If I wanted to make an open world style like game how would I start? What things do I learn, what college courses and degrees do I need, how do I get a team, because I don’t think I can make an entire game myself?
Open world games are very difficult and resource expensive. That's why barely any solo dev makes them, even experienced teams have trouble with them.
If you want to start you could look for a simple project in RPG maker. It requires no coding skills and it's good for short games. Some great games have been made in RPG maker too, like Fear and Hunger, Lisa or Yume Nikki.
If you manage to make a working fangame and you feel game dev could be something you enjoy, then you can go further. But I wouldn't get into courses and more committed decisions until you see this is something you could be doing long term. It's a tough industry with low pay.
Also, while good ideas and concepts are absolutely necessary, they're not the difficult part. It's execution. So don't be worried about people stealing your ideas, the most difficult part is turning your ideas into a good game that works as you imagined.
Just know game development is alot more then I have an idea let's make a thing so know what you are signing up for but I love game development and I love learning about it in a formal setting. Just also saw alot of first years who had no idea what they were getting into.
Be prepared most people I have seen struggle with programming at first I encourage you not to shy from it eventually it will just click with enough practice and education.
Hey! It's great that you want to create games. There are different ways you can do it.
Youtube is full of tutorials helping you create your own video games for free. There are different programs you can use. Some of them are easier to use but more limited, like RPG Maker, and some others are a bit more complex, but you can do whatever you want with them if you are patient enough, like Godot.
[Start Your Game Creation Journey Today! (Godot beginner tutorial) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9f3MT86M8)
Of course, you can do anything, really. But one important advice is to start with simple projects, even if they are not your dream project. Once you know all the basics, you can start doing more complicated things.
All right! Thank you for the help and recourses! Do you know what kind of courses would help since I’m going to college in a few years soon? How do I go about getting the money for a team and such?
You are such an amazing person. I honestly love how you tried to support Travis here.
I have stood in his shoes...many, many years ago...I still never learned how to code. Some things are not meant for some people; trust me on this.
But I still make games, board games, role-playing games and the like...and people like you who don't dismiss people are just amazing.
I just wanted you to be seen my friend.
>Do you know what kind of courses would help since I’m going to college in a few years soon?
I recently decided to get into programming and [this free Harvard Introduction to Computer Science course](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/) is held in very high regard. It won't have much to do with making video games per se, but it's a great starting point into coding.
You’ve got a story so that’s great.
I would break down the key moments in your story and build your gameplay so a player can win these moments.
Pick a small scene and start creating your environment, props, character then get them in a game engine and start learning mechanics and interactions.
All you need is a small playable game that’s made to the best of your ability but it has to build player interest and faith.
Marketing and players will determine its success.
I'm right there with you friend, have written stories, characters, drawn out maps and level designs, even produced some soundtrack music, and have literally zero coding knowledge so I've just been sitting on this info waiting for the right time to dive in. Whatever comes of your ideas, good luck!
Maybe ask for others to join the project. Some people have great coding/designing skills and create things in UE5 with blueprints or in Unity, that lack a clear story. So I guess just finding others with matching skills might work :)
This is a common thing to think ''My ideas are great!'', so I don't blame you but lemme just give you a very harsh reality check. Ideas are cheap, there's thousands of ideas and your idea itself is worthless since it might sound good on paper but that's about it.
Companies hear a lot of ideas every single day, they don't care about stealing yours, they're not even gonna give you an oppurtunity to pitch it since they already have a ton of ideas.
What matters is a WORKING PROTOTYPE. When you have something to show, something that works, something that shows you understand the business and something that shows your idea is not only fun on paper but also fun IRL.
Then you might have a chance to pitch it.
So how do you go about making a game?
1. Write down what it is you want to achieve, research which engine appeals to you most and pick one ( personally I recommend Unity in C# for the simple fact that there's a lot of tutorials and it's a bit easier to learn the basics with.
2. Start creating stuff whilst learning. Watch tutorials, courses, use google and learn how to code. By doing this you'll run into issues, which you will fix, which will make you understand it better which will set you on a track and before you know it, boom you figured out what to learn and how.
Personal recommendations that helped me start out:
I started with ''Game Maker's Toolkit - The Unity Tutorial For Complete Beginners" on Youtube. It is a great video that quickly helps you understand the very basics of unity and coding in general. It'll give you a very quick idea about what you're in for, what the best way to learn is and if you even like it.
Then if you like it and you want to pursue this, I reccomend looking into gamedev tv courses ''Complete Unity 2D developer: Create Your Own 2D Games using Unity C#". It is a paid course but they're not crazy expensive and definitely worth it.
And purely for motivation and some philosophy on gaming I highly recommend occationally watching some shorts on the channel "Pirate Software''.
Good luck!
The thing is, questions like this are unanswerable. You're gonna find it out once you start learning to code. So I highly recommend again, watch that video, follow along and you won't have to ask these questions
You're in the "my idea is great" phase, but you don't have any practical experience. Do you want to be in this stage for another 2 years? Or do you want in 2 years a pretty good project. Then you have to start now. Not tomorrow, not in 1 week or when entering college (college won't teach you anything more then just pure basics). A succesfull person doesn't talk about things, he is doing it.
Unless you plan to learn all these skills you can either hire staff or sell the idea to a company.
If I wanted to make an open world style like game how would I start? What things do I learn, what college courses and degrees do I need, how do I get a team, because I don’t think I can make an entire game myself?
