Making Your First Game: Practical Rules - Setting (and Keeping) Goals - Extra Credits

Small tip: Do not let yourself think that only the work you do directly to your game (code, art, sound, etc) is the only work that counts. Spending some time with pen and paper thinking and writing down ideas, possibilities, mechanics and the best ways to achieve them is also VERY important even if you discard most of them for the sake of keeping it simple.

[@DaikoruArtwin]

That'd be the Game Design Document part. It's a necessary thing in a company where not everyone fully understands the general image of the project they're working on, but it's often seen as a waste of time when working alone on a project. However, even when you're working alone, the GDD is still a very useful thing to have around. In any project, "Where to start?" is always a problem, but in a Game project, you also need to know with what kind of thing everything will need to interact with. If you don't plan your things correctly, you may face a problem when you come across complicated features that you did not anticipate at first.

[@Necroskull388]

That's not just important for organizing a team, it's absolutely vital for any game you intend to finish. Working without a direction will just leave you constantly asking yourself, "...Now what?" I guess that's alright if you're just goofing around and experimenting with design concepts with no intention of putting the game on the market, but not if you're trying to make a real game or get experience with the development process. IMO, the only difference between a design doc for a side project and one for a team effort is that you can easily modify the design doc on a whim if you're working alone.

[@Wtfouk]

Analysis in any project is one of the biggest part of it all. You will spend more time on paper than code. And it is supposed to be that way so you are able to keep track and follow the guide lines you set to yourself.

[@hyperspacey]

I'm a programmer by trade and my most valuable development tools are my white desk and the dry board marker I have to write things on it. Dumping information from your brain into text and diagrams is increeeeaaaaaadably powerful.

[@redfayl]

DaikoruArtwin as a programmer, that cannot be farther away from the truth. Writing lines of code is not that hard, although tedious at times ... coming up with a system that is feasible, modular to changes, and just works is hard. Even with college assignments I need to sit down and think of all the cases I need to include and all of the things I need to implement before starting to work on anything. It helps discard ideas that sound good, but are actually pretty bad once you start to implement them. It does not only make your thought process clearer to understand (because yes, it may be your solo project but even then you can lose track of what you were trying to do), but it also saves time by eliminating some of the guesswork and discarding bad ideas.

[@harrymansfield6189]

"A good programmer knows his stuff, a great programmer knows how to use google" - One of my programming teachers Mike Witik

[@alpkahro]

Wow

[@kantar007]

give that man a medal

[@Hanabi782]

A round of applause please

[@RainOn2SunnyDay]

Remember guys, don't reinvent the wheel!

[@bcvuazy-old6585]

He deserves a reward

[@tzengyuxio]

(0:28) Tip #1 Don't plan a project that you think it'll take you more than a month. (0:43) Tip #2 It's gonna take you more than a month, but don't sweat it. (1:13) Tip #3 Don't worry too much about the design of your first game. (1:30) Tip #4 Set milestones. (1:42) Tip #5 Take those big milestone tasks and break them down even further. (2:15) Tip #6 Send yourself producer emails at the beginning of each week. (2:33) Tip #7 Review your game at least once a week even if life gets hectic. (3:01) Tip #8 Don't worry about production values. (3:25) Tip #9 Don't spend more than one hour trying to do anything yourself. (4:02) Tip #10 Make people play your game.

[@josiethompson2420]

+曾于修（Tzeng Yuxio） this should b @ the very top

[@RebekahAmberClark]

+Josie Thompson Agreed!

[@gamesmaster35v2]

+Josie Thompson "had to repair"? Is what I get from Bing. Is it way off? And sorry if I'm spoiling the mystery.

[@dzikiLOS]

+曾于修（Tzeng Yuxio） Internet needs more people like you ;)

[@aHedgerowFrog]

bumpin for upvotes

[@Sprited]

Tip 1: Don't plan something that'll take longer than a month. Tip 2: It's gonna take longer than a month.

[@kahncena22]

+Sprited xD

[@everythinghd6484]

+Sprited He meant it by set small goals that won't take longer than a month, even though the game will take more than a month

[@fede1324ee]

In my school i have programming and we have to make a game for the end of the year. Only 2/Groups delivered in time out of 12

[@INFIDELITYMUSIC]

+fede edelstein jeez that sounds hard.

