Game Development Guide

Hello there, are you trying to develop a game but don’t know how?! Well, you’re in the right place. This article contains most of the information you’ll need as a beginner. With ‘beginner’ I mean downloading studio aka game engine, the perfect programming language, sound effects, assets, etc. 

 Introduction To Game Development

Creating your game is a dynamic way to show the world your creativity. It acts as a platform for the world to explore your dreams , your art and your passion. In October 1958, Physicist William Higinbotham created what is thought to be the first video game which interprets tennis games. Since then millions of games have been published and many have become successful.

There are various genre for video games as well , some of them are 

• Action Games
• Action-adventure games
• Adventure games
• Role-playing games
• Simulation games
• Strategy games
• Puzzle games
• Sports games

2D vs 3D Games?

You must be wondering whether you should go for 2D games or 3D games? Well, the answer depends on you but if you want a bit of advice, then from my experience, if you are a beginner you should go for 2D Games. There are many reasons for that,

• 3D games are harder to develop than 2D Games, but it really depends on whether you are good at modeling 3D textures or at sprites.
• It takes a lot of time to develop a 3D game (as compared to 2D Game) and it can be frustrating since you are just starting with game development.

Pickup easier tasks in the beginning, they will keep you interested.

Also, 2D games are preferred by most indie developers as it takes less time and budget to publish than a 3D game. Most 3D games are usually developed by teams as it has many fields to focus on than 2D games.

Things you need to get started with the Game Development

Game Engine

It makes no sense creating codes if there isn’t a character to control. Game engine just does that for you. Selecting a good game engine is one of the most important thing that you need to develop a game. A good game engine allows you to develop games with ease without worrying about the smaller details. For example, you need gravity in your game? You can add that with just a click in a good game engine.

There are a lot of game engines in the market to choose from. The two game engines that I personally recommend are:

Unity

Unity is by far the most amazing and easy to use game engine that I’ve encountered. It allows you to develop both 2D as well as 3D games but is widely used to develop 2D games. It is beginner friendly with tons of tutorials out there to help you get started with it. It provides the platform for competitive game development with all necessary facilities and it is really simpler to use than many other game engines.
Unity also comes with a Asset Marketplace which has both free as well as paid assets for you to choose from.

Unreal Engine

When it comes to 3D Games, Unreal Engine is a total beast. Most of the high end games are powered by Unreal Engine. It is free to use for learning purposes and you might need to check it’s licensing if you are thinking of selling your game. The only downside is, it is not for people who are just getting into programming i.e., not for beginners. But if you are an experienced developer who wants to make a 3D game, this is your best bet.

Programming Language 

The best programming language for game development is C#  as it is preferred more by other game developers and you will find most of the source codes for games in this programming language.

You can start programming with the download of an IDE on your PC. For C# the best IDE would be Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code. 

Sound Effects

Sound effects are important to games as heart to our body. Without sound effects, games become unplayable. And when it comes to Sound Effects, there’s no better application than sfxr.

It’s totally free and provides many needed important basic sound effects for your game. It’s easy to use and you’ll save your precious money for the betterment of your game.  

You can download it from here sfxr

Assets 

Game Assets include everything that goes into the game like bricks , leaves , grass , characters, audio files, textures, etc. Simply put, every element in a game is an asset.
There are a lot asset marketplaces from where you can download assets for your game.

You should be good to go as a very beginner.

Tutorials

Now that you know what you need to start working on your first game. Here’s a playlist of tutorials that can help you get started with Game Development in Unity.

Good luck with your game development journey.