Has playing games interested you in game design or development?

I've wanted to be a developer for a while, but two entirely different experiences actually got me developing my first game (in Unity). One was playing Undertale. It is by far one of the best experiences I've ever had in a video game, and I realized I wanted to create experiences like that. The other was watching pannenkoek2012's SM64 videos:

These videos are entrancing. He loves this game so much that he's taken its mechanics to places the developers never imagined. Designing such a system, one that's complex enough to study, and fun enough to be worth studying, would be so satisfying. So these two reasons for designing games, creating experiences and creating systems, are what finally got me developing.

It has interested me but I've never been dedicated enough to actually pursue it. I'm now kind of past the point of no return. I don't have coding skills outside of very basic knowledge, or any sort of artistic skills. I have a science degree instead.

Which I guess is some world I could if I wanted to get into like Physics simulation and go about it that way instead but honestly it would be basically like starting again and going back in time about six years at this stage. Which I'm not prepared to do.

So I am happy being an "arm chair developer" for now.

Ive been playing games since i was 5 and since then ive been going to schools for programming and designing

It has got me interested in game journalism. :)

im playing around with some ideas at the moment (basically you are the commander of an aircraft carrier type of ship).

i have wondered how they work and know at a very high level, roughly, how it all works (except AI, because thats mysticism and black magic :P). itll be yonks before i get anything meaningful working though as im basically starting from scratch. i have programming experience but game programming is a very different animal (an IT recruiter once advised me that games developers tend to have a lot of difficulty getting into different fields in IT because the skillset is so specialised and unique to the games industry. a hefty paycut is usually incurred).

im using GODOT for the engine and am just using images from dinternet for the graphics at the moment (they mostly come from freespace :P) because i dont care about the look too much at this stage. i mean i have a rough idea how i want the game to look i my head (keeping it basic because im no artist) but i want to get the nuts and bolts of the game working first.

it's something i would only do as a hobby though. the games industry is a brutal sector to work in and you have to sacrefice a lot to be in there. for me it's not worth it.

Went for "No" solely because I enjoy gaming purely as a hobby after my hours of work, in a job I'm already passionate about.

I respect what goes into the games I play, and everyone here who goes into game development I wish all the best luck.

But that's as far as I'll take it.

I like it as just a hobby.

Hearing what needs to be done to make a game, and then hoping it sells is just the most scary thing and i don't want anything to do with it.

The enjoyment from playing is all i need, don't need my fun ruined by knowing how it all works.

Yes it has and is the reason that I am in game development. The unfortunate thing is that game development is hard even with the modern gaming engines making it easier. The time and dedication needed is very high but I enjoy doing it.

Naturally. Who doesn't want to make their dream game?

I always wanted to design levels when I was younger, now I more so would love to be a part of writing aspect of games. Or voice acting. That would be fun. I usually always sound angry so just typecast me as angry grunt #1.

Half life 2! I wouldn't say it made me interested in developing, but It made me a bit more demanding in terms of what to expect in regards to game design. For example if a game shows you button prompts to do something its a major turn off. Bioshock infinite is a big offender of this. Getting button prompts really kills the immersion.

It is good to see that most responses are affirmatives. Learning about why game designers decide on certain concepts such as action genre gameplay with stats for an MMORPG when other games in the same genre are more traditional like World of Warcraft is beneficial because it adds another layer of understanding, so to speak.

Playing video games introduced me to the community I want to be a part of in life, and I'm now heading for such a career. I wouldn't be the same without it.

Oh definitely. I've been looking for the right engine to make my first game, and I think I may have found one. Just gotta learn it first.

@employee427: What kind of role do you intend to seek?

@mastermetal777: Why did you choose that engine?

@BranKetra: I'm focusing on indie design, but want to be flexible with my skill set so I can fit into whatever gaming related area. I'm also looking at game journalism.

"Gaming is an interesting field because professionals in it do research by playing video games, a form of entertainment."