[@fede1324ee]

TheWaffle 31 yeah, this year I'll try to deliver in time and a good game

[@ZNac]

If i want to try and do something simple 2d, whats a nice coding launguage for it.

[@fuelks]

A platformer? Use the PyGame library for Python. Go watch tutorials on it, it's super easy to get into.

[@youngyen2089]

woah, its Znac

[@brookayanaw9540]

I think gd script of Godot

[@SoleiLilyn]

LibGDX Java if you want to not use an engine and get to learn coding (a bit harder though since you'll be looking at code and there's no set tools for you)

[@justasydefix6251]

@@webots125 GDQuest ones

[@AtlanticGiantPumpkin]

I'm trying to make a story based game in RPG maker (kind of like To the Moon but probably not as good) with my brother and his friends. They all go to a school for people with autism and Asperger's, so they're kind of the coolest super geniuses you'll ever meet. We all wanted to make a video game with a great story due to the lack of ultra popular video games recently. One chick and my brother already know how to code, two people are doing art, I'm doing story and soundtrack, and honestly we are super pumped!

[@anthonycooke942]

Please let me know if you complete it! I love playing games made in RPG Maker! Plus, like this video said, get people to play your game.

[@jaysprake1502]

Yeah Me To!!

[@jimmyleg5]

Is it about trains?

[@dolebiscuit]

Good luck to you all! I'd love to play your finished product :D

[@hauntedcupoftea]

Josie Alyvia it's awesome. will you launch it? (can I join in too?)

[@UnboxedtvNet]

I hope you guys will do a "Making Your First Game: Accepting Criticism" episode, I mean with what went on Steam with games like Day One Garry's Incident, Slaughtering Grounds and Air Control it seems first time developers really don't know how to handle bad reviews

[@mikkolovesgaming1723]

This. They've touched upon what to do with the feedback you get, but I think the point could use some hammering home too.

[@Ashtarte3D]

This is definitely a two way street issue though. Devs need to learn to accept criticism, but also need to recognize what "criticism" they are recieving isn't worth paying attention to. In our current internet anonymity culture there are far too many people that don't understand the core concept that criticism is about helping, not hurting; or that criticism should be fair and not based on your own ideals or interests. Just going on to user reviews in Metacritic is a prime example of these problems. Take any fairly popular, well recieved game by journalists, say Assassin's Creed 4: There will be at least 5% of the user reviews that rate the game a 1 or 0. A score of 1 or 0 should be reserved for games that flat out don't function at all, such as infamous blunders like Superman 64. Just because a game is not a genre you like, or you don't enjoy some aspect doesn't mean it's worth not points. That score should be objective, not subjective.

[@guard13007]

Never thought about that, but I agree this is a very important lesson to learn. I've not had a bad incident yet, but I have replied to a comment on a project of mine in a bad way that I really shouldn't have. >.>

[@jameslillie5445]

You could include Fez in that example. I heard that he was used in a documentary during crunch time for one of his projects and left the industry because of how much criticism he got for having a bad attitude.

[@logicalfundy]

* Never take criticism personally. * You can't please everybody. * Communication is important, and communication is a two way street. * Some people are just jerks demanding attention. Pay them no heed.

[@AbdurrahmanKhallouf]

I hope everyone new would take the advices, I learned them the hard way, the hard way sucks!

[@davidabeats]

Same mate, same

[@omarcarbajal7601]

I am currently learning the hard way....I should have planned it all out earlier.

[@omarcarbajal7601]

***** I could have had this info when i started my project but oh well. I wont quit

[@ralien3066]

i was learning the hard way had a huge text adventure that really for a first game was too big and complicated especially as 3 weeks ago had to abandon it because of my GCSE exams but i literally 5 mins ago took an idea from my other game and am actually going to adapt it in to a smaller game that will also be text based so when i start my big game i can use bits from the prototype and use them to make my job easier i'm just glad i have an excellent resource that being EC and there great community

[@kahncena22]

+x24sonic u rlly read that all? i read 5 words got bored xD

[@cuckoophendula8211]

What's great about these videos is that even for those like me who aren't even interested in developing games, a lot of these tips really apply to many other aspects of life.

