Every beginning is hard, especially in the world of video game development, where you mistakenly think that having a good idea is enough to create a good video game. A good idea is just the beginning and will usually undergo so many modifications in the design and development process that in the end, your video game will not look like what you had initially been thought.
There is no manual to tell you what you need to do to create the video game successfully, nor a manual of how to become a good designer of video games, in the same way that there is not a book that will tell you how to be a great tennis player, a jockey jumping fences, or any other activity that requires a lot of practice to be mastered. Each video game designer can have his own and different methodology of work; there are no unified rules to carry out that work. Therefore, the following tips are intended to help you get the experience you need to get started.
The design of digital games has the same foundations as the design of similar games. Designing similar games like card games, board games, physical games, among others, will help you gain experience, increase your creativity and visualize the process of designing a game without using technological resources that you may not master. Design your analog game and try it with your friends, evaluate how fun it is, why is it fun? How can you improve it?
It is likely that if you want to design video games, you will have in mind several concrete ideas that seem very good to you. Don’t go to a forum with despair to open a post asking for the help of someone who knows how to program, draw, or both. Instead, try to locate groups of game developers who are beginners but more experienced than you and express your desire to collaborate. In this way, you will gain experience of teamwork and know all the activities involved in the development of video games.
If you have the specific technical knowledge and think you have the ability to develop a video game on your own, choose straightforward gameplay so that it takes up to one month to improve it. The purpose of this is for you to acquire the basic notions of video game design and development without investing many resources. As the days go by, you can get tired of the video game and not finish it. It is better to develop several simple video games, with different themes, and to learn from each process than to try to develop a complex one with which you get frustrated.
Nothing is more important in any activity than maintaining motivation. As in the development of a thesis, the best thing to do when creating a video game is to choose a theme that you like, and that motivates you to work. Don’t get carried away by the popularity of the video game of the moment, be true to your tastes, and keep your motivation elevated by designing something you’d like to play. It is essential to do what you propose and to complete it.
I won’t fool you, you will always find many obstacles in the design and development of video games, even when you have a lot of experience. The first games won’t be what you expect, you’ll have regular games and some too bad to talk about, but everyone will teach you something. Because one or four video games didn’t suit you is not enough reason to give up or discourage you, with each set you will be better, each game, good or bad, will give you the experience to overcome the obstacles I spoke about at the beginning.
