I’m Stephen, a 15 based in Scotland and my dream is to pursue Game Development as I used to make small mods for a game called Minecraft and some things there limited me of making my very own creation. So I’ve turned to making my own game. Before I get any feed back on marketing, my skills for that part of the games industry and in general is good. I have basic programming knowledge or know how some languages work; java and html5 and that’s about it. But I know for sure game development is what I want to do don’t question me as I cannot be bothered explaining, as long as I know I am good. But where and how did you guys start? I’ve set a challenge of 365 days for me to challenge/release my first game in that time as I plan to leave school at the end of the year. The best advice is highly appreciated.
Get acquainted with the editor, and then start working, it’s best to learn as you work on a project. As you figure out what game you want to do, keep in mind what you’ll be able to accomplish within the time that you have set. After you’ve worked on it for a bit, consider based off what you’ve done so far whether your goal is realistic.
Well, a bit of advice: Don’t give up. I estimate that over 75% of people your age give up with C++ and/or UE4 within 6 months of starting to use it. Let me just tell you that HTML5 will probably not help one bit, but some Java knowledge can help, simply because I assume you are somewhat familiar with how things work in game pipe-lining. I am 16, and I also quit school, so another piece of advice is to not waste time. Rather than watching TV and goofing off, it is far more worth your time to learn UE4, and use that knowledge for the future, I am already freelancing and bringing in a little bit of money. As far as your year challenge goes, it is completely doable, have you heard of the Game Jam? It is a 72 hour competition in which contestants make the best game possible that fits the theme. My team and I are entering, and have a fairly decent game (Which I think belongs on Steam after some polishing).
I do have a question, why are you only looking at 2d at the moment? 3D has so many possibilities, and it really isn’t all that much more work for a 3d game vs 2d. Anyways, good luck, and have fun!
I started with learning the engine -> take a look at the official videos from epic games
After I knew how to use all the basic things in the editor, I directly started with a small project. During that those links helped me a lot:
Hey dude, thanks for the great advice. Will definitely take into account. I’ve heard of the game jam and that’s something I look forward to as it’s both a great means of getting to know different people in different teams and really get’s your name out there for a game people may look at with a “woah” face.
On the other hand, 2D and 3D are both my favourite types of games. I am doing 3D work in School right now, but I recently had this idea for a 2D game but I firstly need to learn the basics of UnrealEngine 4 or the chosen engine. I really can’t decide yet. I’ll probably end up picking UE4 for it’s blueprint system and minimal C++ coding which I could learn (learn C++) but feel I have minimal time for. I call my self a great motivator at hard times but I struggle sometimes as I may not be the smartest guy with maths. I have an ‘issue’ with myself that is called “dyscalculia” which is dyslexic for maths. I don’t see where maths come into coding though as coding has always been a good thing about me. But none the less, I am a great worker and determined to set this as my job (I used to work on Unity back in 2012 but stopped). At least I know a little more about game development itself.
Blueprints are absolutely capable of creating full games, so I wouldn’t worry about C++ until you start doing some AAA work (though it’s not a bad idea to start learning C++ before then). As far as your Dyscalculia goes, there are a few things you should know about math and how it ties into computer programming:Besides the 4 basic operators, and things like cos sin tan, etc… math in computer programming is nothing like math practiced in schools. I cannot imagine a situation in which you’d ever need to solve for X using algebra, or even find the area of a triangle (though that could be useful). Math in programming requires you to have the ability to figure out how to do something using math, such as how to write an equation that converts an index into a position.
A very good example of when writing equations comes in handy is with multi-dimensional flattened arrays. Let’s say you wanted to make a copy of Terraria. You have a world of blocks, each block is an item in an array. Arrays are laid out flat like a number line, going from 0 to whatever number, but the world doesn’t just go from left to right, it goes up & down as well. Something you might want to do, is convert a block’s x & y position into just an index, so as to find where the block is located in the array. Here is a representation of the world, in this case the orange numbers stand for each block’s index in the array, though we usually wouldn’t know the indexes, so we’d have to do some math to figure the index out based on the x & y.