[@ItsMe-fs4df]

Dude, this isn't just for games... Such a good explanation on how to approach any large piece of work

[@MilesMetal]

You know, I started watching this series with the thought that it would just be interesting to watch. After watching this episode, I'm starting to think about trying to actually build something. The tips that this video gave destroyed my pre-conceptions about making a game. Every so often I would begin planning a game, just as a thought exercise, but I would even give up on something like that after a few minutes. I think I've actually found motivation now. I'm really looking forward to more videos in this series. Thanks Extra Credits :)

[@beezyo3042]

Miles_Metal... 8-Bit Metal, Video Game and Film Covers These videos do inspire me as well, but my plans are so unintentionally huge and my self esteem always low, I never get to doing anything.

[@jovictor3007]

Have you finished your game ?

[@ganonlink]

I feel like I'm the protagonist in a story. I just managed to enter a game design university and decided to try and make a game before classes started, and immediately afterwards EC comes up with a "Make Your First Game" series.

[@YamiZee]

My first game will be a Katamari MMO with super realistic sand physics, and its gonna be on earth and the entirety of earth will be detailed including my house and your house and I'm going to write it in c++ and its not going to do any of that silly unloading objects stuff that katamri does when getting bigger. It's all gonna stay,including when your the size of new york. Theres gonna be a vs cpu mode where the ai will design the perfectest path possible and will be impossible to beat. There will be no glitches. Every object will have hd textures btw. I'm gonna add 10 new features every week, even once it's finished. Will not disappoint. Starting tomorrow. Wish me luck!! :DD

[@cbucks6613]

Hows the game going XD

[@mihajlo5804]

Is it finished? xD

[@quinceanerajones9212]

are you rich yet?

[@1STAPPEARANCEHULKED]

You guys all realize that he was being sarcastic right?

[@benasamalevicius9617]

@@1STAPPEARANCEHULKED r/woooosh

[@TwistedNsanity]

You should definitely start small, miniscule even. I've spent the last 6 months working on my first project. And although I've learned a tremendous amount since I've started, progress has slowed down to a crawl recently because of the rat's nest of code I've made. Every addition requires large rewrites of old code. I might be better off scrapping it and starting fresh.

[@Niosus]

That is pretty much bound to happen to beginners. I suggest looking up the principles of object oriented programming if you haven't already. With that (and you current code) in mind, try to come up with a new structure for your code. Start with rebuilding the core (without any extra features) and add all the extras back in one by one. If your new structure is good, it should be a fairly smooth process although you're bound to find many bugs.

[@Narrlocke]

You should definitely re-write it from scratch and, like Niosus said, try to make sure your base is clean in preparation for all of the features you have in the current version, and from there start adding them back in.

[@Evilmonkey3X]

The first game i made, the only mechanics I had was dialogue... I really hate doing dialogue now... But, I learned quite a bit from that. The prototypes I make always focus on one singular mechanic, and so now I know how to do all sorts of things in games.

[@ScipiPurr]

This is one of the reasons I like participating in Ludum Dare events. The time constraint forces you to keep your ideas small. Plus after the fact you are pretty much guaranteed to get constructive feedback.

[@guard13007]

Oh God please make the next one come out now. I've never been so anxious for the next video in a series from you guys. I've been struggling as a mostly by myself developer for at least a year now, and I'm trying to take everything I can from these videos to heart to hopefully FINALLY come out with something. My biggest mistake thus far: Planning the super mega in-depth game and then spending forever trying to build it up without the skills or details to actually make it work.

[@MrPaksh]

i need one episode each hour!

[@guard13007]

MrPaksh Any you'll use the episode releases to make you realize you've spent too long on one task? :P

[@Pog2_]

***** Honestly if I were to finally start, (which I will after the next video) I want my first game to be a relaxing short game. If I were to be part of a company or be the head of a company even then I would prefer simple games like Asteroid, Space Invaders and etc., I have a thing for relaxing games. It's the way I cure my headaches. So yeah Guard until you have a good team I wouldn't think of super in-depth games. There are many Extra Credit episodes which I can't name but I do know what those episodes have taught me. And I think theme is an important part if anything once the final video releases we can try to help each other out.

[@guard13007]

CreeperLeafNinja I still haven't spent any time on it, but I'm going to be working on a small card game next. I told the guy I've been trying to work on a much more in-depth card game with for a while that we need to start smaller and been making him watch these, and he quickly threw together a simpler design, which I will then start coding and/or planning and/or cutting out even more to keep it small.

