Is it hard being a game developer?

[Overkilled]

I'm in year 10 and I do computer science, we're doing python now but I really want to help make games, they're is a small game publisher quite close to my house. Lucid games. I emailed them, this was the response.

 

"Thanks for the mail. You’re already doing the right thing by looking at computer science and its very cool that you’re already learning Python. A Level and Degree wise all of our programmers have a good grasp of maths, but most of our prgrammers have done a  Computer Science degree, so this is the area to look at if you want to take things further. I don’t have many specific examples of courses, but the guys that come from Abertay University are always very well regarded so worth taking a look at their courses just to get an idea of what they do

 

http://abertay.ac.uk/courses/ug/comopgamestech/

 

We’ve also hired a couple of programmers from Bolton University in the past

 

http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Subjects/Games/Games-Programming/GamesProgramming.aspx

 

 

A degree or A levels really just shows us that you take it seriously and are passionate about learning, but what we really look for is good examples of your work, and often when looking at graduates they show us work they have done in their own time, often small games they have made on their own or with a couple of friends. It’s definitely worth spending some time looking at Unity and Unreal Engines as you are able to make something of pretty high quality at home and for free, and these are also engines that we often use for commercial games.

 

Even if you want to do programming it’s good to take an interest in the other disciplines such as Art and Design so you have an understanding of how games come together as a team

 

Good luck with what you do next and maybe one day we’ll see you here for an interview!

 

Nick"

 

Is anyone on this forum in the profession, what is it like?

[ZetZet]

Yes. You need talent, ideas, ability to not sleep for weeks working.

 

 

Basically anything that requires any creativity is hard. 

[Nineshadow]

Creativity and motivation.

[VAkena]

I think it's getting harder for Indie developers to strike interest among gamers nowadays. I feel that to succeed as an Indie developer you need to bring something different, do something we haven't seen before to get our attention... otherwise... no one will really care.

[ZetZet]

I think it's getting harder for Indie developers to strike interest among gamers nowadays. I feel that to succeed as an Indie developer you need to bring something different, do something we haven't seen before to get our attention... otherwise... no one will really care.

Actually the games that succeed are either very well finished or take ideas from players themselves and work together towards a better game. 

 

 

Only being different doesn't do shit, quality is what you need.

[Darel321]

lol.. nothing is easy in life.. If you want it to be good

[ZetZet]

Or, paying off IGN.  

Well, triple A doesn't count, most of them sell just by name. COD COD COD COD COD COD COD COD

[Guest]

I think it's getting harder for Indie developers to strike interest among gamers nowadays. I feel that to succeed as an Indie developer you need to bring something different, do something we haven't seen before to get our attention... otherwise... no one will really care.

And a good prize point is soooo important aswell

[VAkena]

Actually the games that succeed are either very well finished or take ideas from players themselves and work together towards a better game. 

 

 

Only being different doesn't do shit, quality is what you need.

 

When I say that I speak from personal experience, Indie games that get my attention are those that try to do something unique.. Eg: Fez

[ZetZet]

When I say that I speak from personal experience, Indie games that get my attention are those that try to do something unique.. Eg: Fez

But Fez is extremely well done too.

[nekomata]

If it was easy the steam greenlight wouldn't be full of awful games.

You can always get into the gaming industry from other fields such as art and literature

[Ruostunut kokis]

Aka why I said other jobs, lol.  But, ya "game development" isn't exactly all your typical coding, modeling, animation and so on jobs.  If you look at the cast/credit stuff at the end of a game you'd realize there's sooo many different jobs when it comes into making a game.

A large team isn't necessary for success. Small teams of merely a few people can get surprising results, though usually the quality will be better with larger teams, since more areas are covered and with people who actually specialize in said areas of development.

 

You are right though, there are a wide variety of jobs listed on credits, even something one wouldn't immediately think to be part of game development.