I want to be a game director in the future.What should I start learning?Right now I can do sprites for game,and design characters,stages,objects,etc.I don't know anything about programming though.Should I start learn it?
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#2 Members - Reputation: 3503
Posted 04 October 2012 - 07:37 AM
Grab an easy game engine, and start learning how to assemble all your sprites and designs into something workable. I woudl recommend Unity3D, but it seems like your assets are 2D from what you wrote. Maybe someone else can recommend a game creator more suitable to 2D.
#4 Members - Reputation: 3285
Posted 04 October 2012 - 08:51 AM
Read this to start. It covers most of the technical aspects of programming and should get you started. It will help you figure out which programming language to go with, give recommendations for learning materials and libraries for each, etc.
Of course, you may not want to go that deep, in which case there are plenty of low/no programming options like GameMaker, Construct2, etc.
Of course, you may not want to go that deep, in which case there are plenty of low/no programming options like GameMaker, Construct2, etc.
#5 Members - Reputation: 1048
Posted 04 October 2012 - 11:42 AM
Everything you can. Learn everything that you can.
Not just in the process of making the game itself, but art history, theology, mythology, architecture, psychology, music theory, color theory, industrial design, anatomy, physics, chemistry, fluid dynamics. Everything you can.
It may not make sense now, but have you ever played a game where things felt out of place?
Knowing that a poplar tree doesn't belong in an evergreen forest or that early Asian architecture could belong in the Western Siberian Shelf can make a difference in how companies perceive you and will help you create the game you want or explain why you changed something. It'll help you add rhyme and reason to everything that you want to do, and really flesh out the experience for the player, and companies look for that.
Being a director isn't an easy job. Most of the positions in the video game industry aren't very clearly defined and because of that, I suggest that you don't let yourself be easy to define either. Make it so you can fit in as many positions as possible and you'll become a more valuable asset to that company.
So yeah. Learn as much as you can about as many things as you can. Then learn more!
Good luck!
Edited for redundancies. - Dave
Not just in the process of making the game itself, but art history, theology, mythology, architecture, psychology, music theory, color theory, industrial design, anatomy, physics, chemistry, fluid dynamics. Everything you can.
It may not make sense now, but have you ever played a game where things felt out of place?
Knowing that a poplar tree doesn't belong in an evergreen forest or that early Asian architecture could belong in the Western Siberian Shelf can make a difference in how companies perceive you and will help you create the game you want or explain why you changed something. It'll help you add rhyme and reason to everything that you want to do, and really flesh out the experience for the player, and companies look for that.
Being a director isn't an easy job. Most of the positions in the video game industry aren't very clearly defined and because of that, I suggest that you don't let yourself be easy to define either. Make it so you can fit in as many positions as possible and you'll become a more valuable asset to that company.
So yeah. Learn as much as you can about as many things as you can. Then learn more!
Good luck!
Edited for redundancies. - Dave
Edited by DaveTroyer, 04 October 2012 - 01:15 PM.
Check out my game blog - Dave's Game Blog
#6 Members - Reputation: 109
Posted 04 October 2012 - 12:54 PM
It's indeed a good idea to start by using Unity3D.
I have good experience with this engine myself. It's especially good for prototyping and there are lots of good tutorials on the web on how to program certain features.
It's even possible to make 2D games in it, although the engine is written specificly to support 3D so that might be a bit tricky...
For 2D games I could also recommend Adobe Flash. I'm sure the web is full with tutorials on that
Before you actually start designing a game yourself(storyline, artstyle,...) try experimenting with some game mechanics.
Just for example make a rectangle jump around in a simple platform level. When that feels right, start adding other gameplay features like interaction with the level (levers, buttons, doors,elevators,...) or even add enemies.
Once you made a simple prototype, you can build your story / artstyle around that.
This way you won't get stuck on mechanics you planned to have in it, but didn't manage to write in code yet.
Also important for a self-educating programmer: Use search engines like Google a lot! don't let something you don't know how to do hold you back but search for help on the internet, because there are lots of people coming across the same difficulties as you.
I have good experience with this engine myself. It's especially good for prototyping and there are lots of good tutorials on the web on how to program certain features.
It's even possible to make 2D games in it, although the engine is written specificly to support 3D so that might be a bit tricky...