[@rmsgrey]

***** Next week's video should cover this, but: ask yourself what the absolute minimum you need to have something that you can play is - for a Top Trumps type game, I'd start out with two cards, and two properties on each, so that one card wins on property A and the other on property B. Get the game to deal one card to you and one to your opponent, tell you which card you have, let you choose which property to compare on, and then tell you whether you win or lose. Once I had that running, then I'd start adding more cards and more properties per card - which immediately adds the complications that, rather than immediately winning/losing outright, the game has to keep track of the cards played, adding them to the bottom of the relevant player's draw deck, and that, rather than always being the player's choice, sometimes the AI has to make decisions too. Once I've got that sorted out, adding more cards is easy (though possibly time consuming) and most of the development effort would go on user interface - making the game look prettier and play more smoothly. For your card game, work out the absolute minimum number of cards you need in order to use the simplest mechanic in the game, and the easiest way of telling the player what's happening - simple text output, placeholder art, morse code beeps - whatever you can throw together quickly using your development tools. The goal is to get something you can sit down and play as soon as possible - the simplest form of the game that actually does something - once you have that, then you can worry about adding content and new mechanics to make it actually fun to play... You'll probably find that you need to rewrite your initial code several times in order to scale it up successfully - this is normal, and something you'll learn to anticipate and work around with more experience - though even experienced programmers argue whether it's better to write your first prototype quickly and simply even if it means it's a pain to expand upon later, or to write it in such a way that it'll be easy to make the changes you anticipate needing to make later at the cost of taking longer to get your first version running - the ideal is probably somewhere in between, but, for your first project, definitely go for the quick-and-dirty option rather than trying to guess what you'll want to have in place for later stages. tl;dr: make the simplest thing that runs and then expand from there.

[@GameKraken]

This really helped me make my first game which was nothing more than an asteroid arcade spinoff. Since then I have learned a lot and I am now planning to make something bigger. Thanks Extra Credits!

[@shanedooley5948]

what program do you use

[@GameKraken]

Shane Dooley Well now I use Unity but to make my first game I used game maker because it is very easy to use and its free unless you want the proffesional edition

[@shanedooley5948]

Awesome thanks buddy I will check it out. Scratch is also free iv not really used it yet but people have made awesome stuff on there the coeding is already done for you on scratch etc

[@GameKraken]

Shane Dooley Scratch isn't really capable of doing large 2d or 3d games mainly it is used for teacher examples of programing and it's potential in schools. Game maker does use programing but it teaches you how to do it. And a really good and easy tool to use is unity. They have full game making tutorials etc. I would recommend unity for making a game. But beware if you want to make a 3d game you can't do it in game maker. Unity is my recomendation but to start I think GameMaker is better.

[@GameKraken]

***** It's not a steam game and really is kinda basic but here it is none the less www.mediafire.com/?now9lpfiosb2cp9

[@CrabQueen]

A lot of this applies to making a board game as well, which is great considering my projects. Thanks for the tips!

[@hiQer]

Busy working on my first game, gonna watch this video every week. It motivates me and reminds me what to do. Thanks!

[@stingray4567]

I think this 'first game' series is the most useful and valuable work you've ever done.

[@philbertius]

Practical tip for coders: make systems you can reuse! In fact, design all functionality as modular and reusable as possible!

[@enistoja]

A good place to put these teachings to the test is game jams. Two days to make a game. Fun, fast paced, intense, soul-crushing but ultimately very rewarding

[@cryism7798]

when learning also don’t be afraid to re-use assets from practice games in larger scale works later to make your life easier

[@SwordofAslan]

You guys are some of the BEST encouragement a fledgling game developer like myself could ever have. Practical advice, realistic, yet you don't kill the dreams with that truth-of-the-matter lecture. May God bless you all for your hard work and support to all of us.

[@ErrorNamenotfound-so2gt]

One of the most helpful videos that I have ever watched for the earlier stages of game development, I made about 12 games using this video as a reference point, they were simple, short, but fun. With each game I learned to program, to make levels, to make good (by my standards) at, and pretty much everything else I needed to know to actually make a game. I have been (trying to) make games for about 5 years now and it wasn't until I watched this video did I crawl myself out of that hole and start being productive with my time. I now plan on working on a slightly larger product and releasing the first level for free as a demo, if it is received well I will continue and hopefully release it a full game in the future. TL;DR This video made me a better game developer, I hope it can for you too.

