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How to become a Game Developer?

Nicola on July 27, 2020

Hi folks!😍 Today I want to start a discussion about how to become a game developer. But first a little bit of premises ❗ I'm a full-s...
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Vincenzo • Edited

Hey Nicola, I see that you are interested in game development and also that you are italian, as I am.

Recently with some random guys met on reddit and around the web we setup a small org to group together italian (or not) speaking people who wants to learn or do some game development: nientedidecente.github.io/en/
we have a discord server if you want to join us.

we also have an org here dev.to/nientedidecente

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Nicola

Hi Vincenzo! Thanks for the advice! I'm in πŸ±β€πŸ

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rhymes

Hi Nicola, a community called "Let's Build" focused on game design and development was recently created using DEV's source code: letsbuild.gg/

It was founded by @rcarlson .

Check it out! :-)

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Robert Carlson

We love to talk anything game dev and all are welcome <3 Cheers!

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JoΓ£o

Hey Nicola! I work for a Game Dev company and it was kind of luck how I ended up here. I come from Portugal and, as in Italy, Game-dev companies are almost non existent. So before you make any decisions, there are a few things you should ask yourself:

  • Are you willing to move to another country?
  • Do you want to work for a big company or for a smaller Indie company?
  • Do you want to program gameplay, engine, tools, build, dev ops, etc? (There are many positions in game dev)
  • Realize that game dev industry is underpaid compared to FronEnd development, for example, due to supply and demand (many people want to join).

For the big companies knowledge of C++ is a must for most positions. For Indie companies you can get by with Unity or even Javascript.

If you have many specific questions we can maybe talk on discord :)

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Adel Miljković

You have to check out LiveOverflow's series on game development where he mostly speaks about his journey on learning Unity while building his first online multiplayer game which is really cool! youtu.be/LTlBElDPDDM

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Nicola

Thanks that awesome! <3

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Michael Capecci

I think setting forth to create a studio is a really cool idea.

But, if you do apply for jobs in the industry, maybe your experience in Front End development will carry over, at least partially? I wonder if game companies consider a candidate's experience in other disciplines of development.

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Nicola

Yes of course I'll lose something, but I think is more important to be happy with your work.

I think any side-skill will be considered as a great plus, as everything you have learned could be useful.

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Vincent Dedo

Hello, fellow aspiring gamedev here. I've chosen the route to create my own studio/company with a friend. Given the power of the tools we have now and the number of successful solo-developed indie games, you can pull it off. That's the main reason for us wanting to try it, it's feasible.

It sounds like you want to create a big studio where you can get others to also follow their passion. I'm not sure how that would work as that's not my plan. My friend and I are planning on staying as a 2-man team for a while, with the focus being sustainability and being able to live off selling games, not growing a studio.

I hope that whatever you choose, it works out and it makes you happy!

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Nicola

Hi Vincent! Thanks for your reply! I want to start with a little studio like yours, and if it goes well expand it giving others the possibility to become game devs in Italy. It's a big goal but at least I want to try!