Has anyone else thought about making video games?

[Captain Jay]

Ahoy, AVENites. So I mentioned elsewhere that I was thinking about getting into video game development.

 

As much as I'm tempted to elaborate on this, doing so right off the bat would feel like a waste. For now, I'll just mention two things.

 

First, the main reason I've been thinking about this dream is because it simply refuses to go away, no matter how much I try to blow it off and toss myself at typical office jobs. Second, I've been trying to decide if I should dumb one of my ideas down enough that it could be made without an enormous commitment. A lot of titles from the '80s were made by only a few team members, so it might be feasible.

 

(I'm not entirely sure if this is the right audience, by the way... but again, there aren't many other places I hang out. I do have a Tumblr [houseofjay], but I'm still working on a few details, such as whether I should bother with an introduction.)

[NickyTannock]

Not only have I thought about it, but I've gone ahead and done it.

I was involved in the making of two games; Black Mesa, and Black Mesa: Hazard Course.

And am currently making a third called Peer Review.

[Yui-Drakon]

I have thought about it, yes. And still think about it often. And very unsure of what to do about it.

[Guest]

I suck at doing all that type of stuff but I would have loved to be a video game writer. 

[nineGardens]

Yes, I've thought about it, and even made a few itty bitty ones (like, me toying around at home testing things, not like commercial, or even freeware grade things).

 

I love discussions of game design, so would be happy to talk about that sort of stuff, trade ideas, suggest some tools if you're looking, etc.

[Philip027]

Nope.  I'm not nearly creative or imaginative enough.  I am just a consumer.

 

However, I have thought about game testing and script proofreading, as those are things I can actually do.

[nineGardens]

Also, oh damn @MichaelTannock those are some serious looking game mods you have there. Very cool.

[Lord Jade Cross]

.

[AspieAlly613]

@StomachGod has some experience with this.

[ElasticPlanet]

I've dabbled as an amateur, but not sent anything out into the big public world. The problem with working on a tiny scale and having to do your own play-testing is, by the time it's finished, you've seen it so much that there's little fun left to be had from playing the finished game! Making music has been much better for me in that regard.

[nineGardens]

1 hour ago, ElasticPlanet said:

Making music has been much better for me in that regard.

So... if a couple of your fellow aven's ever needed a soundtrack some time....??

[Karst]

I can't code, so I run D&D games instead.

[OmegaTheMetamorphicDreamer]

I've fantasized about it before, but in the end I don't think it's an achievable reality.

[Liana]

I think that writing the story and setting for a game would be fun, along with making concept art for a game, but I don’t think that I would be good at programming and modeling a game myself.

[Dreamer23]

Have you participated in GameJams before (where you spend a weekend to meet people with similar ambitions and make tiny games in a weekend)

It's a great way to meet other aspiring game devs and get started!

It's also not super unrealistic to develop it over weekends, even while holding a regular job.

 

Now granted as you mentioned, you won't make a triple-A game that way, but without a massive team and at least tens of millions of dollars, that's not gonna happen.

There are amazing Indie Games out there - fancy graphics and massive manually curated worlds are what makes money, but I strongly assume not what you are all that interested in creating anyway (since it's kinda boring from a dev perspective), and that's a good part of what requires those large teams and time --> give the scrappy approach a shot!

[abandoned-account]

It’s been a dream of mine for ages, since video games have played such a large role in inspiring me in two of my favorite things, artistic design and software programming as they are a perfect combination of both. 

I just don’t know how I’m gonna make it there. I’m studying towards getting a computer science degree and I would like one in visual arts too, either as a second major or a minor.

 

Sadly when I tell most people I dream of designing video games one day they don’t take me seriously.

[Mysterywriter221]

I've been kicking around a story idea for a video game for years now but I don't know how to do the programming, art, etc. 

[DuskFire]

2 hours ago, Vee. said:

It’s been a dream of mine for ages, since video games have played such a large role in inspiring me in two of my favorite things, artistic design and software programming as they are a perfect combination of both. 

I just don’t know how I’m gonna make it there. I’m studying towards getting a computer science degree and I would like one in visual arts too, either as a second major or a minor.

 

Sadly when I tell most people I dream of designing video games one day they don’t take me seriously.

If anyone can do it you can!

[Shiloh_Rose]

Coding and all that just confuses me, and I also don't have money...
but yes I'm planning at least. Have been for at least a couple years now. A binder full of race/species(??) and clothing sketches and such and planning of how quests would work/what sort, and what 'jobs' there would be and how the environment would be, the history/lore, etc.
At first it was of several horrid attempts at nanowrimo/stories; but those didn't work out. But I fell in love with the concept and the world, and another character from several other story attempts morphed and grew into the Mother and Goddess of the world/found her place in it, so.

It's more of a 'someday but probably never but I'm going to plan it all anyway'. I mean a binderfull of over a hundred(handwritten) pages is still pretty planful, right? 😛 And I'm still not done. >..< 
I'm planning on organizing/typing up everything that I have so far for this year's coming NaNoWriMo('rebel' this year, then, I guess, since it's not an actual story/novel, woot) so at least it will be much neater and I can go from there and print it when I'm actually done... someday. Also sometime would be nice to print off more of the digital art/sketches/concepts or whathaveyou that I've done.

[nineGardens]

So... a whole bunch of people here talk about making games, as if its this big project to "Start eventually"... but , seriously... GET STARTED.

Make a thing.

Anything.

Make a small thing.

Make a tiny airoplane game.

A lame platform game.

MAKE ANYTHING.

 

Or if you don't like programming, then find someone who days and make pixel art for them. Or music.

 

Also... some of the best games I have ever played are super small:

For example:

https://ncase.itch.io/wbwwb

Nicky Case has a whole bunch of cool stuff.

 

It's like writing a book. Don't try to write a fantasy epic. Just Write one scene, and make it really nice.

And then do that again.

And again.

 

Heck, does anyone want to have a game jam on Aven?

 

[Jusey1]

Ye'h. I've learned quite a bit about modding from modding Morrowind to Skyrim. Learned how to mod Minecraft via scripting language and also learned how to use the Unity Engine a little as well as the Unreal Engine quite a bit.

It's pretty enjoyable thing to do.

[Captain Jay]

This got more replies than I expected. I think part of the issue is that, as alluded to earlier, being a game dev is often pigeonholed as inescapably tedious, expensive, or otherwise soul-crushing. Or maybe that's what just what wannabes and/or "the old guard" tell people to scare them off.

 

I have a bunch of assorted pieces of pixel art, and I've decided to put a few of them in their own thread. Most of them are simple enough that I'd be okay with burning them off on minor projects.

 

@nineGardens recommended GameMaker Studio to me. I've used GameMaker a few times, back before the "Studio" was added, so it might take some time to get back up to speed.

 

Past that... I'm not too sure what to say. I suppose the idea of a game jam could work, though typically they're themed. Wonder what we could come up with.