Game Development for Noobs - Tips to Organize Your Project

According to new data released

by Newzoo, 2020’s global games market will generate revenues of $159.3 billion. Therefore, that, along with its “fun factor”, draws people toward the game industry like a siren’s call.The truth is, I have run into too many people who at some point decided that they wanted to enter game development. And they picked up an engine, and they started diving in and they quit before they ever finished their first game because the experience was just frustrating.

According to Newzoo it is a good time to be a game developer! Without proper organization, the game development process may seem like it’s going nowhere. Pixune has quite a lot of collective game-making experience, so hopefully, some of our advice here will help you avoid the common pitfalls. So, let’s start with the most common and dangerous one. No matter the nature of your project, there are some principles that hold true.

These principles can

be applied to any kind of project, but we have tailored them around the topic of Game Development. Finally, at the end of this article, we have recommended some game genres based on development difficulty to help you decide the genre for your first (next?) game project. If you have any questions about the stuff we talk about here, drop us a comment at the end. We will be more than happy to help out. Gamers gotta have each other’s back! First Step: Set a Realistic Scope The first thing you’re going to want is to be careful about scoping the project. Many people pick up a game engine dreaming of making the types of games they play. However, this often just is not possible. Games like “Sekiro” or “Witcher” are made by teams of at least 40 people, sometimes way more than 40 people, over the course of several years.

These principles can be applied to any kind of project, but we have tailored them around the topic of Game Development. Finally, at the end of this article, we have recommended some game genres based on development difficulty to help you decide the genre for your first (next?) game project. If you have any questions about the stuff we talk about here, drop us a comment at the end. We will be more than happy to help out. Gamers gotta have each other’s back! First Step: Set a Realistic Scope The first thing you’re going to want is to be careful about scoping the project. Many people pick up a game engine dreaming of making the types of games they play. However, this often just is not possible. Games like “Sekiro” or “Witcher” are made by teams of at least 40 people, sometimes way more than 40 people, over the course of several years.

The amount of polish that

went into Witcher 3 is staggering. Certainly not a 1-man job Even if you’re just amazing and you throw your whole life into creating your game, you’re not going to make a “The Last of Us” or a “Witcher”. Not even close, and especially not on your first attempt. Truth is, you’re not even going to create something like Super Mario Bros. as your first game. You *may* create like, 1 level’s worth of Super Mario. Start Simple Your goal with your first game development should be to get something built that you could actually play, even in the most rudimentary fashion, as soon as possible. Think of your first game as a learning exercise, not your masterwork. If your dream game is precious to you, then save it for when you’re ready, or you’ll make a mess of it. If you start with a huge project, you’ll find that you don’t even know where to begin. As a result, you’ll get bogged down doing little bits and pieces that have no tangible result, and it will seem like you’re not making any progress at all, and you’ll hit roadblocks that you don’t know how to overcome, simply to be left flailing for what to even work on next Trust me, Keep It Simple. If your first attempt at making a game turns out to be a one-room platformer with a bad collision, be proud of that because you built it. You actually got it done. You made a game. That’s more than most people ever manage. Get Feedback From the Start Play your game, and show it to your friends, and don’t worry when they don’t understand it or are critical because they’re still thinking in terms of the big-budget games they’re used to playing. *You* know how much work went into making that game. More importantly, you know that next time you’ll be able to do it even better and faster. Soon, you’ll be building games that people are asking you to let them play. The second thing to keep in mind, (and, I know that this is going to sound weird but) don’t go into your first game development with a specific idea.

There are many fine examples of indie games with low production values that have surpassed triple-A games on a regular basis Learn what you can do, and design around that. To clarify, don’t lock yourself into an idea and beat your head against it for weeks or months. Instead, learn a few tricks, watch a few tutorials, then start working towards something you’re pretty sure you can build. Its Okay If You Don’t Know Everything… It’s okay if there are still a few parts of it that you have no idea how to even start. But make sure it’s only a few parts when you’re breaking your projects down and planning things out. This brings us to tutorials. Any major engine has tons of people who happily make tutorials about pretty much everything. Go find them. Watch them. Study them. Then, if you’re stuck or if you can’t find an answer to your question, just ask or seek professional help. You’d be shocked at how many people are happy to help you through things if you just post on a forum or throw your thoughts onto the message boards. Don’t be afraid of coding. Lots of people say that they can’t code, but if you design your game right, you would be shocked at how little coding you have to do to get something done. …As Long as You Take Advantage of Your Strengths Design your game around *your* skills. Part of understanding your scope is understanding your resources and, in this case, *you* are your resources. Are you a great artist but you’ve never coded in your life?

According to Newzoo it is a good time to be a game developer! Without proper organization, the game development process may seem like it’s going nowhere. Pixune has quite a lot of collective game-making experience, so hopefully, some of our advice here will help you avoid the common pitfalls. So, let’s start with the most common and dangerous one. No matter the nature of your project, there are some principles that hold true.
John Doe

DISCLAIMER: All the prices which are listed in this article are approximate and take them with a grain of salt. No absolute number can be given for any of the listed fields and it’s impossible to make a definitive price list for game projects, but I have tried to estimate them as real as they could be. All the listed prices are in US Dollars.