The real “Secret” of making games

February 7, 2008

Yes that’s right…there really IS a secret involved in making games. *looks left and right*

The (real) secret of making games is finishing them.

Perhaps that’s a fairly trite “revelation” at this point, but nonetheless it’s worth mentioning once in a while. I think too many hobbyist and beginner game developers are lured into tackling a project that is much too large for either their skill level or even just their time commitment. Because on the surface every commercial engine is sold as making game development “easy as pie”, they aren’t capable of properly making a plan or project timeline for how long things may actually take to do.

The best way of avoiding this trap is to develop and grow your own project intuition on game development. While it is always suggested ad-nauseum by the professionals in the industry, it really is worth your time to sit down and write an Asteroids, Breakout or Space Invaders type of game. Starting and finishing one (or more) of these projects will not only open your eyes to how things are working “under the hood” of your game, but also to give you a better understanding for planning out a schedule or timeline for the real game you want to create.

By tackling a smaller project, you are also better able to discover your true skillset in the overall creation of your game, which can help you decide what (if any) aspects of the project you would hire someone to do for you. Do you find you had the most fun creating the art / sprites for your game? Did you find the art and programming side of things “tedius” compared to designing the actual game “play”? Did you have a richer experience just coding away into the wee hours, not really caring how good or bad the actual artwork or final game play was?

To repeat…the real secret of making games, is finishing them. Don’t just finish the engine, or the artwork, or the design or the audio; finish the GAME.

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