How to get into Game Dev?

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[mahoroa]

First of all my apologies if this is the wrong board to post this one

Anyways. I want to get into gamedev since I've had an idea in my head for ages now. The problem is the game dev courses I find are pretty stressful and I don't really plan on being a full time gamedev.

My friend told me people get into gamedev casually but I'm not sure where to start? Any tips?

EDIT: I should've mentioned this but I want to make a platformer game (think like Kirby games). I have most of the characters sketched out and basic story outline, I'm just not sure where else to go with this idea

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

The short, general answer: Get Godot and do some tutorials - https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/community/tutorials.html
Afterwards, do some simple games. Later, you can expand.

But depending on what you can do already (coding? scripting? graphics?) and what you want to do (2d? 3d? small? epic?) there might be better ways for you ;).

[Melooon]

I would actually go a step further back than that; game engines, art programs etc.. are really just tools that allow you to present your game in a digitised and distributable format; that's the very end of the chain.

You start by observing, researching and inventing. For example; say you wanna make a game about battling crabs in a desert (start with a very simple idea). Go to a desert, make drawings, take notes, and learn about the different kinds of deserts; do the same for crabs and fights. Keep doing that until you have one of those big A4 black notebooks filled with notes about everything you've learned.

Once you have that book; start to figure out how you can fit it into a game. Start with a board game, or even just a semi-DND type session with some friends where you talk about ideas and play out interactions. Doing that you'll learn really fast what's working and what's not working.

Once you have a set of game interactions/mechanics that you know work on paper; then you download a game engine like Godot and start trying to recreate them digitally. If you don't have digital skills like programming, this will be a really slow phase because you'll have to learn that as you work here. Once again; you'll figure out what works, what you're able to do, what you enjoy doing etc.

THEN, once you know your source material, you know your interactions, and you know your technical skills - you'll know you're ready to start actually working on your game  Annnd chances are it won't work out, and if it does, chances are it won't be anything like what you imagined at the start; you keep trying though and each time more clicks.

[shevek]

@Melooon bringing the dedicated artist study vibe!

As third person though, I have to say it makes it sound like a lot. I think it's fair to just play around with software and metaphorically put the puzzle pieces together until you find something that fits
Like okay, I make this cube move now from left to right. Now how do I make it shoot? Next, how do I apply a texture to it? Now, how would I create an environment? How do I make text appear in a text bubble? etc. and then you start replacing things, refactoring things, as your skills improve and you wanna change something.

Look at Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone - SDV was created solely by him, for years before the release, and old trailers and images are still out there. The old versions are nowhere near as polished as the final product that went over countless iterations, suggestions by others, a publisher etc. so it's just natural to always build on top of what you created.

For the beginning and to learn the basics, I think it matters less if it's a game that you would actually like to play or that would make money in any way - just something that gets you to research the things you wanna do. It's similar to website building, where adding on to it makes you increase your skills because you start to think, well, how can I maybe tilt this text?

If you do wanna work on your first dedicated project that should be worth presenting or something you enjoy, I think Melon's approach could be great. Though I laughed at

Go to a desert

Just go to your nearest desert, duh. If you want to make a game about space, go to the moon

[Melooon]

go to your nearest desert

I did mean that within your means If you're in a lot of US you can totally take a Greyhound and do long-weekend trip to a desert region.. its maybe a little more difficult in Europe, but Egypt is only a 4 hour flight away! Failing all that, a botanical garden with a cactus section and movies set in deserts are all ways to experience a desert

You're right though, it does make it sound like a lot; but whys that a bad thing? Playing games is about discovery and self-construction, so why should that not also be core to the process of making them?