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Ask HN: How to get into game development

2 points by lilod 10y ago

Hi, I'm really interested in the game development, I myself is a front-end developer and have some basic c++ skill. I wonder where to start if I want to get into the game development. Should I start with some course or books?

cbanek 10y ago
I've worked at gaming companies, and although I never worked on the games themselves (more the backend, console, etc), I would suggest just writing some games yourself! There's a lot of aspects to game development, including gameplay, art, storyline, and many of those aren't technical. If you do get into a technical problem that can't be easily solved, cheat! Many games have an addictive mechanic that comes from a hard technical problem you want the player to solve. There are some frameworks for writing games, and you can get familiar with whatever you think will solve the problem. Also, just apply to a game company! They need web people too, and it's easier to use your skills to get your foot in the door, then you can learn from the inside.
- lilod 10y ago
  Yeah maybe I can apply to a game company directly
  - cbanek 10y ago
    At the very least, there's nothing to lose! Just getting an onsite interview at some of these places is pretty amazing - you get to see all the concept art and meet so many gamers. Everyone is always looking for good tech skill, so if you've got it, they'll eat it up!
keviv 10y ago
You can start building casual games in any 2D platform. Both https://love2d.org/ https://love2d.org/ and https://coronalabs.com/ https://coronalabs.com/ are free (Corona SDK has a enterprise version as well) and both use Lua. There are decent tutorials on the web and you can build a small casual game in a couple of days. There are tons of HTML5 game libraries as well but with Love2d and Corona SDK, you can build native games.
- lilod 10y ago
  Will definitely check it out
HAL9OOO 10y ago
I would check out http://phaser.io/ http://phaser.io/ You should be able to find a lot of tutorials on the phaser site itself as well as https://www.reddit.com/r/phaser/ https://www.reddit.com/r/phaser/ or https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/ https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/ It's a HTML5 game engine and I've used it to create some really simple games, game development is a lot of work/time however so see if you can get into it as a hobby and you will know if the enjoyment to work ratio is worth it for you.
BillBohan 10y ago
If you're interested in modern game development in 3D, you might want to look at Unreal Engine 4. https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4 https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4 It is free to download, you can play with it all you want. You must agree to pay royalties (5%) if you start making money with a game you develop.

2 points by lilod 10y ago

cbanek 10y ago

I've worked at gaming companies, and although I never worked on the games themselves (more the backend, console, etc), I would suggest just writing some games yourself! There's a lot of aspects to game development, including gameplay, art, storyline, and many of those aren't technical. If you do get into a technical problem that can't be easily solved, cheat! Many games have an addictive mechanic that comes from a hard technical problem you want the player to solve. There are some frameworks for writing games, and you can get familiar with whatever you think will solve the problem. Also, just apply to a game company! They need web people too, and it's easier to use your skills to get your foot in the door, then you can learn from the inside.

lilod 10y ago
Yeah maybe I can apply to a game company directly
- cbanek 10y ago
  At the very least, there's nothing to lose! Just getting an onsite interview at some of these places is pretty amazing - you get to see all the concept art and meet so many gamers. Everyone is always looking for good tech skill, so if you've got it, they'll eat it up!

keviv 10y ago

You can start building casual games in any 2D platform. Both https://love2d.org/ https://love2d.org/ and https://coronalabs.com/ https://coronalabs.com/ are free (Corona SDK has a enterprise version as well) and both use Lua. There are decent tutorials on the web and you can build a small casual game in a couple of days. There are tons of HTML5 game libraries as well but with Love2d and Corona SDK, you can build native games.

lilod 10y ago
Will definitely check it out

HAL9OOO 10y ago

I would check out http://phaser.io/ http://phaser.io/ You should be able to find a lot of tutorials on the phaser site itself as well as https://www.reddit.com/r/phaser/ https://www.reddit.com/r/phaser/ or https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/ https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/ It's a HTML5 game engine and I've used it to create some really simple games, game development is a lot of work/time however so see if you can get into it as a hobby and you will know if the enjoyment to work ratio is worth it for you.

BillBohan 10y ago

If you're interested in modern game development in 3D, you might want to look at Unreal Engine 4. https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4 https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4 It is free to download, you can play with it all you want. You must agree to pay royalties (5%) if you start making money with a game you develop.