How to Start a Career in Game Development - A Beginner’s Guide

Many of us like spending hours on our cellphones, consoles, and computers playing games. So, if you’re one of those gamers who can’t stop playing and wants to learn how to make games, this article is for you. Both technical and creative people are involved in game design.

As a result, game creation entails complex aspects such as software development, concept development, graphics development, and rule and principle documentation.

Gaming generates a multi-billion-dollar figure across the world while being a small part of the entertainment business. As a result, it has become one of the most sought-after employment options in today’s world. Furthermore, the widespread availability of the Internet has raised the need for game development among job seekers.

Gaming started with 2D design and by early 2000, 3D platforms came into use for game development. Presently, a career in gaming is exciting but holds a lot of competition due to the use of new technologies for those who love to create and improve games.

What is Game Development?

The process of designing commercial games involves a company or an individual who can sponsor them. Next to it, game development involves a few components like stories, audio, characters, art, lighting, etc., and merging them to create a whole new engaging experience.

Is It Necessary to Be an Avid Game Player to Develop Games?

Many individuals believe that if they are competent at playing video games, they would be good game developers. If you believe this, you are profoundly misinformed. Although an experienced gamer may have ideas for themes, levels, and player distribution, learning game development entails much more. To discover passion and joy in game creation, the developer must be adept in programming and logical reasoning.

What are Different Components of Game Development?

Game development involves different components that can be handled either by an individual or by a team of skilled people. So, before you start, you must know about the components in detail-

Story: Every aspect of our life has a story and it is true for video games as well. If the story or theme of your game has a linear structure, then it becomes a bit easy to design. On the other hand, the themes with non-linear structure come with a lot of plot changes according to character actions. Eventually, the story should be interesting enough to hook your players.
Audio: It is an important component rather you can consider it as the backbone for video games. You must choose player sounds and background music that can create a lively experience for the players.
Characters: Stories never come without characters, and they are the next fundamental parts of game development. All you have to do is decide the look and personality of the characters, i.e., how fast they will move or the activities they will perform.
Lighting: In a video game, lighting is the mood setter. If a game is designed to give a thrilling experience, then it will use fewer lights in association with horror or thriller music. On the other hand, adventure or fun games should have more light effects.
Art: The art of designing each component contributes to a game’s responsiveness. It determines the game’s appearance and feelings. Typically, art in video games comprises elements such as game lighting, texturing, 3D modelling of objects and people, and the production of fire, snow, fog, and other effects all add to the game’s realism.
Levels: A good video game comes with different difficulty levels as we proceed while playing. In games, levels can be denoted as different buildings, multiple floors, or even different countries. Each level drives a player through different paths that lead them to the next level. Hence, a developer should use a combination of paths for different levels and let the players stay hooked to the game.

How to Start Learning Game Development?

After understanding the game components, beginners must know the basics of game development. It will help them to create simple as well as complex games over time. Here are a few things you can do as you upgrade-

Learn Computer Programming: You must know programming to enter this game development world. If you know basic programming languages like C++, c#, java, and python, then it can be very helpful. Did you know, some popular games like King quest, counterstrike, the world of warcraft are made using C++? On the other hand, popular games like Angry Birds have been developed using Java for its concept of multithreading and sockets.
Choose a Game Engine: While starting a career as a game designer, you must start with a known game engine. It will provide you with various functionalities while dealing with animation, 3D and 2D graphics, rendering, audio support, artificial intelligence, collision detection, and networking. Unreal is the best game engine to create unique games and unity is another one that is comparatively easy to learn. However, it doesn’t matter which game engine you choose, rather it is necessary to understand the role of a game engine and know how to use it in future projects.
Create a Basic Game: As soon as you have some ideas for game development, design a basic game before creating a masterpiece. You must start with making Tetris, which is easy to develop besides getting an opportunity to learn different concepts. While developing this basic game, you will get to know about 3 core steps in the game loop, i.e., initialize, update and draw. Apart from Tetris, you can pick any game of your choice which doesn’t seem complex or confusing to you.
Understand the Basic Game Design Pattern: If you have ever played a space video game, then you have used multiple asteroids to destroy a spaceship. For this situation, the game has a code module that can be reused again and again for the asteroids. This is called object pooling. Moreover, you will find game design patterns in the form of templates to create modular code for game development. Flyweight, observer, prototype, etc. are some common game design patterns.
3D Graphics and Associated Maths: Game development is incomplete without graphics. 2D graphics were popular in the mid-1990s, most famous games today are using 3D graphics that provide a realistic feeling to the game. So, if you want to become a top-notch game developer, you must know the computer graphics and mathematics behind it. Maths commonly requires 3D graphics in linear algebra which deals with vectors, linear equations, matrices, etc.

When developing a game, the ultimate consideration should be the players’ experience from beginning to end. It also impacts how a game’s core mechanics and overall plot interest gamers. As a result, ensure that your game has compelling mechanisms, balanced gameplay options, consistent feedback, and incentives for players, whilst being simple to learn.

With the rapid changes and inventions in the game industry, a lot of job profiles are being introduced with lucrative and happening careers for youngsters. The important job profiles now in the game industry are animator, audio engineer, game designer, creative director, game programmer, level director, and game artist. So, if you are interested to build a career in the gaming industry, start by enrolling yourself in a game development program at a reputable institution like Arena Animation. It offers a one-stop solution for creative aspirants like you who want to choose gaming as a career option.