[@TheMuhaha220]

I love it how these tutorials are applicable to really any complicated project: I use these tips to get my engineering projects off the ground, because they have a similar process to go from an idea to something actually usable. So, thanks for making these videos.

[@GrannyGamer1]

Again, this advice is applicable to almost any project in one's life, game or not. gg

[@fidelumgames5143]

One of the best pieces of advice in this video is to review your game once a week. My first game, which I actually designed with the intent to complete it in a month, took 10 months to finish. A big part of this was not looking at it for a while, losing motivation, and not wanting to work on it (sometimes for months at a time). I think that if I had've stuck to even that one piece of advice, it probably would've been finished in half the time, or less. +Extra Credits: Keep up the great work. I learn a lot from you guys.

[@DoubleATam]

These videos are painfully, horribly, outstandingly, despicably, hatefully, magically, please-kill-me, honestly, fantastically way too long overdue. I have no words for how much I simultaneously hate and love you for finally making them. It just hurts.

[@alphagames7945]

These last two episodes, as well as the whole series, is really helping me find clarity in my development and how to approach it. Thank you, Extra Credits. I really appreciate your work.

[@bikerscout2012]

I absolutely love all the cute people and graphics in your videos!

[@nielsdejong6266]

(art by Scott DeWitt)

[@xvincplayerx8]

You sound high on this.

[@Nylspider]

I know! It's an amazing art style that I love!

[@macdongr]

I don't even want to be a game designer (I want to work on art for games) but I love watching this show. Something about it is so addictive. This team is very good at grabbing your attention on a topic you wouldn't think would be interesting.

[@protanopia]

If you have any 3d modeling skills, animating skills, or coding skills and really want to get better (as well as test yourself) look into doing game jams. UE4 Forums have them monthly, and they're a lot of fun. Try to find someone around your level of skills (though its always better to find better who are better than you at stuff).

[@Hionimi]

I fear the main reason why I love watching this channel's videos is that the main Animater's animations are both very adorable and sometimes really putting a grin on my face or even make me chuckle, I really love watching it. But I guess that's only a recipe for success, content that may be aimed at certain people, but even people who do not, like in this case, seek to make their first game, still enjoying the videos. :)

[@SoralTheSol]

Video Tip: Don't Spend more then an hour on a project. Real life Experience: Started drawing at 5pm on Monday, stopped Tuesday at 4am because body demanded food. My own tip for this segment, get a kitchen timer or an alarm clock, it is really easy to get lost in your work.

[@thenacho6354]

I havent see the light of day in 48 hours

[@응가바보-j7k]

@@thenacho6354 You've seen light? Tell me. What does light look like?

[@Segashinobi97]

This was very helpful and insightful! Awesome video!

[@oneshotshort4626]

here's an example of a first game you could make. A simple 1 screen platformer A stick figure, a door, and 8 platforms leading up to the door.

[@valentinsavov5046]

Guys....In this video and in the "Minimum Viable Product" video I see all things that I did not do - all my mistakes during the last two years that were interfering me. I've learned my lessons the hard way, but there is still a lot to learn from you. You are amazing...

[@miru021]

The cartoons are amazing! XD haha Also, the voice is surprisingly robotic and ... Human? = / Excellent video!

[@ruofusun3888]

As a total green hand who is working on the first game, I felt this is so comforting and encouraging! Thank you!

[@CornishCreamtea07]

I'm really bad at planning mile stones, I just don't know how long it will take me to do something.

[@AlexPope1668]

Try your best, and make notes so you can adjust for next time, e.g., "Animation took forever. I either need to expect it to take 4 times longer next time, or break it down into 4 smaller milestones." That way you'll get better at planning milestones.

[@Necroskull388]

Set some that seem basically reasonable, and move forward. If you fail to meet those milestones, adjust your expectations. The best way to learn this stuff is through experience.

[@VP1NTO]

I'd like to say, I'm not a gamer but as a non-gamer I have learnt so much from you guys. The series you're currently doing really speaks to me as a student mechanical engineer. Thank you so much for your videos!!!

[@pepesajicraft705]

I made my first game in a day. It's just a maze that leads to a room painted as exterior.

[@abramthiessen8749]

Same. I made tic-tack-toe in around a day using C++. It sounds like you got farther than I did.

