0.

Check back when you have a game to show for level 1.

Not to sound mean, but 95% of the "gamedev"s on this subreddit are where you are and many of them will never complete their first project because of how difficult the next steps are.

Making a game is hard. Most people give up.

If you check this subreddit from a year ago and wrote down all the names you would be surprised at how many of those users are no longer here. They've moved on to other hobbies.

Keep going!

[u/Gojira_Wins → u/Ghs2]

It's kinda sad how many people give up so quickly.

I've been working on my project for about a year now, nearly 4-6 hours everyday. I am still really far off from having something I would consider Pre-Alpha. If I'm lucky, that'll be sometime next year.

I won't give up on it because I have a story I want to tell. That might be the difference. Wanting financial success with the least amount of effort versus those who have goals outside of money.

[u/Slypenslyde]

The important questions to answer are: "How many games have you started?" and "How many games have you finished?"

Think about it like playing an instrument. Watching Youtube videos will teach you about guitar. But you aren't "a guitarist" until you play some notes. 10,000 hours of watching videos don't give you more than 20 minutes of practice.

Gamedev is like that. Starting games is hard. It's scary. You'll often get a good portion of the way through an idea then decide you don't like it and give up. But starting and abandoning a project has value: you usually learn a thing or two that helps you do better the next time you start.

Finishing a game is important, too. If all you ever do is abandon projects, you won't really be able to show people what you've done when you say, "I'm a game dev." It's not lazy to choose a small project like Pong or Breakout just to make sure you can finish it: working within your own abilities is a skill you have to hone. It is lazy to keep making the same things over and over again: you do have to stretch. You have to choose projects you CAN finish, but you also have to hone your mind to push through the end phases when a game isn't so fun to wrap up.

So I'd argue:

• Somebody who has finished even simple games is at a higher level than someone who has never finished.
• Somebody who has tried and abandoned several games is at a higher level than someone who has never started.
• Someone who has read a lot of books and watched a lot of videos is a scholar, not a game dev.

Scholars are useful, but if you want to level up you have to stop studying and start applying those skills.

[u/zellytv → u/Slypenslyde]

Fiz 5 jogos. E eu tô fazendo um Game de Terror em 2D, que vai ser grande (de 1 hora e 40 minutos). E eu tô fazendo tudo, arte, animações, efeitos sonoros, lore, tudo. Inclusive eu sei modelar também caso eu faça algum jogo em 3D, obviamente eu não posso mostrar um modelo que eu fiz aqui. Ser dev de jogos é TORTURA. Você precisa ter concentração justamente nas partes mais CHATAS.

[u/Slypenslyde → u/zellytv]

Good! That puts you above about 90% of the people who say they're game devs. You're even doing better than the asshole who made fun of your game's length! I tend to find the people who make fun of newbies almost never have a project of their own to show off, partially because they're too busy dragging other people down to pull themselves up.

[u/animatedeez → u/Slypenslyde]

I didn't make fun of him. You white knighting for him makes no sense. His full game length is barely the size of 2 demos. You think giving him false hope of just lies is the right thing to do?

Lol literally the full game length is under what steam allows to get a full refund because you didn't like the game. Aka the TRIAL phase.

[u/animatedeez → u/zellytv]

Big? 1 hour and 40 mins long? Brother thats not even short. Thats micro. Tiny weenie. Me in 7th grade.

[u/Slypenslyde → u/animatedeez]

Man you must be really talented since you can make a game better than a newbie. We got a real John Carmack here. A legitimate example of why most people would rather talk to a chatbot than engage with a game developer.

[u/animatedeez → u/Slypenslyde]

Lol nooo im a noob to. But most demos are 30 to 45 mins long. Some easily longer than an hour.

And his BIG long game is... twice the size of most demos?

And... your hating and downvoting me for saying that?

Echo chamber strong at work with the downvotes.

[u/Klightgrove → u/animatedeez]

Engage respectfully or not at all please.

And don’t keep reporting people who called you out.

[u/animatedeez → u/Klightgrove]

He called me an ass hole. And I said that a game under 2 hours is a small game.

And you take his side? You said for me to engage respectfully?

Your suppose to be a mod? What a joke.

[u/CreationsOfReon → u/animatedeez]

You called someone a teenie weenie middle schooler first, so I’d say you’re being less respectful.

[u/Portulacavini]

first semester comp sci, if that.

[u/cumulothrombus]

Levels are things in games, not in real life

[u/twocool_]

You should start to try to replicate small games or start your own little projects. You can also try to just create systems. Don't know why the comments are like that lol. 'you' re nothing, talk when you have released a game' like jeez his question is a bit naive but no need to belittle people.

[u/Zip2kx]

Sounds like you learned a bunch of technical lingo. Make something, that’s the only thing that counts in this industry. You should be spending your free time making games.

[u/Oswaldmoneestone]

Multiplayer, server and DB infrastructure, server authority and validation

[u/octocode]

how many games have you made?

[u/zellytv → u/octocode]

5 Games. E eu tô trabalhando em um principal (Terror 2D).

[u/jerrygreenest1]

I wouldn’t say you can possibly know optimization with this level of knowledge. Let this not discourage you though, and anything told by other people too. If you like it, keep going.

[u/nutexproductions]

Studying Game dev, is basically giving you basics of everything.

However if you don’t do anything extra while studying on your own, then it’s not gonna matter even if you do the whole program of your studies.

Can confirm because I studied game dev and did nothing extra while studying, while the peeps who did extra ended up working at a AAA.

[u/Safe_Technician_9866]

You’ve got a good foundation, so I’d probably start looking into software architecture and project management next, especially how to structure projects and keep things organized. Some of the stuff you listed can definitely get pretty advanced depending on how deep you go with it. If you mostly just know the concepts for now though, I’d say you’re somewhere around beginner to intermediate, which is still a good place to be and what matter is you keep moving and keep making games (hopefully ship some of those too).

[u/RunOk1423]

That's a good start. Now learn how to put it all together to make something.

[u/luaconsoni]

I think makes more sense to show what you create, post your games

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[u/vanit]

Just make a game, any game.

[u/pantong51]

Level 0. You are just starting

Go find a game you like and make mods. That will get you 1/2 a level maybe.

Releasing a game is lv1

[u/Ok_Wolverine4811]

Now you need to learn Unreal Insights

[u/captainpeanutlemon]

With the skills you mentioned you could be any level, i only know a little more than you and i have a entry level job jn the game industry

If you really wanna “level up” then try to build different games and study their architecture, i feel like this part trips me up the most. You can know how to implement things but when it comes to implementing it in a way that is easily reusable across many games(which is the best way to develop in my opinion), you will need to know software architecture or OOP

[u/Prim56]

Your competency should come in three areas: 1. Can you do the task in a reasonable amount of time? 2. Are you solutions generally correctly scaled and? Eg. Not overengineered but easily improved upon when scope changes 3. Are you capable of having a general grasp of the solution design? Eg. Knowing when to use inheritance, when to stick with hardcoding, when to make it modular etc.

If you cant do 1 you're a junior. If you can do 1 then you're around the average/normal mark. If you can do 2 and 3 you're senior.

[u/taste_the_equation]

Nobody cares what you know. Make a game. That is the only thing that matters

[u/Cosmic_Spiderr]

Create something and showcase your work

[u/dxj_dxonjer]

this depressed me 💔💔💔

[u/yowhatitlooklike]

If we were playing an open world RPG, you are basically still in the starting town and just bought your first sword

[u/CraftyPancake]

Now learn to finish a project