Now all of the sudden you have any given block’s position, but you have no clue what it’s index is in the array, this is where some math comes in handy. Based on the fact that I use arrays like this all the time, the equation we need is (Index = (y - 1) + ((x - 1)*height)) height represents how tall blocks can stack, 4 in our case. Now if you look at the equation, it works, just like (6 = (3 - 1) + ((2 - 1)*4)) is true. Now we have an equation that converts an X & Y into a flat index, all because I know how to write algorithms.
Still not convinced that you’ll need math? Here is some pseudo code that I am using in my character’s sprint function:
That ^ is a basic example of when math is needed even for one of the most basic things, and let me just tell you that not everyone could write an equation as simple as that.
Here is my take on your situation, you tell me to … go away … if you like.
Your 15. Your still young and have a lot to learn about life, coding, art or whatever direction in gaming you would like to go. I’m sure you know that!
As much enthusiasm as you have, you will come up against some great struggles when creating a game! Even the simplest. Be prepared for that.
You say you used Unity, why did you stop? Why would UE4 be any different for you? As much as Blueprints are easy, the logic is still mathematical. If you have a problem understanding >= <= == AND OR XOR etc, you will have issues, somewhere along the line. Math is king in games. Scoring, for example is math, you will have to “code” that somewhere. A character moving from point A to point B is math too.
Advice point 1: At 15/16, enjoy the little amount of time you have left to have fun without consequence !
Advice point 2: Stick at it when your chips are down. When something doesn’t work, fault find and debug your way out of it. You learn a lot when things go wrong. Take the positives from it.
Advice point 3: You sound very enthusiastic, that’s great! I would suggest writing your idea down, so that your idea and the game is set in stone before you get into it.
Advice point 4: Learn Object Orientation Programming and what it means. You will need it!
Personally I disagree with this, the way I see it is that 15/16 are the golden years to learn computer programming before you have to get a job and start taking care of yourself, just my humble opinion.
I was thinking the same as you when I wrote this statement but in my experience, I played football from 12 to 18 non stop and went out clubbing from 17 through to 21 (end of Uni). It has done me no harm at all (I still graduated university with first honors) and I have matured earlier from it. Some people (not all) who binge work at 15/16 tend to burn out early and then want to play in their 30’s, stifling their later life when they should be pushing for greater things. This is my experience with the people whom I have met, it may be different in different parts of the world.
My point was to get the “I must hang out with my friends!!” stuff out of his system before he really wanted to get into games development, which really takes up your time! If he is fine to get into it right now, then good for him. I just remember being 15 and the only thing on my mind was women haha.
I learned programming after I graduated University (it was an art course, so I was self taught c# and c++). So my “golden years” were 21 - now as you never stop learning.
I may also be rambling too, every person has a different course of life and different experiences.
Thank’s for welcoming me, but I felt that was kind of demotivating me for the future of game development. I left Unity as I was busy with other things like modding for Minecraft or just didn’t feel it at the time or the game engine itself didn’t have what I wanted. UE4 personally has everything I need, the blueprints for example don’t require math unless you make your own (if that’s possible). Everything in UnrealEngine for blueprints wise is basically math but behind a wall for me and that’s what keeps me confident. I don’t know why you told me this stuff as if I didn’t know, I used to program in Java and still do a little on HTML5 for mucking around on my website. Other than that, everything else was great advice for anyone questioning programming.
Also, I am a very active guy. I enjoy sports a lot and I’m good at a lot of subjects and a little of Math but some factors of Math hold me back. I have my life planned and understand it won’t be easy as well for success you must fail.
You can see everyone’s take on building your own game here.
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As much as your trying to stay away from Math. I feel you should not let your dyscalculia hold you back! I have never been the “smartest” (football was my passion and I almost made professional) in any shape or form but my persistence, self-confidence and drive got me to where I am today. As long as your willing to learn, you will achieve. Perhaps blueprints will teach you a little math in a way you can pick up easier than in school.
Blueprints do require math, in fact, the exact same amount of math except for a few small nodes that do the math for you, but those still only stop you from doing a little bit of subtraction or division.
