From Gaming to Development – Part 1

How does someone go from being a game enthusiast to being a game developer? If you have been playing games for a long time, there is a chance you wondered about making your own game at some point. Maybe you looked at your favourite computer RPG and said to yourself: “…man, I have an exciting story in my head, I think I can turn this into a great RPG!” Or you were playing Starcraft, and you were thinking about creating a custom campaign for the game, just like many players did in the past.

I was at that point many years ago. Playing with Starcraft, Heroes of Might and Magic 3, and Neverwinter Nights, I looked at their robust and famous level editors and wanted to form my thoughts, my ideas into a videogame. I remember downloading tutorials, extra graphical resources and getting all the help for these tools, I was ready for making something great. And then… then nothing happened. I haven’t created anything, not even one map. As it turned out, developing a game, even a mod is hard work. You can’t just put a project together in a few days and then bask in the glory of your brilliance.

I lacked the determination back then. There were so many great games to play, I had to spend time on my studies, deal with life stuff, I just couldn’t bring myself to sit in front of an editor and work on a game. It was so boring. And that is the point where many people give up on game development. Because developing a game is work. It can be an enjoyable work, but it is work nontheless. Coding, drawing art, creating music, building levels, marketing, writing a story, testing (oh God, the testing, take it away, take it away from me) is not easy. And it is alright, not everybody has to be a game developer, playing games is so much fun in itself.

But there are some determined people out there who can find the enjoyable bits in this kind of work. Who can deal with the mundane tasks every day and just want to create something which others can enjoy. And if talent meets with this kind of determination, we can get fantastic games as a result. If you are lucky, you can find like minded gamers who can help you to achieve this goal. But even if you are alone – like myself – you can start a project and slowly create something fantastic. Or a boring piece of crap. Hey, nobody starts out as developer genius! I’m wrapping up my first project A Long Road Home at the moment (which is on Steam Greenlight by the way /shameless plug), and even I know that it is not a perfect masterpiece, far from it. But I also know that I have learned a lot during its development, and I will start my next project with a lot more experience.