If You Can't Make Games After This Video, Give Up

chapters:

0:00 Lesson 1
0:22 Lesson 2
0:36 Lesson 3
1:39 Lesson 4
2:44 Lesson 5
3:36 Lesson 6

[suicune]

1. No, your game idea does not suck. Whether something sucks or not is entirely subjective. It does not matter how other people think of the premise of your game. If you really like your game idea, make it anyways. I really dislike it when people actively create an environment where you feel like everything you do is wrong, as it causes people to become discouraged and then they leave. Create a positive environment, especially for beginners and add helpful tips as you go. Saying something like "This is nice, but it would be much better if you did this" is such a better motivator than "this is trash", and I'm tired of seeing so many people quit their passion as a whole because the world won't grow the hell up.

2. If you really hate programming, it's perfectly fine to skip it and use visual programming, which involves no technical code. Five Nights and Freddy's and Baba is you did this very well. Most game developers like programming, but not everyone likes it. Whether the syntax messes with your eyes, or you simply don't enjoy the process, visual programming can act just as well, even if other programmers don't like it.

Points 3 through 6 are very good. Here are a couple other tips

Don't re-invent the wheel. I see many people try to create video games using a regular programming language, if you're making a lot of the assets on your own, then please don't do this unless you have a huge team. It will take an eternity for very little output. The tools are there for us to use.

Have a friend to reflect your game with. This sounds weird, but when making larger projects, having someone to talk with about your game and the development process can be very beneficial. They can provide excellent motivation and input that can change your game for the better.

When you get bored of making your game, then don't work on it. There is this trap people fall into called 'the last 90%'. For bigger games, it's a long list of unplanned issues, most of which involve UI, localization, Translation, and *shudder* fixing bugs. But for smaller games, it's the last ounce of motivation to patch and polish the overall details. Come back later when you regain your passion and polish it, adding your new great ideas to your old great ideas.

[_GhostMiner]

*LESSON 7: Archive all your games, no matter how bad they're. You can later use them to check how far you've come*

[nattzero]

I remember when I escaped tutorial hell. I wanted to make an inventory system, and watched like five different tutorials from different channels that I followed but I didn't like the way any of them did it, so I ended up making a super complete one from scratch. You could drag items around with the mouse, or use the keyboard, it also had a right click context menu that would show different options depending on the type of item, an even a sort button. It was an amazing feeling and I learned a lot.

[Tubaaja]

4 year gamestudy degree later:

Lesson 1: Yes, most likely, atleast in a way that you arent fully able to make the game that way you want if you don't have any experience. Understand that your 1st ever game idea will most likely be trash and TAKE THE FEEDBACK

Lesson 2: Yep there is no escape, visual might be the way to go if actual coding is bit much but yes, there is no escaping it.

Lesson 3: Yea have some kind of idea on what you want to make. have something you want to create before starting.

Lesson 3 subs helps:

-3 beta games is a good start, the 3rd can start to be a bit bigger project but trust me you will want to re-do EVERYTING about it when you grow more skilled. Recomend making at least 3 small projects and even perhaps let them go when you realize that you have learned so much that you want to redo every part of it. at this stage it's 100% fine to do so. Just don't make it a habbit to leave games half finished. This only counts for the 3 VERY first games you make. Othervise you will never learn to make actual game from start to finish and always start redoing it.

-Watch tutorials man, if you don't have school just for the love of god watch them-

Lesson 4: This is important. When you watch tutorials like "How to create snake AI" follow the tutorial but make a worm instead, so you will have to adapt your skills from the tutorial into something else and actually get use from it. Watching tutorial and just doing copy-paste will not lead into good results. Another example: Tutorial is "how to make cool door" then you make a trapdoor with the tutorial. kinda similiar but makes you understand the tutorial stuff much better.

Lesson 5: Learning more stuff is ALLWAYS a good idea. Makes you better overall.

Lesson 6: Make games that are fun for you. Don't make them for cash at start. The miracle game you make is the one that you really made for your self/friends and not for money.
(read the story of FinalFantasy and Undertale) Undertale being the "beta test game" for Deltarune.

good teachings. Just make games and move on when you are ready, don't stick with one game too long but also dont give up too easy. Make a big game if you want, but only then when you know you can do it.

[_JPkun]

I would add a Lesson 7: Game development is a multidisciplinary job. Game projects have programmers, artits, musicians, game designers writers, and more. Work around your resoucers if you have a very small team or you are a solo developer. For solo devs think about how much work will take to make a game all by yourself and how many skills you will have to master and how long it will take before even atempting it, so keep it as manangeable as possible.

[burntt]

for anyone that may feel discouraged from the title don't worry about it. Every twat has an opinion unfortunately and making video games is one of the MOST difficult things you can attempt. just keep going on dont let the small people put you down

[americantoastman]

I really dislike videos that clickbait you by insulting or threatening you, that feels like such a desperate move. But what can I say, the content surprised me. Great video, great lessons and a lot of conclusions that I came to as well in my ~2 years of hobby game dev. Lovely content man!