For 2D games I could also recommend Adobe Flash. I'm sure the web is full with tutorials on that
Before you actually start designing a game yourself(storyline, artstyle,...) try experimenting with some game mechanics.
Just for example make a rectangle jump around in a simple platform level. When that feels right, start adding other gameplay features like interaction with the level (levers, buttons, doors,elevators,...) or even add enemies.
Once you made a simple prototype, you can build your story / artstyle around that.
This way you won't get stuck on mechanics you planned to have in it, but didn't manage to write in code yet.
Also important for a self-educating programmer: Use search engines like Google a lot!
don't let something you don't know how to do hold you back but search for help on the internet, because there are lots of people coming across the same difficulties as you.
#9 Staff - Reputation: 8935
Posted 10 October 2012 - 06:47 AM
No, you don't. You would probably need management experience. Are you sure that's the job you really want though? A lot of the things you mentioned in your original post aren't really something a director or producer would be directly involved with.
Take a look at some of the links from our Breaking Into The Industry forum faq, and read a bit about different jobs in the industry. There's also some good advice on what you should do to get a job.
Hope that's helpful!
Take a look at some of the links from our Breaking Into The Industry forum faq, and read a bit about different jobs in the industry. There's also some good advice on what you should do to get a job.
Hope that's helpful!
- Jason Astle-Adams.
From my blog: 20 ways to advertise your game | What next? Intermediate to advanced C++
How to make games WITHOUT programming | 4 reasons you aren't a successful indie developer
#10 Members - Reputation: 236
Posted 10 October 2012 - 08:24 AM
Thanks for clearing that up.Yeah that was before.Now I'm really aiming to be a game director(thanks to Hideo Kojima).I mentioned those stuff because those were the only stuff I can do in developing a game.No, you don't. You would probably need management experience. Are you sure that's the job you really want though? A lot of the things you mentioned in your original post aren't really something a director or producer would be directly involved with.
Take a look at some of the links from our Breaking Into The Industry forum faq, and read a bit about different jobs in the industry. There's also some good advice on what you should do to get a job.
Hope that's helpful!
#11 Members - Reputation: 109
Posted 12 October 2012 - 04:38 PM
I really admire your motivation and I already noticed that is one of the most important things when you want to create games (or do any other project)
Well, it might be useful to know how the pipeline of developing a game works in the first place.
You can look up some design patterns like Waterfall and Scrum and read what others say about these topics.
Although it's hard to manage the planning of a group of promgrammers without knowing much about programming yourself and you don't know how long it will take for them to program a certain feature. Therefore you might have difficulties noticing when some of the employees are slacking.
But anyhow, I hope you keep up that motivation and manage to keep the people you are planning to direct motivated as well
Well, it might be useful to know how the pipeline of developing a game works in the first place.
You can look up some design patterns like Waterfall and Scrum and read what others say about these topics.
Although it's hard to manage the planning of a group of promgrammers without knowing much about programming yourself and you don't know how long it will take for them to program a certain feature. Therefore you might have difficulties noticing when some of the employees are slacking.
But anyhow, I hope you keep up that motivation and manage to keep the people you are planning to direct motivated as well
#12 GDNet+ - Reputation: 1547
Posted 14 October 2012 - 02:26 AM
It's been said before, but I'm going to state this again. If you want to manage a team and be well respected you must have an understanding of a broad amount of game development topics. You should also be a very good planner, and problem solver. I've worked for guys that knew less than myself, but they would act as if they knew what was going on; it's hard to work well for someone you don't respect. However, above all you must be an approachable person! I wouldn't care how much you knew and what experience you currently have if you're a total jerk.
As with anything in life, the more you know and are wiling to know, the more valuable of an asset you're to any given company and team. The guys I've worked with that never moved up just don't have the drive to care, or even to improve their knowledge base.
I wish you the best!
As with anything in life, the more you know and are wiling to know, the more valuable of an asset you're to any given company and team. The guys I've worked with that never moved up just don't have the drive to care, or even to improve their knowledge base.
I wish you the best!
GameDev Journal: http://www.gamedev.n...-rooks-journal/
OpenChess - 1.0 done!
Classic RPG #1 - Task 9 -> January 1st 2013
OpenChess - 1.0 done!
Classic RPG #1 - Task 9 -> January 1st 2013