[@123TeeMee]

Same for me, but I'm struggling to make anything that would take longer

[@supbscripter4079]

I made tic tac toe in C# with an ai and all it's really neat :D

[@unendeavouringbear7195]

Within 8 hours I managed to completely code and create basic designs for a 2d platformer with functioning enemies.

[@helloworld2848]

Unendeavouring Bear What engine

[@edenojack]

I've been working on an adventure game for a little while on and off, for each roadblock I've come across I've started a project that focuses on that roadblock. I've now got a small collection of rather nifty projects, that all leads into a bigger one. This is working for me, I've always got something to do, and I'm slowly creating more as I go along.

[@Karonis124]

Replace the word "game" here with any other kind of art. These tips still hold true.

[@WhatDoesDStandFor]

I'm learning to do game coding in my first year of college. What James says about "if you can't, go as simple as possible" is a seriously great thing to do. I wanna code guns but I have a great platforming engine already. You get the idea.

[@pokemonanddbzmaster3688]

0:08 I did go to the internet it brought me here

[@brasori]

These are actually incredibly usefull advices. As someone who is making his first game (and has been for half a year already), I just want to say thank you, thank you very much.

[@fission1h994]

Tip 1: Don't plan something that you think you will take you longer than a month to complete it. *later* Tip 2: It's gonna take longer than a month,but don't sweat it. *lol*

[@KokiriKidLink]

I worked on a MUGEN based off me and my friends. My first time touching the engine. The first character took me three days, so I estimated I would be done in 3-4 Months with all the balancing and such. Finished the game in a month, still balancing a year later. MUGEN Is good because it allows you to do one character at a time as you learn. So if you try an engine and estimate from there, throw out your estimate. you will learn along the way.

[@dorby0578]

I made a game under 10 min!

[@jaketurner3255]

This is so helpful... I just started a course on unity game design that gives me a year to make a game. I would just like to say thank you to all of you at extra credits because your videos give me so much help

[@SeanFrancisNBallais]

"Don't plan something that'll take longer than a month. It's gonna take longer than a month." Ah, software engineering as usual.

[@Nazareadain]

Even when you find solutions to a problem, they're often not tailored around what you're doing, so there's still learning involved in first of all understanding why they do what they do, and then adapting it. There's nothing stopping you from learning from other's mistakes either.

[@TheSpacecraftX]

Well... I chose to make mine in a language I already knew and now it's hurting me. I'm using Visual Basic 2008 to make a static graphics point and click dungeon crawler. Combat is basically turn-based random number generation with different probabilities depending on your equiped weapon. And the only animated graphics are GIFs of enemies. I'm finding my options for movement on a 2D space limited by the language I think.

[@saltysandwiches3554]

You really shouldn't use visual basic for games, it doesn't fit the task. You should rather try some tool/library made appositely for games, even if really simple, game maker or unity for instance. That doesn't mean you shouldn't program in visual basic, it's good excercise.

[@kajgies]

I would not use Visual Basic for games. If you want to create your game in an engine try GameMaker or Unity(2D) else you can try programming in C++, it's a bit harder to learn then most languages but it still is the industries standard, has virtually no limits and is as fast as you write it. And I wouldn't use gifs for graphics if I were you, you can convert them to jpg/png pretty easy.

[@banama1758]

visual basic ? are you mad

[@saltysandwiches3554]

***** Visual Basic is somehow even worse. Anyway I agree on the fact that c++ is the way to go, but it is a very abstract to start. I would suggest Java or C# if you are going for high level languages, html5 or Javascript for scripting.

[@TheSpacecraftX]

I agree that it in hindsight it was a bad platform to use but I thought to begin with that I'd be best using a language I already knew. I am currently also learning Javascript but I've done some research and found I'm doing it the difficult way.

[@SketchBookShortFilms]

This is becoming one of my favorite series in the history of the show. I can't wait to see more of this because I am learning so much. I probably won't be making a game any time soon, but this will be a gargantuan help when I do eventually.

[@TravisMohan]

nice talk but how do I actually try to make a game ?

[@TheiLame]

+Travis Mohan just start with tutorials

[@polybomb9640]

+Travis Mohan Grab Unity, a popular and versatile engine, assuming your computer can run it (shouldn't be TOO high on the requirements). The front page of the Unity website has three or four tutorials on how to make a small variety of games, and they're both free and comprehensive. If you finish one or two of those, you'll surely have put together a few ways you can make your own works!