[jonnytenebrous]

I'm not even directly a game developer - I'm a 3D Artist in a games development pipeline, and everything in this video still correlates. I've been at this career for ages now. It took me probably 20, 000 working hours before I really felt confident that I could "make just about any 3D model imaginable" from my amassed skillset - which was my big, lofty goal. And yet, I still watch an average of probably one tutorial every day - they just tend to be short and narrowly focused. I still get excited about and love the process of creating every single 3D model - I can think of few things better than being in the creative "flow" zone that programmers often speak of. If you're truly compelled to be a games developer, a games artist, or other creative professional, I don't think there's any force that can hold you back. Just expect to put in the work and, as Fredyy said, "Focus on the craft, not the reward".

[geek_on_coffee]

I love that the whole thing is very honest, and it actually puts me at ease a bit more about this. Highly appreciated that you made this.

[TheCynicalNihilist]

"Sometimes you have to make The Witcher 1 and 2 before you can make The Witcher 3" - Tim Rodgers

[wrrryyyyy]

Bruh, it felt like loading screen tips

[notthatguy]

Challenger route: Become a masochist and master C++, write your own engine and game from scratch.
Hell route: Learn assembly and make game from scratch (rollercoaster tycoon style) 💀

[ProjCRys]

Ok let's see where I'm at...
Lesson 1: Game idea prolly suck
- Already aware it sucks cuz it's bland as hell (RPG story type sorta game, where the bugs I'm too lazy to fix were now features)
Lesson 2: Cannot escape Programming
- Currently making a game from scratch no Game Engine used (Cries in Java)
Lesson 3: Go with a Plan
- Made plans but barely keeps up on schedule, sometimes other plans aren't doable because it's above my skill level.
Lesson 4: Avoid Tutorial Hell
- I have one source or reference and the rest is being on my own
Lesson 5: Explore new territory
- With AI rising up, I managed to implement it into my game
Lesson 6: Focus on process not on reward
- Okay, I'm fine with this cuz I have no idea how to earn money so thought developing my first game is just a nice past time.

Well I'll be fine I guess.

[ferikhoros]

Lesson 4 is such a huge lesson.
Once you escape tutorial hell and start working on your own project you realize you havent learned anything watching all those long tutorials.

[barstidius]

I feel like I needed this, I only started learning a few weeks ago and got a bit overwhelmed. Going to take it back to basics and simplify a plan. Thanks!

[cheesymcnuggets]

The funny thing is i actually escaped tutorial hell in the matter of 2 days. It happened because I felt like tutorial code was very messy and was gonna get me into bad habits for making larger games, I’m sure it would be fine for those who care about speed for game jams or prototyping but I wanted to learn how to do things properly right off the bat. There’s also the problem of how I didn’t want to learn how to make an 8 way directional movment controller, I wanted to learn how to process inputs, I already knew right off the bat that I should be learning the principals and foundational parts of programming first so i spent a month researching programming basics and then another month learning my way around a game engine. Unfortunately though I had to take a long break afterwards for life stuff and I ended up forgetting a lot of the programming stuff like what the heck an Enum is but at least now I know it exists I guess. I kinda cycle what I do from programming to art back to programming as I thought Instead of making no progress when I get burnt out, I could just practice and entirely different skill instead. Currently im trying to make my way around tilesets as i wasn’t really feeling programming i decided why not learn to make a simple tileset instead, beats looking at simple shapes all day and im not a fan of using other people’s assets as recommended as it is for the learning process. Although with me being a more logical person who enjoys the programming side of things a lot more, I find art pretty hard, I’m determined though, I don’t want to be a god tier artist but I do aim to reach something like Hyper Light Drifter’s level of beauty, wouldn’t push myself further than that as a solo developer, like yeah it would be awesome to be able to have art as good as Hollow Knight or Eastward but it just isn’t that realistic for me and the assets would add a lot of time to development. Not like I’m in any rush though, I chose to do game development because of my love for problem solving but also my admiration for gardeners as dumb as that sounds, i always loved the idea of someone that would put a little love into their garden and plants every single day for very minor growth and after years of hard work, the garden grows into something lush a beautiful, i admire that kind of long term commitment but i hate bugs so i decided not become a gardener but something i would consider to be similar and also match my other interests of gaming and problem-solving

[powderhound_art]

It’s important to remember that the best game ideas are the ones that get finished. Someone with a mediocre game idea who actually sat down and made it is still better off than someone with a great game idea that never tried, or gave up on it. So don’t be afraid to just get started and make necessary adjustments as you go.

[nerdgirl_art]

At first, I thought this was going to be satire (mainly because of the title), but it wasn't. I appreciate your hard work and this has helped me throughout my game developer journey. Thank you!

[Teethmafia]

As a game design student I’m glad this video gives out a plan. Like I’ve made functional concepts before in engines but there’s a sense of stagnation once the assignment is done. This gives me something to aim for in relation to my own skills.

[ForTheOmnissiah]

I learned a ridiculous amount when I started making my own systems that are usable in more than just one project. In GameMake: Studio, I wanted to make an RTS. The built-in A* pathfinding wouldn't remotely cut it for my goal, so I made my own pathfinding solution that solves for All-Source All-Destinations, adjusting the prebaked pathing when buildings are placed, and implementing steering behaviors where units will follow their path, but also avoid running into each other and move as coherent groups. On top of this I made my own 2.5D shadow system and 2.5D sprite system from scratch to give it more visual appeal.

Hey, it's in development hell and I haven't touched it in almost 2 years cause I had to finish university, but I still learned some things! Get out of your comfort zone, that's my input. You learn insane amounts when you try to make something you think is out of reach. It probably is not as out of reach as you think.