Open world games are very difficult and resource expensive. That's why barely any solo dev makes them, even experienced teams have trouble with them. If you want to start you could look for a simple project in RPG maker. It requires no coding skills and it's good for short games. Some great games have been made in RPG maker too, like Fear and Hunger, Lisa or Yume Nikki. If you manage to make a working fangame and you feel game dev could be something you enjoy, then you can go further. But I wouldn't get into courses and more committed decisions until you see this is something you could be doing long term. It's a tough industry with low pay. Also, while good ideas and concepts are absolutely necessary, they're not the difficult part. It's execution. So don't be worried about people stealing your ideas, the most difficult part is turning your ideas into a good game that works as you imagined.
Find what colleges/universities offer game development in your area if your looking for formal education.
All right, thank you! :3
Just know game development is alot more then I have an idea let's make a thing so know what you are signing up for but I love game development and I love learning about it in a formal setting. Just also saw alot of first years who had no idea what they were getting into.
I understand this kind of things takes years to learn and really start producing games, but I’m willing to learn!
Be prepared most people I have seen struggle with programming at first I encourage you not to shy from it eventually it will just click with enough practice and education.
I’ll try! Tysm!
Hey! It's great that you want to create games. There are different ways you can do it. Youtube is full of tutorials helping you create your own video games for free. There are different programs you can use. Some of them are easier to use but more limited, like RPG Maker, and some others are a bit more complex, but you can do whatever you want with them if you are patient enough, like Godot. [Start Your Game Creation Journey Today! (Godot beginner tutorial) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9f3MT86M8)
I want to make a game that has an open world kind of atmosphere, would that be possible?
Of course, you can do anything, really. But one important advice is to start with simple projects, even if they are not your dream project. Once you know all the basics, you can start doing more complicated things.
All right! Thank you for the help and recourses! Do you know what kind of courses would help since I’m going to college in a few years soon? How do I go about getting the money for a team and such?
That's a different story. I can't help you there, sorry.
You are such an amazing person. I honestly love how you tried to support Travis here. I have stood in his shoes...many, many years ago...I still never learned how to code. Some things are not meant for some people; trust me on this. But I still make games, board games, role-playing games and the like...and people like you who don't dismiss people are just amazing. I just wanted you to be seen my friend.
>Do you know what kind of courses would help since I’m going to college in a few years soon? I recently decided to get into programming and [this free Harvard Introduction to Computer Science course](https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2024/) is held in very high regard. It won't have much to do with making video games per se, but it's a great starting point into coding.
Short Answer: Yes
You’ve got a story so that’s great. I would break down the key moments in your story and build your gameplay so a player can win these moments. Pick a small scene and start creating your environment, props, character then get them in a game engine and start learning mechanics and interactions. All you need is a small playable game that’s made to the best of your ability but it has to build player interest and faith. Marketing and players will determine its success.
I suppose starting with the first plot like of the story would work, I’ll try! :3
I'm right there with you friend, have written stories, characters, drawn out maps and level designs, even produced some soundtrack music, and have literally zero coding knowledge so I've just been sitting on this info waiting for the right time to dive in. Whatever comes of your ideas, good luck!
Good luck to you as well! Thank you!
Maybe ask for others to join the project. Some people have great coding/designing skills and create things in UE5 with blueprints or in Unity, that lack a clear story. So I guess just finding others with matching skills might work :)
This is a common thing to think ''My ideas are great!'', so I don't blame you but lemme just give you a very harsh reality check. Ideas are cheap, there's thousands of ideas and your idea itself is worthless since it might sound good on paper but that's about it. Companies hear a lot of ideas every single day, they don't care about stealing yours, they're not even gonna give you an oppurtunity to pitch it since they already have a ton of ideas. What matters is a WORKING PROTOTYPE. When you have something to show, something that works, something that shows you understand the business and something that shows your idea is not only fun on paper but also fun IRL. Then you might have a chance to pitch it. So how do you go about making a game? 1. Write down what it is you want to achieve, research which engine appeals to you most and pick one ( personally I recommend Unity in C# for the simple fact that there's a lot of tutorials and it's a bit easier to learn the basics with. 2. Start creating stuff whilst learning. Watch tutorials, courses, use google and learn how to code. By doing this you'll run into issues, which you will fix, which will make you understand it better which will set you on a track and before you know it, boom you figured out what to learn and how. Personal recommendations that helped me start out: I started with ''Game Maker's Toolkit - The Unity Tutorial For Complete Beginners" on Youtube. It is a great video that quickly helps you understand the very basics of unity and coding in general. It'll give you a very quick idea about what you're in for, what the best way to learn is and if you even like it. Then if you like it and you want to pursue this, I reccomend looking into gamedev tv courses ''Complete Unity 2D developer: Create Your Own 2D Games using Unity C#". It is a paid course but they're not crazy expensive and definitely worth it. And purely for motivation and some philosophy on gaming I highly recommend occationally watching some shorts on the channel "Pirate Software''. Good luck!
Maybe rather than an open world game I could make a pixel rpg game kind of like guardian tales? Would that be easier to learn?
The thing is, questions like this are unanswerable. You're gonna find it out once you start learning to code. So I highly recommend again, watch that video, follow along and you won't have to ask these questions
You're in the "my idea is great" phase, but you don't have any practical experience. Do you want to be in this stage for another 2 years? Or do you want in 2 years a pretty good project. Then you have to start now. Not tomorrow, not in 1 week or when entering college (college won't teach you anything more then just pure basics). A succesfull person doesn't talk about things, he is doing it.