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Consider this my first weekly progress report on my new game dev skills!
I decided to start learning game development and game design a week ago. I love making things in general. I love sweets, so I learned how to bake. I love fashion, so I learned how to sew.
And now I love video games so I’m learning game dev!
I run a blog as part of my day job, albeit in a more informational style. But I love blogging and writing, and I thought it’d be fun to document my game dev learning in an older-school blog format. So here we are!
Right now the plan is to post weekly updates of my progress. Let’s jump right in with an update on my very first game. OMG!
What I Made
I followed a tutorial in my intro to Godot course (linked in the section below) to make this alien saucer game (screenshot below).
To make this game, I had to learn the very basics of Godot and write some beginner scripts (with a heavy emphasis on following tutorials).
I wasn’t sure if I would like writing scripts, but I’m a huge Excel fangirl, so while it was a new language, the logic was simple enough to pick up on … at least so far.
I also had to design the “maze.” I wanted to throw some loops in there but I wasn’t sure if overlapping the “maze” would mess anything up so I went for a simple snake pattern.
I had my husband give it a test run and he said it was challenging! But he managed to get it on the third or fourth try so like … not too challenging. The ship isn’t super easy to control, but the instructor of the course says that’s the whole point!
Game Dev Resources from this Week
I went all in on my new hobby!
Luckily most of the resources were free, and the one I did purchase was very affordable.
Tutorial I followed:
I enrolled in an Intro to Godot course at gamedev.tv called Complete Godot 4 2D: Code Your Own 2D Games In Godot 4!
The course was only $15. I’ve taken a ton of online courses and that’s super affordable. This is a great course for complete novices not only to Godot, but to game dev in general.
I completed the introduction and setup section, as well as the first project in this course: Speedy Saucer.
There are two more projects in the course. I’ll do a full review once I finish them!
Books I Read:
Obviously, I’m not even at the point where technical tutorials are super useful for me (except for the course mentioned above). But these two books were really great for getting me in the mindset of a video game creator.
Both of these books were super short, and they’re both available as audiobooks for free on Spotify Premium. You can also check your local library!
- Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. A great read for any creative. My main takeaway from this book with respect to game dev was that a big part of my journey is going to be gathering inspiration from other games I admire.
- How to Make a Video Game All by Yourself by Matt Hackett. It doesn’t have much in the way of technical advice, but it’s great at giving you a rough overview of the steps needed to create a video game. The first chapter was especially motivating. It helped me feel like I can do this!
Podcasts:
- The Indie Game Development Podcast: Since I’m so new, I listened to the episodes “Listen to this BEFORE Making Your First Indie Game” and “How I Would Start Gamedev (if I could start over).”
- Game Dev Field Guide: Again, I’m in the phase where it’s more about embracing beginner’s mindset while I follow my first course. So How to make and launch a video game was a good episode for understanding the big picture, but I can’t get much more technical than that yet.
Assets:
My speedy saucer game used free assets from Kenney.
What Went Well
I successfully created a game and had someone play it!
Where I Struggled
I need to hone my attention to detail. Tiny things like a punctuation mark or a capital letter can mess up my script. So I need to teach myself not to gloss over small details like that or I’ll wind up pulling out my hair.
Goals for Next Week
I’ll be creating the 2nd game in the gamedev.tv course!
I also have a vision (already) for my dream game I want to create. Obviously this is going to take years, but I think I’ll start with brainstorming the core game mechanic I want it to include, even if I can’t code it yet.