Hi there,
I have been playing with the idea/dream of coding and being part of the game worlds I enjoy playing myself. When it comes to self-employment, I always struggled thinking about ideas, what would I do, what would the service I’d like to provide look like in the real world,and more.
I never had an answer to these questions, so it was pretty clear to me, I should not start a company. Neither did I really enjoy the work I was doing, I’m 34 years old now. It hit me late, but when it comes to gaming, I do have ideas. I do see mechanics I’d like to implement which I think might be super fun, or even entire game ideas that I think the player base would absolutely love if done right. I have been enjoying games all my life, it is one of the few areas I am super passionate about. I always tried to stray away from gaming topics when it comes to working and my career. In Switzerland and the way I was raised, I went different routes to secure my life when it comes to earning money. Gaming is something I loved, but in the end also something I thought about like “this is a waste of time”. Which it is, unless I actually start working in the gaming industry and take advantage of the thousands of hours I poured into all these worlds and ideas.
I still have no desire to create my own company, I’d much rather work for companies like, if I dare to dream big, RIOT, Square Enix, Valve, Epic, etc… So I do not want to create a game and make money with it, but I’d love to be a part of something bigger.
In order to achieve this goal, I started to think about ways to reach it. How can I get there? The best thing I can think of is to get courses online and start playing with Unreal Engine 5. Looking at the job descriptions, as an example for RIOT Games, you do need extensive knowledge in programming. We talk about descriptions with 7+ years of programming, and 3+ years of C++. Now I can’t generate experience in these areas out of thin air but I have to start somewhere.
Looking at all the courses online, as an example the C++ course on Code Ninja, some courses on Udemy. People rate these courses so badly, and the feedback is so negative, it made the starting point very unclear and hard. It also made me question if I was chasing a dream like “I want to be an actor”, or even a better one, “I want to be a big Twitch streamer”, where it is very very unlikely to get there and you simply should start to be realistic with yourself. I’m not 20 years old so there isn’t time to waste, but I would truly love to get this done.
Which is why I opened this thread:
What would you guys recommend someone with these goals to do?
Which course is the best out there, even if it costs money, in order to get started? Get the needed C++ knowhow, and simply start moving towards the goal with small steps.
I talked to people around me, and they always say the same thing. Why would you acquire these skills, and go into the gaming industry where you earn much less money compared to using them somewhere else. And the answer is, bcause I want to work on projects I’m passionate about myself. I tired and bored to work for money, I want to work for things like Final Fantasy, I want to work for games like Diablo4, Valorant. These are things which get me excited. Creating code for a bank does not.
I’d really appreciate answers on this topic, since I do struggle creating a realistic plan I can be dilligent on and follow in order to reach my goals. If not, I’d also appreciate a wake-up slap, in order to not waste my time if I’m actually chasing a dream which might only come true for 1% of the people.
thus my question to you is…