Develop your first game in 2019.

Remember, developing each game feels like a marathon. Out of all of these tips mentioned below, the most important one is to keep your scope small. You will gain ten times more knowledge and experience by going through the entire process from start to finish rather than starting something and leaving it halfway. These are few tips on how to develop a game in 2019. :

1. Keep Your Scope Small

This is the most important tip. Design something you can make in a month and then cut it in half. Most people make the mistake of thinking too big and wanting to make something like GTA or Skyrim or massive MMO for their first game and eventually they end up with nothing. So think of the simplest game you can do and then make it even simpler. If you are a complete beginner then I would suggest you start off by making a clone of a classic game such as space invaders or pacman. Starting with a clone makes it easier to become familiar with the tools of the engine you chose whilst not having to spend too long thinking about the game’s design. Then when you do have a clone completed, you can expand upon it. For example, if you made a clone of a space invaders, think of what new weapon types would fit into the game, what different enemy types would make the game more engaging or what different game modes you could have.

2. Know Your Strengths

It’s important to know what you’re good at when deciding what you want to create so if your strong point is art then you should try making an action or an adventure game… Go for something that is mechanically simple to implement like a plat-former or a point-and-click and make your art really stand out. On the other hand if your strong point is programming, then maybe try doing a simple simulation or strategy game with a very simple art style. Something with interesting systems or involving multiple simple units while keeping the art as minimalist as possible. Improving on your weak points is a certainly a good thing but if the goal is to bring the project from start to finish then make sure you focus on your strengths.

3. Look For Help

If there is a mechanic you really want to make but have no idea on how to do it, do look for an answer. Learning how to google effectively is one of the best skills you can have as a game developer. There are lots of tutorials on the internet and on the YouTube that will teach you anything you need to know as long as you know what to search for. So, if you get stuck on a problem instead of banging your head against it do look online for who might have solved it before , chances are that you will find an answer for your problem.

4. Be Consistent

Creating a game is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes many hours to create a compelling interactive system where all the pieces come together into a great experience. Don’t go too fast and burn yourself out and don’t assume you can get it all done in just three days. Instead, think it slow and make it part of your routine and every day move one step closer to your goal. It is much easier to keep going little by little each day then it is to „burn out“ and drop everything for a week and then try to come back to it. Keep a TO-DO-LIST of all the tasks and features that need to be implemented so when it’s time to work you know exactly what you’re going to do.

5. Be Happy With What You Made

If you go through the process of making the game from start to finish, be happy with what have you created. Most people start and give up in the middle so just by making it to the end you’ll be better off then most. Your first game will certainly not be a masterpiece so don’t be upset if it doesn’t match with the games you’re used to play.

Making games is a skill and very much it depends on experience . The more games you make the better they will be. The more times you go through the process of start to finish the better you’ll become at understanding what works and what doesn’t. You’ll learn on how to make your game design more engaging, your characters are better drawn and animated and your code cleaner and more efficient.

Making a game involves many unique elements all coming together into one final product. So if you are just doing prototype after prototype you’ll never actually learn how to deal with things like player progression, game flow, level balancing game juice or even things like doing main menu or saving and loading. Those are all part of the process of making a complete game.

Now go ahead and get started developing! If you don’t know what tools to use, follow this link.