Introduction to Game Development

Love to play games? Want to develop your own? This article will give you a jumpstart to help you build your career in game development.

Why a game developer?

I'd like to emphasize a little on why becoming a game developer is a good choice.

Firstly, obviously, it is fun. In addition to the fun part, you can generate enough revenue out of it to maintain a good lifestyle.

You can be either an indie game developer or can join a team in any game development studio. Both choices have their own pros and cons and the decision is entirely based on your own.

As an indie (stands for independent) you are alone or work with small group may be 2 or 3. You'll be responsible for most parts of process. Like you'll be doing designing, developing, testing and publishing on your own. It only suits you if you are financially stable and can afford all the expenses of the game development process and of your daily life routine.

On the other hand if you join a full team in any studio, you'll be assigned a particular role. It can be an artist, a programmer, etc. You'll get a sound monthly salary and even some companies also share their revenues with their employees.

Where to start?  

Start learning. There is a lot you need to know, but the most essential tool for making a game is a game engine. There are many game engines out there in market. Few famous ones are listed here:

• Unity3D
• Game Maker
• Unreal Engine
• Construct
• Cocos2D

Following are the few learning resources that you must check out:

• http://unity3d.com/learn
• https://www.scirra.com/tutorials/top

Target Platform? 

Although most of the game engines today provide support for almost all available platforms, but now a days mobile platforms are very popular. Make simple and interesting games and port them to app stores - a quick and easy process. To earn money from mobile app stores, you have various options:

• Make your game paid
• Use advertising SDKs
• In-app purchases

People are earning more than enough from mobile platforms. Infact, according to a fact, "Mobile games revenue is expected to double from $17.5 billion to $35.4 billion by 2017 " which is much more than console platforms.