Question for game developers...

[iota]

I'd like to get into game developing, either as a programmer (like C# or C++ etc), or as an artist (2D or pixel I can do already). I don't have any skills, mentors, connections, etc, related to these outside of 2D and pixel, though, so I was wondering how you all learnt programming or 3D, etc? I'm considering doing a bootcamp for job training (I can't afford to go back to college )= ) to help me get into this field, but I don't really know what's good and what isn't. When I ask people, I either get ignored or told to do tutorials. I've tried tutorials, they're how I learnt how to draw and do pixel art in the first place. But I need more hands-on guidance for programming and 3D. Those DON'T come intuitive to me, which - along with networking - is why I'm looking for bootcamps in general.

So, if you don't mind telling me your experiences, I'd love to read about them. c: If you've done a bootcamp and have recommondations (whether to do or to stay away from etc), I'd be grateful to hear about that as well.

Thanks!

 

[SoftViceMaster]

I'm not a programmer, but I did do pixel art for a long while.

From all that I've seen, look up videos/tutorials and test things out on your own. That is the best method, maybe find Discord groups that focus on what you're looking for as well so they can see/judge your progress and give you pointers to improve.

 

[iota]

I'm not a programmer, but I did do pixel art for a long while.

From all that I've seen, look up videos/tutorials and test things out on your own. That is the best method, maybe find Discord groups that focus on what you're looking for as well so they can see/judge your progress and give you pointers to improve.

Yep, I'm all set on 2D art and pixel art, which I'm self taught and did use books and tutorials etc to learn from (as well as years and years of practise). It's the 3D and programming I struggle to follow along with using videos/tutorials. I've tried asking people on the internet and such for advice on how to do the things I'm stuck on, but it doesn't normally work out. (I can't even figure out how to make a rectangle on Maya. /Rolls eyes at self) Anyway, I won't repeat too much of my initial post so as not to be annoying. TvT

How did you get into pixel art? I'm assuming that you, too, had used tutorials/videos? But it sounds like you no longer do it?

 

[SoftViceMaster]

How did you get into pixel art? I'm assuming that you, too, had used tutorials/videos? But it sounds like you no longer do it?

Got into it when I was around 14, just as a hobby. Fell out of it because IRL stuff, plus I'm super dirt-poor and all that (need to find a good pixel art thingy that's free and can run on my notebook laptop). I never used tutorials videos tho, I basically just looked at each individual pixel and copied them best I could (plus DeviantArt tutorials helped a lot it shows each step I needed without having to pause a video so ye). I am very much a visual/trial-and-error type learner, I basically have to 'experience' it myself or it won't stick. And from my experience, people said my pixel art was actually very nice. But now I mainly do just digital art, I do wanna get back into pixel art at some point if I can.

 

[Ereo]

I read “Blood, Sweat and Pixels” a while ago. It follows the development process of four or five games (one of them was Stardew Valley). Honestly, game development sounds super hard but I found it a very interesting read,

 

[iota]

Got into it when I was around 14, just as a hobby. Fell out of it because IRL stuff, plus I'm super dirt-poor and all that (need to find a good pixel art thingy that's free and can run on my notebook laptop). I never used tutorials videos tho, I basically just looked at each individual pixel and copied them best I could (plus DeviantArt tutorials helped a lot it shows each step I needed without having to pause a video so ye). I am very much a visual/trial-and-error type learner, I basically have to 'experience' it myself or it won't stick. And from my experience, people said my pixel art was actually very nice. But now I mainly do just digital art, I do wanna get back into pixel art at some point if I can.

That's pretty similar to how I learnt, too! Back when I was a kid, I don't know if Youtube was a thing back then but I certainly didn't know videos were a thing if it was. So, I learnt from deviantART tutorials, books, and studying from my favourite artists. c: (I'm also having a hard time finding an affordable pixel program... I used to use Photoshop when I was younger, but Photoshop is too expensive with its subscription thing...) Interesting how we learnt in similar ways despite you being a good bit younger than me (by 5 years). Thanks for sharing!

I read “Blood, Sweat and Pixels” a while ago. It follows the development process of four or five games (one of them was Stardew Valley). Honestly, game development sounds super hard but I found it a very interesting read,

That's an interesting title. xD I'll have to give it a read. c: (Game development really is super hard. I bet for some people, it's probably easy. For example, a couple of my friends are very intuitively geared towards programming and pick up on things very quickly, whereas I'm slow to learn in comparison yet picked up on art very quickly. Meanwhile, the opposite is true for them as well, in that they really struggle to pick up the fundamentals of drawing/etc. (Oh, and I did try to get them to help me to learn, and both were willing but... They can expertly do XYZ, yet they don't know how to teach it to a novice. LOL.) What part of game development do you like best so far?

Thanks for sharing!