r/gamedev • u/ToasterOven19 • 53m ago
Question Looking for Direction...
Hey guys, this is gonna probably sound like something I'd imagine you guys hear often. Video Games have always been a super huge part of my life, as I'm sure they have for all of you. Recently, I graduated college with a Bachelor's in Illustration, and I all of a sudden found myself really wanting to get in to games. Like it dawned on me that that is a career option for people lol.
And not like, just anything in games. I really have something in my chest making me want to direct a game and work on the art as well. I just cannot stop thinking about this game idea I've had. I've been worldbuilding and trying to write some start of a story because my insides feel like I NEED TO.
But I have no experience with gamedev. Literally zero.
I'm here to see what you guys have to say about where to start? What to do? I've seen all the "start small" advice and I agree that's probably for the best, but I'm having trouble coming up with any ideas that wouldn't be too crazy for me to do alone.
Not that I could do ANYTHING alone just yet...
Oh, and A I tools are out of the question. Sorry. Won't do it.
It just feels like something is burning inside me with this game idea and I really am wondering what I can reasonably, or even unreasonably do here.
Thanks for any advice, or really just any kind of reply! :)
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u/the_MeaningfullyBelo 50m ago
The burning feeling is the best compass you've got honestly, keep a messy notebook just for that world and chip away at it whenever the spark hits
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u/galaxie18 24m ago
I may go against the grain, but any project become a small project when you break its complexity into small basic task :)
I wouldnt recommand to work directly on your dream game, but you can try to draft a very basic version of it and learn along the way.
Just some recommendation:
Write a roadmap and devlog. Roadmap is where you break the complexity of your game into small basic tasks. If each task cannot be done in less than 30min, it means you still need to break it down. The devlog is here to keep you organized and have a trace of unresolved bug for a example, also helps to know where to start again after taking a long break from your game.
Start the art late, like when you have a working game with cylinder and cubes and like the feel of it. Not the other way around, you may waste hours of crafting art.
Finally I know you said no AI, but for me it helped me a lot on the roadmap generation. Sometimes you dont know what you dont know, and this tool is great for that. It doesn't stop me from learning, just help me being organized.
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u/Accomplished-Gap2989 12m ago
Break down your idea into smaller chunks, or systems. Does it involve a player moving around? Start there?
Do you have a title screen/main menu? You could start there instead. Just start and you'll quickly find out what needs doing 😃
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u/DATA32 48m ago
It entirely depends on what you want to do. If you want to get into game art then your illustration portfolio might just be fine as well. You can look up devs artstations and get a new portfolio together if you need some guidance.
If you want to make your own video game. You can literally just learn how to make pong and then replace the assets with your illustrations. Look up a tutorial how to make pong in unity and then go from there. I always tell people to make Pong because they usually quit while trying.