What should I learn?
Author
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?
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.
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.
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!
[color=#a9a9a9]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!
[color=#a9a9a9]Edited for redundancies. - Dave
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.
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!
Author
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!
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.
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