What to learn and do if you want to be a game developer

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5 comments, last by DerekL 9 years ago

Hello,

I thought what should i do and what programming language should i learn when im beginner in programming (I studied little bit HTML and CSS) and i want to be a game developer (programmer).Can gave me some advices what language should i learn and if you know how and where (maybe one web page where they teach programming). Im 14 year old boy and I dont have teacher or anything.

Sorry for bad english and thank you! wink.png

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You definitely need two things:

A) Have fun, and be passionate!

B) Get serious, (and get laid)!

The first is obvious, the second is necessary, because if you don't have a college degree then you won't get hired.

That means that you need to make sure that you have enough math skills, etc to get admitted to either college or a dedicated game development school.

But for starters: what are you passionate about?

Do you like designing or do you like really digging into nerdy stuff like algorithms and chip architecture?

You might not know it yet, so dig into practically everything there is to dig into.

Buy books!

Perhaps set a goal to participate in one of the gamejams (code a game in 3 days, etc).

Find other game programming geeks and hang out.

What language you pick doesn't matter at all.

Too many projects; too much time

If you want to stay close to HTML and CSS, then perhaps look into WebGL?

You can do really impressive things in a browser these days. And WebGL is a hot topic right now.

You don't need an expensive IDE or wait for things to compile, either.

Again, don't worry too much about language.

You can change language easily later on.

Too many projects; too much time

Go to school. And learn that Unreal and Unity is not a do all the hard stuff system.

Moving to the Job Advice section.

Now that it is in the right section of the site, check out the Job Advice Forum FAQ. The links in section 1 and section 3 are most relevant.

I'll point you to Tom Sloper's FAQ about the videogame industry. At least for me it was a real eye opener. http://sloperama.com/advice.html

To get started on game programming, you don't even have to spend money. There are several free online tutorials that will help you become fluent in any language you choose, and to get started in game programming. You can check out:

- The official Python tutorial

- Cpluplus.com (for C++ programming)

- Lazy Foo's SDL tutorial

- The SFML tutorial

Those sites could keep you entertained for a couple of months :D Of course, if you have no interest in C++, python, SDL or SFML, then you can look for learning material on your subject of choice. Do ask around in these and other forums for recommendations on which tutorial to use, because it's not always a matter of taste, and a lot of tutorials are really better than others.

Starting out in game programming? Me too! Check out my blog, written by a newbie, for the newbies. http://myowngamejourney.blogspot.mx/

Also, if you don't mind a 5 seconds ad, here's a great free ebook for beginners on the subject of pygame: http://bit.ly/19Bem2q

The first is obvious, the second is necessary, because if you don't have a college degree then you won't get hired.

That means that you need to make sure that you have enough math skills, etc to get admitted to either college or a dedicated game development school.

Please do not go to a dedicated game deverlopment school for programming. This is a complete waste of time in most cases and it will be really hard to find your first job, let alone an interview.. Go get a computer science degree from an accredited college or university. It will make life so much easier.

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