Today marks the beginning of a 100 day journey. In over three months, I will teach myself how to make a video game.
Before we had internet in our house, we had games. At five, you could find me and my two older sisters seated in my dad's oversized leather chair in his home office, typing commands into King's Quest 3. We'd fall mercilessly off the cliff every time we tried to return to the wizard's house, but it never stopped any of us from restarting the game over and over again.
At every stage of my life, there were video games. But aside from being a long-time game player, I have no experience in game development. I want to change that. Games are a fascinating medium - their inherent interaction can teach us so much about ourselves and how we interpret the world around us - and I want to understand how they work.
This past winter, I considered going back to school for design and went through the rigorous experience of applications. I studied and took the GRE, researched dozens of schools, wrote a handful of papers, and sent out cover letters and resumes.
And last spring, I was admitted into the school I wanted to attend most -
NYU's Game Center. When I examined my financial aid package and realized the hard truth - that I couldn't afford the student loan debt - I vowed to learn game design any way possible, even if that meant teaching myself from home. It was something I should have done years ago. I realized that if design was truly important to me, I couldn't waste any more time.
So, here I am.
For the next 100 days, I will learn
GameMaker for Mac, a computer game creation system that is ideal for beginners looking to build games with 2D graphics (me). I understand that GameMaker is only one engine and a fairly simple one at that, but I have to start somewhere. I'll record my progress daily. At the end of the project, the videos will be compiled and shared online
here.
In addition to using GameMaker every day and recording my progress, I am also..
Following this series of GameMaker tutorials on YouTube. This is the most comprehensive series I've found so far.
Taking a writing class through a local community center. A game's ability to tell an engaging story is the top reason I love games, so learning to write effectively is important to me.
Following Karen Cheng's guide to teach yourself design. Right now I am in the middle of
You Can Draw in 30 Days, and I am starting to read
Picture This and
Made to Stick.
Studying color theory using Color: A workshop for artists and designers.
Playing games. Of all shapes and sizes, genres and platforms - iOS, DOS, Playstation 3, adventure, puzzle, RPG, shooter. Currently playing
Gone Home,
Shadow of the Colossus,
Skyrim (I don't think I'll ever not be playing Skyrim).
Researching games. I want to get my hands on several books such as
Characteristics of Games,
Imaginary Games,
The Art of Failure.. among others. I'm also listening to podcasts and watching Let's Plays via YouTube. My favorite podcasts include
Moving Pixels and
Idle Thumbs, and some of the best game commentary can be found at
Super Bunnyhop. Check out my reading list to the right.
Writing about games. My intention with this blog is to write weekly with updates on my progress. I am most successful at accomplishing a goal when there is someone or something that holds me accountable, so consider Daedalus Review my accountability blog.
My end goal in all of this? I will make a playable 2D experience via GameMaker by mid December. I will know how games work and develop a solid foundation of skills, including some basic code. Now that
Unity is gaining new 2D tools when their 4.3 update releases this fall, I'd like to move to Unity once I have a firm grasp of GameMaker.
Thoughts, comments, or suggestions are appreciated - feel free to share them below. Alright, let's start this thing.
