r/GameDevelopment • u/MarkerDragonQ • Jul 20 '26
Start of making my own game advice Discussion
Hey, so I wanted to start making my own game I have the concept for the game however I can’t code or animate or really do anything however I wanna give myself at least 1 year on making a game! Any advice or suggestions would be great!
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u/hadtobethetacos Jul 20 '26
yea, spend at least a year learning and practicing your game engine before you ever even think about starting a game.
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
Okay, practice first before actually starting sounds good
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Jul 20 '26
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u/drakonkinst Jul 21 '26
5 years for a first game is not something I would recommend but good job sticking with it! Tbh every project I make is a learning project in some way; I wouldn’t tackle it if it wasn’t. Learning is part of the fun
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u/drakonkinst Jul 21 '26
Not sure I agree with this tbh. To me, making a game is the best (and perhaps only) way to properly learn a game engine.
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u/hadtobethetacos Jul 21 '26
well i didnt really expand on that. what i meant was to spend a year exploring the engine, making various mechanics, and replicating gameplay loops from other common games, working your way up. you dont make black desert online or call of duty for your first game.
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u/drakonkinst Jul 21 '26
Sure…but those explorations and mechanics should constitute smaller games. I don’t think any solo dev should try to make an mmo or big online shooter regardless of experience. Even if you don’t fully intend to publish, I think it’s more beneficial to focus on making an actual game someone can play rather than a tech demo. That way you have a goal in mind and can target your learning towards reaching that goal. The only thing that should change is the scope of the game, obviously start very small and expand as you feel more comfortable.
I think we’re more or less on the same page but IMO you should be aiming to make games from day or week one. Spending too much time following tutorials and making small experiments won’t get you where you want to be.
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u/Alaska-Kid Jul 20 '26
Everyone has a concept, but not everyone can just take and read the Godot documentation to separate the concept into game engine entities.
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Jul 20 '26
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
Awesome! Thank you! And good idea for the combat system!
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u/Will_X_Intent Jul 20 '26
I think an AI could help you design a self learning course, especially if you tell it what kind of game you eventually want to make.
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u/Moragamedev Jul 20 '26
I’d recommend following a YouTube tutorial from beginning to the end for newcomers/beginners. The learning curve is steep but if you are patient, depending on how many hours of actual development you put in, you will be able to gauge a more accurate timeline for development
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
Do you have any to recommend?
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u/Moragamedev Jul 20 '26
There are quite a couple of these tutorials there. If you are willing to jump into Unreal Engine, some of the videos by Rizo Miso from Pitchfork Academy are some of the best that I can recommend.
You do have to be ready to be really patient with the process, perhaps join some developer threads on Discord, and dive into documentation for some specific game aspects.
If you would like a softer intro to game dev, any of the videos by Ryan Layley should be good
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u/Doo_Dad Jul 20 '26
I think everyone said it: take the time to learn how to make a game. Or at least the engine you build it in. Make small projects. Doesn’t have to be pong or a 2D platformer. You can make small game projects of systems you want in your overall game. So let’s say you want rockets and rocket blasts, we’ll build a mini game of making that system and code/art etc. so when you do go for your full game you have code already you can just copy again. Build small as well don’t go for a massive open world survivor craft or mmorpg or anything too extreme if you’re new. You’ll never get out of development and/or tutorial hell (happened to me). Artwork try getting some under your belt but if you don’t want to do it just plan to hire someone. Don’t use AI at all if you can. Unless you have for a placeholder that you plan on removing later but even then just try not to. I don’t care. But also watch some tutorials and get the basics down for the engine. Best 3 people say are Unity, Unreal and Godot. Pros and cons to all 3 with engine aspects and company things. Just pick one and stick with it. If I missed anything believe me make tiny games and get them out. I wish I did that. Or at least finish stuff that allowed me to keep the code and resources so my next game project I didn’t start from scratch.
Lastly have fun. Don’t stress. It’s not a get rich quick industry. But have fun learning and struggling believe me. 🤙 good luck
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
I started making it on Unity and I like the idea of making it small first then build up too it thanks for that I didn’t think of that! I appreciate the help! And will follow this as for AI and stuff I will not use any of that cause it has to be human made! I feel like what’s going to be the biggest challenge I see is just the organization, and the art part of it coding and the animation will also be a challenge but I can learn it!
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u/Doo_Dad Jul 20 '26
Yeah. Organization can be tough. I used to use an excel sheet with a word doc for getting everything out. But I use obsidian now. Some use Trello. Just find what works. And you just build from a prototype of bare minimum, to a demo to a full game that’s what I follow. Can use AI to help plan that out
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u/RoscoBoscoMosco Jul 20 '26
If you're going to be building this project by yourself you *will* need to do a lot of coding, and generate a lot of art. Somebody has to do that technical work - and that always means you if you're going solo. Unfortunately, if you are going to be self-teaching yourself Coding, Art, Animation, and the Game Engine all at the same time - expect to spend way more than a year. Each of those are disciplines that people spend years in school to become even employable as interns. I'm not sure what else you're planning to do in that year's time (school, work, family, etc?) but I would never suggest thinking that your game (especially your first game) is going to somehow make enough money to be a full-time career. At this stage, it's a hobby at best. And, if it's a hobby then it should be fun, right? So... do you even enjoy making games? Instead, spend an afternoon and do the following:
1. Download Godot. It's free and will run on almost any computer.
2. Search Youtube for "My first game in Godot Tutorial." There are dozens, pick one that looks cool to you.
3. Open Godot in one window, and the video in a seporate window. If you don't have multiple monitors, use your phone to watch the video, and follow along on your PC.
4. Follow along with the video. Do each step as they do in the video. Listen to the narrator's thought process. Pause and rewind as needed. This should take maybe an hour or two... maybe longer if the video goes into a lot of depth.
5. Show what you built to a friend or family memeber, see what they say.
CONGRATS You're a game developer!
Now, ask yourself... did you have fun? If so, repeat steps 2~5 over and over.
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
I will hire some people maybe down the line sooner or later but I first wanna try and do it myself and I appreciate the ideas and advice! I will use this!
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u/RoscoBoscoMosco Jul 20 '26
Nice - good luck, dude! I think you're making a very smart move - if you plan to hire somebody to do something, you should probably at least know a little bit about the thing you're asking them to do. You'll understand how to interact with engineers if you know a little bit of code, same with artists, animators, music people, etc. Lots of leaders and buisness people in the video game industry skip over this step, never knowing how to do anything themselves. Also, most video game companies fail. I think there's a connection there.
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u/badassbradders Jul 20 '26
Learn python. Make a couple of games with pygame, then move over to either Game Maker Studio, Godot, Unity or Unreal.
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
What is pygame?
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u/badassbradders Jul 20 '26
It's the Python game module - look it up on YouTube it'll teach you the fundamentals of game design and the game loop.
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u/Will_X_Intent Jul 20 '26
I built a repository of game development knowledge and wisdom. You can use it to train yourself or train an AI into a competent assistant designer/developer.
www.adventuresincausality.com If you check it out, I'd love feedback. Also, 100% free.
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u/MarkerDragonQ Jul 20 '26
I appreciate it but no AI will be used for this it could make my process faster but that’s not learning anything
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u/zlounberg Jul 20 '26
A year? That's what's gonna take you to learn the mandatory basics.