Isn't that the case for any field in the entertainment, whether it be theater, music, movies, they all do research by analyzing works from their field, which are entertainment. But I would not say they simply consume (play) the products, when it comes to research. The research takes the fun out of video games usually. It's kind of like game testing, which sounds like a great job, but in reality it is not fun at all.

You could be more marketable if you specialize in something rather than being a generalist because that is what employers are looking for, currently.

I was not arguing contrary to that, but rather spotlighting the idea that people play video games as part of their job. Having said that, analysis can be fun, though I do not expect companies other than those who originally develop a game to have as rigorous testing. In documentaries that I have watched about game designers and developers such as Todd Howard, they speak about playing games for fun as well as research.

@BranKetra: I'm still in highschool and don't even learn decent coding until next year of classes, so there's time to work on getting a specific skill down.

@employee427: Consider it as advice.

If you are interested in continuing your education after high school, concentrating on a single major can lead to a job faster than if you spread out your interests to multiple fields. Computer science for example, allows for a generalist approach at the undergraduate level. Having said that, if you get into a good school then you should have opportunity to study some electives which would give you an opportunity to see the other fields that you are interested in without making graduating more difficult.

@employee427 My unwanted advice is not to wait for college to start using the game engines/ 3d programs. Knowing exactly what to expect can save you a lot of money. Most students are caught off guard by the amount of work that is involved in game development and animation. The students who dabbled before college has a much higher chance of succeeding because there isn't any shock factor.

@Pedro: I see that you develop video games. Have you noticed any trends in gaming that you have learned from to apply to your own designs or developments?

@Pedro: I've been thinking about trying to learn to code myself this summer to get a headstart. I'm saving up for an actually good, not 8 year old iMac computer, and I hope to have it before July. This is my build in case you're interested: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Yp8Mqs

@employee427: I would suggest being careful about that PC Part Picker site because I assembled a PC based on their recommendations and it did not work when I assembled it.

@BranKetra: Faulty parts. I hope you got a refund, but it should have been possible to figure out which part was causing the failure.

Also, how do you see all replies to threads you've posted on? All I get are notifications when people @ me

@employee427: Perhaps it was that or the site's recommendations were wrong. Anyway, take my suggestion or leave it.

To see all replies to thread you have posted in, you would need to go to each individual thread. You can access your forum posts in the "Forums" tab on your account page.

www.gamespot.com/profile/forums/

At the moment most of the tech and overall applications that I have used were graphics and optimization related. One core element of gameplay I try to make the foundation the gaming experience is keeping the player interactively engage and the "feels good" features. Game development is currently in an unpredictable stage. I don't think anyone is very certain of its future. Subscription gaming may be the future of gaming based on some trends.

Any particular game engine that peeks your interest?

@Pedro:I really like Source...

Source is a bit dated and I am not sure if there is any plans on updating it.

@Pedro: I really like the way it looks, and how clean it is. Games on it still look really good after 2-10 years. I thought Source 2 was coming out in a while?

@BranKetra: Unity. Simple to learn, and easy enough to make assets for.

Not even a little. Games are a hobby for me, I don't want them to become a part of my work.

Not to the point where I'd want to create my own studio, But I have dabbled in elements of Game design. Such as creating a couple custom map's for Counter-strike 1.6 and Command and Conquer : Red Alert 2 years ago. Along with recording vocal lines for some friends that are trying to create a game.

You do generally get an idea of game development if you dive into the industry long enough, or if you even care to know.

Yeah it has. Problem is that I don't have a lot of experience with coding and all that technical stuff (read: no experience at all). I'd love to work on a game in the story/ visual design department, though, because I would love to tell a story using the game medium.

@turtlethetaffer: There are many free ways to start learning about programming that could benefit you in practically any specialization that you work. If you learn to code, then you would be able to discuss the technical aspects of game development with those who concentrate in that area, and the ability to communication would add value to your skills.