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For a lot of 9-to-5 developers, the idea of building a video game on their own often seems like a monumental task. Game developers need to consider art, animation, physics, math, input, rendering, shaders, and countless other things that probably seem like they are in no way relevant to the daily job of building websites, services, or business apps.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a developer who wants to get into games, you may think that there are big differences between game and app development. But it\u2019s important to realize that the majority of the work in each type of development is similar. Day to day as a game programmer, you\u2019re mostly just working in code, solving problems\u2014that\u2019s the same thing you do when you\u2019re building business apps.<\/p>\n
Learning how to develop games can help you in your career, by making you a better overall coder, or just by learning how to be flexible and adding new skills to your portfolio.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019ll explain how game development<\/a> differs from app development, describe how to get started making your own games, and provide some pieces of advice on what to watch out for when taking the leap.<\/p>\n So, what are the differences between game development and app development?<\/p>\n Well, the first difference is the development environment. With any app development, the environment is usually pretty specialized. Sure, you can code in just about any editor, but you\u2019ve probably got your editor(s) of choice, the one that works best for the specific project types you\u2019re working on.<\/p>\n Game development also uses a specific development environment. Most of the time, this development environment is a mix of the game engine\u2019s \u201ceditor\u201d and a code tool like Visual Studio. If you\u2019re using Unreal, you\u2019ll use the Unreal editor and Visual Studio with C++. For Unity, you\u2019re using the Unity editor and C# (in VS, Rider, VS Code, or MonoDevelop).<\/p>\n Now half of that may sound familiar. We\u2019ve all used code editors. But why do we need an additional engine \u201ceditor\u201d for game development?<\/p>\n The engine\u2019s editor is where everything gets tied together. It\u2019s where you put that art, hook up your code, build your levels, configure animations, and do everything else that isn\u2019t just writing code.<\/p>\n It also makes your development experience dramatically easier. Many of the things you\u2019d think would be \u201chard\u201d about game development are extremely easy with today\u2019s engines.<\/p>\n Want a ball that falls to the ground like a real object would? No problem; add the correct physics component and you\u2019re done. Want it to bounce? Simply add a physics material and adjust the bounciness factor. No code required, no special math skills needed\u2014just the knowledge of what component to add.<\/p>\n The same idea holds true for most of what you want to do outside your game logic, too (game logic is just like your business app logic; all the parts are specific to your use case). All of the \u201chard stuff\u201d (e.g. physics, rendering, device input, audio) is already done. They\u2019re solved problems and you just need to know where the solution is.<\/p>\n I think of building a game a lot like building a website. Long ago, you had to deal with the incoming network stream\u2014now you just hook into the right spot in your framework and focus on your specific business problem. Think of game development the same way. You have a goal, you have a giant framework, and you just need to hook parts together until everything works.<\/p>\n My usual recommendation for anyone interested in getting started with game development is a lot like my recommendation for someone starting any other type of development: Start small.<\/p>\n Pick a simple mobile game that already exists. Then pick one that\u2019s even simpler and recreate that through tutorials. There\u2019s a lot to learn, and diving in with a huge project is a guaranteed way to get overwhelmed, lost, frustrated, and fail. So again, pick the simplest game you can possibly think of to start.<\/p>\n In fact, I usually recommend that people start off<\/a> with something like Flappy Bird<\/a>.<\/p>\n With the right<\/a> tutorials<\/a> and a little understanding of programming, you can build these little games in a day. Throughout the process, you\u2019ll start learning your way around the editor, discovering new components, and realizing how little code is required (and you\u2019ll pick up a little C# along the way).<\/p>\n And when you finish the games<\/a>, you can build them to your phone and then share them with your friends and family. It\u2019s easy!<\/p>\n One other skill you can practice through building games is how to develop something that switches between platforms. This skill is important because the more platforms your app is in, the more valuable your work.<\/p>\n In fact, one of the reasons I love Unity as a game engine so much is the ease of switching your target platform. You can build your game for Windows or Mac first, then simply select a new target device in the build settings and push your game or app right out with no changes or custom work.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve used cross-platform tools like Xamarin before, and while they\u2019re good, they don\u2019t come anywhere near the ease of use you get with Unity. Simply select the new platform, hit \u201cswitch,\u201d and build. Most of the time, it just works, with no changes. You can choose between all the mobile platforms, WebGL, Linux, Mac, Windows, Xbox, Playstation, and a whole lot more (around 30 platforms total).<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019re not interested in games specifically, using a game engine for business apps is becoming more and more popular every year (especially really interactive\/visual ones). Half of the Unity contract development work I do is for non-game applications, like visualizing data and locations, and building interactive displays for kiosks.<\/p>\n And being able to switch platforms and give the client a mobile version of their kiosk app always puts a smile on their face (and takes about 10 minutes).<\/p>\n I mentioned that you should probably start small by going with a simple game. A simple game usually means something 2D. And you may be thinking \u201cI hate 2D mobile games.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not a reason to skip the simple projects. Actually, a 2D game is technically no different from a 3D one. You\u2019re doing the same things, just rendering everything flat.<\/p>\n The transition from 2D to 3D development in engines like Unity is practically seamless. You can simply hit a button and your view switches.<\/p>\n You can build the game using 2D sprites, or you can build it entirely in 3D and just swap a camera setting when you\u2019re done. That\u2019s a technique I use all the time\u2014building 3D models and then using the camera to make them look flat.<\/p>\n A decade ago, you would have been out of luck. Finding good art for a game was an expensive and time-consuming task. But with the explosion of indie development, sources for quality art at cheap prices have proliferated.<\/p>\n I use the Unity engine primarily for game development, and have found that it has tens of thousands of graphics and art available in the Unity Asset Store for low prices\u2014and a ton of it is just free.<\/p>\n In my experience, just about anything you could want is available and ready to use in your game in one of these existing engines. There\u2019s no need to learn modeling, find an artist, or even hire an animator. (Of course, a bigger team will include these roles or want to hire someone to create art specifically for their game, but starting out solo, these actions are more an excuse than an actual requirement.)<\/p>\n And importing that art is simple. Drop it into the Unity project view and you\u2019re done. The art is ready to use. Drag it from the project view to your scene and it renders\u2014remember, the hard work is already done for you.<\/p>\n The same goes for music, sound effects, particles, shaders, and everything else other than your code and the vision for your game. Just as with the art or graphics for your first game, you can rely on what your engine provides instead of trying to create something brand new. Remember, keep it simple.<\/p>\nDifferences in Game Development<\/h2>\n
Getting Started<\/h2>\n
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<\/h2>\nDeveloping 2D Games for Practice<\/h2>\n
Including Art in Your Game<\/h2>\n
Game Development Is a Good Skill to Know<\/h2>\n
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