Every game designer and game developer has a vision, a game they dreamed about ever since they were a kid. But every time they want to start making it… The fear of ruining the perfect game they had in mind is stopping them from even starting it. Now let me tell you a secret… The first game you make is going to be a disappointment. No matter what you do. But that’s not a bad thing! Actually, designing bad games is important it’s the best thing you can do in order to make sure your dream game is going to be a success.
A Bad Game Is Better Than No Game
I’m sure a lot of you are going to disagree with me because there are people whose first game was a huge success. Like Concerned Ape who created Stardew Valley on their own or Zeekerss who made the latest Indie hit Lethal Company. But both of them either made other smaller games before that or it took years to develop the game in question.
If you do something for the first time, you’re bound to make mistakes. Not because you’re bad at something but because you’re inexperienced. So if you create a game that is bad (or at least in your eyes) then it was still a success. Because you learned from it. The important thing is to get up again every time you fall because only then you’ll improve.
So try to get your first games out as fast as possible instead of holding your potential back. There are plenty of tips and tricks that will help you get over your first few hurdles so you can finally call yourself a game developer.
You Don’t Have To Show It To Anyone
You don’t have to share your first attempts on a game with anyone. I have countless little playable pieces lying around that were just for me while I tried to learn about game development… And believe me when I say… They will never see the light of day.
If you gain more confidence, show them to your friends and let them play. Otherwise, you’re never going to know how good or bad your games are… and who knows… Maybe they love it so much that they are going to support you in the future.
Keep Your Goals Realistic
Don’t try to aim for an ultra-realistic open-world multiplayer AAA game straight away. You will only get frustrated and overwhelmed really quickly and your buyers will be disappointed if you don’t deliver what you promised. The Day Before was a prime example of what happens if a studio aims too high.
Pick The Right Idea To Start With
If your goal really is to one day release a AAA ultra-realistic open-world multiplayer game, don’t start with a pixel art jump ‘n’ run. Rather than that you should pick something that benefits you in the long run. So maybe instead of trying to create the next Assassin’s Creed you could aim for something smaller.
If you want to focus on the open-world aspect, why not try to create a survival game like The Forest or Enshrouded first? Or if you want to focus on the realistic graphics you could try to create a linear story-based game where you don’t have to stress out about the size of the game. If you think this is still too much for you to handle, you can always dial it down even further.
Set A Time Limit For You
For your first game, you should definitely set yourself a time limit. Releasing a game is always nerve-wracking, especially at the beginning of your career. We are all very self-critical and nothing we do ever feels good enough. But if you give yourself a set date when you want the game to go live, it will help you push through that obstacle.
Not only does it make planning a lot easier but you are also able to keep the scope manageable. Start with the core elements and slowly work your way to the less important things. If you don’t manage to implement everything you planned on due day… Release it anyway as long as the game is fun and functional. As long as the base is solid, you can still expand on it later on.
Nailing Down The Fundamentals
Like with everything else before you dive into the complicated side of things you need to have a good grasp of the basics. If you learn a language you also start with the simplest sentences before slowly getting into more advanced grammar and texts. That means if you want to develop a game, especially when you’re alone, you should start off with something simple as well.
Use A Prototype To Test Out Your Ideas
If you have a great idea for a combat system, you should definitely build a prototype and see if you can make it work. Forget about the design for a moment. Use a cube, a sphere or whatever primitive shape fits your protagonist the best and do the same for the monsters you want to fight with. Now you can test if your weapons, moves and skills work. Once you’re sure everything works fine, you can start designing everything.
Break Your Game Down Into Segments
If you have a general idea of what kind of game you ultimately want to make, try breaking it down into bits and pieces. Let’s say you want to create a farming simulator just like Stardew Valley where you have your own farm and a huge world to explore. At first, it can be rather overwhelming when you want to implement all your ideas at once, so you should figure out the core features first.
The most essential part of the map is probably going to be the farm where your player spends the most time. They need to plant and harvest crops so you have to make the necessary tools and skills for that. To pick up the plants, the player needs an inventory. In the inventory, the player has to be able to select the seeds he wants to plant and so on.
If you’re done with the farm you can move on to the city where the player can buy stuff and interact with various NPC. The city is done you can add a forest and so on. If you first start with the essential things you want to implement in your game you can build up on it even after the game is released.
Don’t Let Perfectionism Stop You
This is one of the most important tips I can give you on the way from my own experience. Don’t push the release out further and further just because you’re missing something and still want to add XYZ or because you aren’t happy with how the character’s nose looks.
Everyone has their doubts about the games they’re making but most of the time, people aren’t going to be able to tell. Nobody is going to hate your game just because you didn’t implement 30 differently colored floor tiles instead of the 5 you already have.
Speed Comes Over Time
Don’t worry that it took you a year or two to develop your first game. If you would develop the same game again it would only take you a fraction of the time you spent on the first one. Now you know what you need to do, what things to avoid and how to improve your game.
So the more games you develop the faster and better you’re going to become at it. So no matter how long it took you to create the first one, it was definitely no waste of time.
Use The Feedback You Get To Your Advantage
Once the game is released you will get feedback from your players regardless if you want to hear not. But don’t just ignore them. No matter if it’s good or bad, you should definitely take the comments to improve on your next work. That way you can easily figure out which parts your players love and what parts they hate. But let me give you one very important piece of advice: Don’t take them to heart.
Even if your game is the most perfect and bug-free product on the planet, people will still find something to let out their frustration. You have to learn the difference between a productive and a mean comment. If someone complains about a bug, try to figure out how to recreate it and fix it. If someone is just ranting about how ugly they find the art style because they prefer realistic games… Ignore it. That’s personal taste and has nothing to do with the quality of your game.
Now that you know that you shouldn’t worry about how bad or good your game is, go on and start creating! Get those bad games out of your system as fast as you can and before you know it… You are ready to produce the gem you’ve always been waiting for… Or maybe your games were never bad to begin with.
If you want to develop your own game you might also be curious about how to make a game in 2024:
Game Dev 101: A Detailed Guide On How To Make A Game 2024
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