Have you ever wondered how to make a game for yourself? Is it tricky to deal with all the technical stuff, in case you are a newbie to this game development field, or you barely have any knowledge in the IT industry. Nonetheless, making a video should be joyful first.
Also, there is another good news coming with it - you don't have to be an expert to create your own video game. In the article below, we would be providing you with a beginner guide on how to make a game. Although we have entitled it the "beginner" guide, there are quite many tasks to fulfill before you can play your video game, but the outcome is promising and worth your efforts.
How Long And Hard Is It To Make A Video Game?
The answer to two questions would be flexibility. Making a game is highly dependent on its complexity, which leads to a change in the time and effort to make it. Some games only take you a few days or one week. Some would cost you longer than just days. They can take you up to months or years.
The effort is quite similar. Games can be created by one individual, and there are games that must be made by hundreds or thousands of people because they evolve remarkably in such elements as technology and content. The more complex a game is, the longer and harder it is to make, not to mention all the technical faults that need to be fixed.
To run a game is less complicated. Most beginner game makers use Unity to run their game and code with c#. Making simple games on these platforms would not take you as much time and effort as long-lived and famous games.
How To Make A Game - Guidelines For Beginner Game Makers
Making a game is more than drawing and coding. There are multiple tasks you should conduct. We have divided the tasks into two major parts - content and technical. Now we would be guiding you orderly on how to make a game. All would come from scratch.
How to make a game - The Content part
Firstly, you should be completing your game content before jumping to the technical part. For whatever game you make, deciding all the factors clearly would be helpful for your game creating process. Hence, here are 5 things about the Content part you need to finish in advance.
Dimension
Game dimension should always be determined first as you make a game. For this one, you only have to decide whether to make 2D or 3D games. 2D games are faster and easier to make, compared to the 3D ones.
If you are completely new to the field, starting with a 2D game is not a bad choice to make at all. However, provided that you have practiced and created games before, a 3D game can stir things up and be a new challenge for you.
Game Genre
The game genre is the next thing to determine when you want to make a game. Popular genres for games with storylines are survival and adventure. Simulation games can be an excellent choice for you too. Picking a game genre would affect the next tasks, which include game concepts and many other details.
Concept
The concept comes right after the game genre. Once you have done picking up a suitable game genre, you may want to put on a compatible concept with it. This is highly flexible because you have the freedom to choose any concept of your interests. Heroes and villains are no doubt compelling. Or you can pick mythical vibes. However, the more complex your visuall is, the longer it takes to build your video game.
Completing the Content part
The final step of the Content part is completed. As you have a general idea, game dimension, genre, and concept, you should be gathering all the information needed to complete the details that would be appearing in the game, which include the language used.
Everything you need about a concept or game genre is pretty accessible online. You may want to write a summary of what you have come up with, including the above information, and more details of your idea, such as any special feature or a complete storyline and the core design.
The rules stay the same for making a game. The more complicated it is, the more time you must spend on researching and drafting the game on paper. And should you be finishing the Content part of making a game, you are stepping to the next stage - the technical one.
How to make a game - The Technical part
Pick and Build
Before going further into any technical task, you may want to get to know the game engines - which would be a tool assisting you to build up the fundamental framework of your game. The most popular game engines now available you may know are Unity - ideal for macOS, Linux, and Windows, and Unreal Engine with the same compatibility as Unity.
If you want to make a 3D game, you can use Godot. Godot would be using primarily their GDScript Language, which is almost similar to Python. They also use C# and C++ but not the lion's share. For 2D game makers, you can have Phraser as a helpful assistant. It is also workable for both PCs and mobiles.
Your first step in all the game development is getting to know and use the game engines. It is based on your draft of game content that you can choose one suitable game engine for later development.
Since you have picked your engine, now it is time to build the basic framework. When building your game, remember to focus on the overall before you go into the details. Make sure your game order is logical and in agreement with one another.
Upgrade Your Game Asset
We have reached the second task set in the Technical stage. In this step, you should have your basic game framework built up and it is runnable. It is now time to focus on upgrading the asset and recheck before the control refining and flaw polishing.
In this step, you can use Adobe Illustrator to upgrade your visuals. Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro are excellent to enhance 2D in-game graphics. The sound shouldn’t be neglected. And to add sound to your game, making records is advisable.
Refine The Control & Polish The Flaws
It is time that you play the game built as many times as possible. The major purpose of this is to ensure that the game runs smoothly, especially if you are going to publish the game later to other players. Poor control can be a leading reason for gamers' dissatisfaction.
While playing your game, check carefully for every second of the gaming experience, and fix any mistake that occurs. It is a form of gaming testing too. The smoother your game is, the more enhanced the gaming experience you would have in the future. This task is not going to take the simple games so long, but it is one crucial stage, if not the most.
Publish Your Game
Publishing your game is a choice of individuals. You can choose to publish on multiple platforms if you think your game is going to offer others a pleasant gaming experience. To publish your game, you must think carefully about what platform can do with the game you make. Some developers only do certain platforms, and some would offer players much greater flexibility. If your purpose is not publishing your game, you can skip this step.
Verdict
Our article on how to make a game has ended here. Hopefully, with all the information provided in the above sections, you can now start on one of your own games. It is great to have a team when making a game, undoubtedly. However, individuals can make runaway success with their games. The most famous games made by one person are Minecraft, Undertale, and Cave Story.
