What's the next step for me?

Cranberry · May 3rd 2014, 6:26am

Hey guys,
My name is Christopher and I am 15 years old. I wanna become a professional game developer someday.
I've been developing small games since I'm 9 years old. (Started out with GameMaker and learned C++ soon after).
I've developed quite a large number of games so far, but they are all just small 2D games.
The problem is, that whenever I try to make a game that's a little more advanced than just a 2D sidescroller I get to a dead end very soon and then I give up. I've tried to develop every kind of game of every genre in every language with every framework. It just never works out. Maybe my goals are set too high, but I don't want to make a crappy game just that I made something.
Is there a step between developing small 2D sidescrollers and bigger 3D games that are actually fun to play, that I've been missing out?

Thanks in advance,
Cranberry

mholley519 · May 3rd 2014, 9:59am

Hey Christopher,

This question has come up a few times before, and the best answer that can be given is for you to take an existing game idea (something simple), and implement the game from start to finish. The reason for doing this is that you can take a well designed game, something like Tetris, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, even Pong, and take it from start to finish. This will show that you have determination and are willing to see a project all the way through, and will also help you to develop your skills as a programmer.

As for what frameworks you should use, I would stick to both C++ and Unity as both are used in the industry quite a bit and are both really useful to know. That being said you still have a few years to go until your finished high school I assume, so make the best of it, there are tons of people even on this forum who are juggling their day jobs with their dreams of entering the games industry, you have a nice 2-3 years to go where you can build a nice portfolio, and believe me, coming out of high school with a portfolio is more than most can say.

Try this, set yourself 4 6 month goals of implementing classic games.

- Pong
- Space Invaders
- Pac-Man
- Tetris

Implement them, polish them, put your own twist on them. In 2 years (you may even do it faster), you'll have 4 games that you can show off to employers.

Share