Need Game Development Advice

[SniperZLyfe1]

Hey what's up Everyone!

              Can someone give me some advice please on the following questions.

1-Which game engine should i choice(Unreal or Unity)I want to be game programmer and i'm currently learning c++.

2-Should i have to master c++ in order to be game programmer and what other language do i have to learn for it.

3-Should i learn game development and programming language at same time or first learn programming and then game developing.

 

Thanks in Advance!

[PatrickK]

I'm a game developer myself (in 2 weeks i'll be done with my study)

 

1. If you're learning C++ already, go for Unreal.

2. Yes and no, in the end, if you're willing to become a experienced developer you'll have to get good at your languages. But C++ isn't the only language (although the most populair for bigger companies) for game development. I myself,(and lots of other company's) use C# together with Unity as an engine. You'll be suprised how many developers(especially indie's) use C## and unity. Most bigger companys use C++ with either unreal, or their own engine.

3. What are you seeing as game development? Game development is a big word. You have programmers, artist, people who think and plan out the concept etc etc. Specify in one area(in your case i think programming?). Correct me if i'm understanding you wrong.

[Dakpan]

10 minutes ago, SniperZLyfe1 said:

Hey what's up Everyone!

              Can someone give me some advice please on the following questions.

1-Which game engine should i choice(Unreal or Unity)I want to be game programmer and i'm currently learning c++.

2-Should i have to master c++ in order to be game programmer and what other language do i have to learn for it.

3-Should i learn game development and programming language at same time or first learn programming and then game developing.

 

Thanks in Advance!

I have finished my Game Development studies 2 years ago.

Currently working as a web/application developer due to job availability and low pay in the Game Development branche, still an amazing branche to learn in and you can go anywhere from there.

 

Since you are already learning C++ go for Unreal it has a C++ supportive system, Unity is only Javascript/C# minded (yes coffeescript as well but thats just a joke).
You can still go for Unity later, if you know how to do C++ it's quite easy to learn C# with the knowledge you already have.

You do not have to master it at all, you can be specific in a certain subject like Artificial Intelligence (AI), User Experience (UX), Heads Up Display (HUD) etc. etc.
What you do need to learn are multiple languages, and since you are still studying my advice would be to learn all  that there is, from the boring "how to make a character in 3D" to "how to make a texture" to "how to implement this in a game" to "how to make it move", even go for the networking department, so search/learn about REST API's, learn how to save data in databases etc. etc.

You need to know a bit of all of this to be able to discuss it later with our colleagues, even if you are "just" the AI developer you should know how the animator & character designer made their characters, how the joint work, what vertices are, how many poly's you can have in the game etc.

 

You can learn both at the same time, the best way to learn programming is by doing, so buy a book or follow some courses in subjects that interest you and learn by doing, atleast, that is how most people learn.

[SniperZLyfe1]

Thanks for both of you for replying and helping.

 

So,may I know the book name that I can use to learn c++?I'm currently following Bucky Roberts tutorials on YouTube but it's for beginner only so I want t o learn c++ to advance level.Im currently 15 so I can't able to buy above $100 books or anything like that.

 

[Dakpan]

13 hours ago, SniperZLyfe1 said:

Thanks for both of you for replying and helping.

 

So,may I know the book name that I can use to learn c++?I'm currently following Bucky Roberts tutorials on YouTube but it's for beginner only so I want t o learn c++ to advance level.Im currently 15 so I can't able to buy above $100 books or anything like that.

 

No problem! Books are really depending on your taste, there are so many out there! I have always been a visual person I need to see or hear it before I can imagine how it works, books have never worked for me, not as the core of development anyways. 

 

I would suggest keeping it simple YouTube videos and things like code academy and pluralsight really helped me! Also practice makes perfect, as long as you keep criticizing on your coding behavior, speed etc. You will grow

[aithos]

On 6/8/2017 at 2:54 AM, SniperZLyfe1 said:

Hey what's up Everyone!

              Can someone give me some advice please on the following questions.

1-Which game engine should i choice(Unreal or Unity)I want to be game programmer and i'm currently learning c++.

2-Should i have to master c++ in order to be game programmer and what other language do i have to learn for it.

3-Should i learn game development and programming language at same time or first learn programming and then game developing.

 

Thanks in Advance!

1) It doesn't matter.  If you can work in one then you can learn the other, what matters is that you have a solid understanding of software development fundamentals and that you get a lot of practice working with other people's poorly designed and badly written code.  Learning c++ is good, you should also learn C#, JavaScript/jQuery, and most importantly: SQL (both Oracle and SQL Server).

 

2) Maybe.  It depends on your goal and how badly you want to work in game development.  If you want to be a programmer for a AAA game studio: yes, you will need to know and have a mastery of c++ to work for any company worth mentioning.  If you want to be a rock-star then you'll also need a solid grasp of Assembler and be able to really dig into the inner workings of engine coding because AAA games are often pushing the limits of performance to work on older systems.

 

3) Forget learning game development and focus on learning to program and getting real-world coding experience, and I'm not talking about code jams or any of that nonsense.  I'm referring to either paid projects or open source work where you are working over a longer period of time and not just trying to throw something together that will be forgotten after the event/contest.

 

The thing you need to realize is that game programming isn't glamorous, and you aren't ever going to be the guy coming up with the ideas and doing the creative work.  Sorry if that's harsh, but what most people think game design/development is and the reality are often two different things.  A lot of people essentially want to be the lead creative designer for a company and those jobs are basically impossible to get because of how few there really are.

 

So the reality is that game programming is the same as any other programming except you're going to be working within more stringent performance requirements, harder deadlines, larger teams (meaning extremely divided tasks and narrow focus), etc.  You're also going to work longer hours for less money and you're extremely replaceable because everyone and their mother wants to make games.  There is no shortage of bodies to fill seats... only a shortage of rock-star level talent with actual published AAA experience.

 

When it comes down to it, the tasks you're going to work on and the bugs you're going to investigate are largely going to be the same kind of thing you'd do working for an insurance company or another "normal" IT department.  In other words: it's a job and you probably aren't going to want to go to work any more/less than with any other decent job, because how much you like your job largely depends on who you work for/with and how you're treated and not really what you're working on.

 

I used to want to be a game programmer myself, but as I've progressed in my career I'm to the point now where unless a really awesome company offered me my dream job I probably wouldn't even consider it.  I would still consider opening my own development studio, but that's more of a long term entrepreneur goal than specifically game focused. 

 

None of that means you can't/shouldn't pursue it, if you're passionate about it and you're willing to put in the time/effort and make sacrifices to make it happen: go for it.  Just realize that it's an extremely competitive field and the odds are drastically stacked against you.  Oh, and you basically have to live in either S. California or the Seattle/Tacoma Metro area or you simply will not find decent AAA jobs because the drop-off from there is pretty severe.