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New to game design

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6 comments, last by JohnTheRipper88 4 years, 9 months ago

Hi i am new to all this and i am just getting started in game design degree from full sail university, i will admit i do not know much about computers and stuff but i am more then willing to learn i am hoping to find a mentor to help me through this . I have been told in the past that i have some great ideas on games and that i am really good at looking at the detail in games and finding things that are wrong with them or things that could be added so i decided to go forth and get my degree. I am a shy person when it comes to talking to others but once i open up i am more then willing to learn from the best. Thank you all for reading this and i hope to hear from someone soon until then have a great day.

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13 minutes ago, Frostbite2927 said:

i hope to hear from someone soon

What kind of thing are you hoping to hear? 

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

I am new to using these kind of sites and not sure how to go about doing things. I would like to know more about game design besides what my school is teaching me. I have always been interested in the field of making game but have been to scared to reach out and learn until now

3 hours ago, Frostbite2927 said:

I would like to know more about game design besides what my school is teaching me.

So you are interested in design, rather than programming or graphics or audio or marketing or management. Go ahead, ask your questions. A lot of them are answered on my site. Nothing to be afraid of here. Reach out and ask your questions. 

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

It is hard to know what exactly you are looking for without knowing what your schooling has shown you so far and what you are interested in specifically.

It sounds like you are probably new to coding and game design all together so some good places to start would be:

- Familiarize yourself with some programming languages used for the most current game engines (C#, C++)

- Watch tutorials and try to make small projects in game engines such as Unity3D, Unreal Engine 4, or even GameMaker: Studio

- Play lots of games for inspiration! and check out small projects on gamedev to give you an Idea of what your early projects might look like

- Try not to make the mistake of taking on a bigger project than you can complete (This has always been my problem). Start small and try to make sure you see through your projects to completion. Just start making stuff - anything - Even if you just mimic games or make tic tac toe or pong. Just start creating something to get your feet wet and remember that the first few things you make may not be great, but its better than not trying to make anything at all.

What about start with making a board game? It is not exacty like game design for digital market but you'll learn a lot of general principles and get a feeling for transporting your diea to the audience and the importance of playtesting. Design is much more than telling people how you want to have the game in final, it is a lot about target group analysing, planing and in a real company also monetizing. The later is important to earn money in the end, what keeps customers buy the game even after years, what keeps players playing the game and for example paying for a subscription plan and what about expansions and DLCs?

During development, you are responsable for an ongoing improvement of the game and be in permant Q & A with the development team. No one wants to read a full 200 pages game design document to get his/her work done properly!

All of these may change depending of your level of experience and may be different between indie and AAA companies. I've been playing in both roles so far, being the game designer of one project in an indie company but also developer in small up to AAA companies

On 10/24/2019 at 1:53 AM, Shaarigan said:

What about start with making a board game? It is not exacty like game design for digital market but you'll learn a lot of general principles and get a feeling for transporting your diea to the audience and the importance of playtesting.

This is some of the best advice that you can receive when it comes to just learning "design" as a beginner. You don't have to quite worry about code yet (though, obviously it doesn't hurt to learn at the same time) but writing out your game on pencil and paper and visualizing how it plays out in your head can work wonders when it comes to developing new games and game mechanics; whether digital or tabletop.

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