Hi there!

My big dream is designing games professionally. For a while now I have been coming up with ideas and concepts for games and I've been building my own universum around this.

The problem however is that I have no idea what to do with all this. How to do something myself? Or how to get into the industry? How do I approach this?

I found this passion within myself very late in my life, although I've been plotting my universe since high school (I'm 25 now).
I tried various approaches: programming, visual scripting, unable to settle on a game engine, digital painting, even some music composing. I now have some rudimentary skills in all those different fields - game dev seems so vast to me that I don't know where to go anymore. Whenever something seems like a better idea I just do that.
Everyone gives me conflicting advice - some tell me to try and take a part in a game jam, others say that I should that force myself to master some coding language, others tell me to try to apply for an entry-level testing position in a gamedev/software company.

I've explored a lot of those ideas, and here's some results I've got:
- no chance to get a job in the field where I live and I won't be able to move for quite a while
- I can learn extremely fast if I'm not distracted by another goal, traditional coding is too boring for me tho - I like visual scripting, for example in Bolt
- my ideas for games never stop expanding, but most of those are completely outside of my reach for now. Those I could theoretically make by myself however are each entirely different in nature - one is a platformer and the other is closer to a non-linear visual novel, yet another one is a non-character point'n'click adventure. Each of those requires me to hone a different set of skills and I have no idea how to make the right choice.
- I am good enough at storytelling to present a decent plot, but not good enough at writing to write a book

I am very frustrated with myself. I really want to engage everyone in those cool stories I came up with in the form of video games, but it feels as if I am walking in circles.

So I am asking you once again, people with experience: how do I approach all this? Is there some roadmap to all of this?

How did your Unity project go? It's of course different from person to person, but I think participating in a game jam and mastering some code language sound like good pieces of advice. If you like visual scripting, you should just do that.

Do whatever it takes to produce something playable, and then take it from there. You'll get your ideas and universe in eventually ?

@SuperVGA

If you like visual scripting, you should just do that.

Do whatever it takes to produce something playable, and then take it from there.

This sounds quite vague. My interpretation: “just do your platformer idea”. Did I get it right?

As for Unity I've never finished my project because my previous pc hard disk just fried (no backup). It was before unity hub was a thing, but the project was no big potatoes anyway.

TeoMakao said:

@SuperVGA

If you like visual scripting, you should just do that.

Do whatever it takes to produce something playable, and then take it from there.

This sounds quite vague. My interpretation: “just do your platformer idea”. Did I get it right?

Yes - sort of. I'm being vague because I'm not telling you what to make or how to make it. The important part is that you make something that can be played.

It could be a platformer, but I think you'd be better off making something even simpler: Perhaps that visual novel. That will allow you to plug your universum without demanding a lot from you in terms of game mechanics. It'll be nearly possible to do this with visual scripting alone. Make it simple.

TeoMakao said:

… the project was no big potatoes anyway.

Great - avoid big potatoes at the time being.

This is just advice for beginners - Mr. Sloper has provided links on where to find more information on getting into the industry.

@SuperVGA Alright, I know that I need to start small, however to make a visual novel I need to practice my digital painting and writing more and if I want to make a platformer I need to focus more on visual scripting and a lot less on DPainting and writing.

But thanks mate, I think I'm going to do just that (focus on digital painting and writing) ? it seems less risky.

@Tom Sloper thanks for the links, Imma research now ?

Read and then re-read Tom Sloper's site.

TeoMakao said:
My big dream is designing games professionally. For a while now I have been coming up with ideas and concepts for games and I've been building my own universum around this.

Ideas are cheap and easy. Even non-designers can come up with a dozen or ideas. Game designers can come up with hundreds of ideas, and good designers maintain notebooks and journals filled with them.

Tom's site describes the role of game designers thoroughly through many articles. Actually designing the game seems like one of the minor job duties.

TeoMakao said:
I don't know where to go anymore. Whenever something seems like a better idea I just do that. … if I'm not distracted by another goal …

Game designers do need a wide range of skills, but designers also need the ability to stick with a project long after it becomes boring. Projects start exciting, then become lackluster, then boring, then tedious, then frustrating, then maddening, then rage-inducing, then exhausting, then when nobody on the project can stand it any more and they want to burn the thing to the ground, it's about time to ship it.

You listed many things you could do. Participate in events, learn that way. You can create levels using level editors from existing games, find ways to explore how games are balanced. Learn about what makes a game fair and balanced, especially learning about concepts of perfectly unbalanced games. Mirrors and self-similar levels are boring, design things that are different from each other but where every option has a counter somewhere else. Look at characters in LoL for example. Look at games that are 4v1 for example. Look at games that are player-vs-board for example. Discuss them with other like-minded people online, as you explore options yourself.

TeoMakao said:
no chance to get a job in the field where I live and I won't be able to move for quite a while

Many companies have been forced to transition to online-only, so if changing jobs is an option at all (and it probably is, even if you don't think it is) then yes, you should look around for entry level design jobs. Those are fairly rare, but usually in level design or making adjustments to existing features, often with job titles like “associate designer”, “level designer”, “economy designer”, and similar.

This is an old article that might give some clarity on how to start, https://www.gamedev.net/tutorials/programming/general-and-gameplay-programming/how-do-i-make-games-a-path-to-game-development-r892/.​ It might give some ideas of where to start.

First of all resist the idea to make crazy mechanics or over an over the top game.

Get a GitHub account, create simple games (e.g a guy running around shooting AI/ bots( they dont even need to move), anything playable, create repositories and paste them.

DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING RELATED TO MULTIPLAYER.

Those will give you experience while you are essentially building a portfolio, show people these repos ( social media, friends whatever).

GRADUALLY start building more ambitious projects, contribute to other games, collaborate with other people, check for potential clients, check for jobs e.t.c.

THE IMPORTANT STAGE IS THE BEGINNING.

Good Luck ?.