[@Saurygiel]

+Travis Mohan Use Construct 2 if your not ready for the hard task of learning code. It works very well and is free if you want to make something small but fun.

[@sakoir1061]

+Travis Mohan I would recommend you if you don't have any skill in art/graphic design - and don't want to make your own physics engine - Roblox. While it is marketed towards a younger audience, there's plenty of chances to learn the basics of game development, and potentailly earn money from it.

[@kylezaruba9497]

+Invisible Teemo Roblox is not a game making engine...

[@TheAgentGold]

The timing on these videos is fantastic for me, because a friend and I are working on our first project we expect to release together right now. And Tip 1 and Tip 2 make me chuckle because that is exactly where we are right now. Some of this is review, but some of it is also good, new advice. Keep these videos coming and know that you have aspiring viewers who appreciate them!

[@daltonf9914]

I'm technically 14 (gonna be in 2 weeks) and trynna make some sorta game on Unity...Unity is confusing, should I use any different programs? Do I need some sorta class to learn how to code? Or could I just learn from the internet??? (Atm I'm following Jimmy Vegas's tutorial for making a game, so far so good)

[@ignisdeanimus3471]

unity is Hella difficult. to move anything takes so much work. but that's just me, and I'm not very good at coding. for starters I'd advise going 2d first, like stencyl, or maybe gamemaker. both are also free.

[@daltonf9914]

Gus Tahara-Edmonds Carrot Doughnut Thank you two! :D The only reason I haven't been using Unity's tutorial is because they seem to be using older versions of Unity and I don't know if I could down grade in versions or what... Lol

[@TeeKayMTrove]

You should learn C# basics before learning C# for Unity, you won't grasp what is going on in other people's tutorials if you don't know the basics.

[@anguswilson1724]

Darketek I wouldn't recommend unity for your first game. I've tried it many times and just end up giving up. But I've recently switched to love2d and I'm making more progress on that. The reason I like it is that it doesn't get in the way. you just write your code then drag it onto the love EXE and it runs.

[@daltonf9914]

Angus Wilson Aye thanks for the advice xD ill go and check out Love2D hopefully its easier lol

[@awesomenokes]

A lot of the goal setting and scheduling stuff you talked about is what we usually call "Scrum" or Agile development. Everything you just said is what my professors have been saying for the past 3 years

[@gmseven4150]

i have a question. i'm using game maker plus and i'm good at the (pseudo)coding but i am not an artist. I know the last video suggested that i just go for a minimalist art style, but i wanted to know if there is anywhere on the net where an amature coder might hook up with an amature artist to work together for an amature game? anybody know of such a place? Thanks!

[@datscrazy4095]

craglist and devianart and what kind of game are u makig

[@datscrazy4095]

+Coolgoku80 *making

[@hyperslow1233]

GameMakee marketplace, tons of artists there just waiting to be hired.

[@gmseven4150]

some simple games. I started a top down dungeon crawl dog. I can't hire anybody beause I have no money, and I don't plan on making any money at it. at least not yet. I'm just do it for fun/experience.

[@jimmyc.491]

This reminds me of something I found in a software development textbook called a "burndown chart". You plot the estimated time you'll need to complete the project on the x-axis, plot the amount of work left to do on the y-axis, and draw a line going down and to the right as you complete steps of the process, hopefully bringing it to the bottom before or around the time it reaches the end. It's very helpful, I imagine.

[@jimmyd694]

who noticed the shadow of the colossus thing

[@iananderson12796]

Me.

[@mattbratt4098]

me

[@marvinslomp3564]

me

[@Doctorgeo7]

I remember making my first game. It was a computer version of the 1990s game Lights Out, with some tweaks and extra features. I had to do it for the final project of my C programming class. A lot of my classmates didn't finish it and by the end of the semester my professor decided to make it an extra credit assignment. It took me 3 weeks of nearly constant everyday work to finish it, but it was well worth it.

[@santiagorich3190]

I made a vector copy but bad

[@MasonAttano]

Cool. Is it online anywhere? I don't care if it's bad or not.

[@santiagorich3190]

It's on itch.io just search for robo jump

[@BRHD413]

I don't even make games or have the interest to try but i like playing games and learning about them... That is kind of weird to me.. I guess you just make videos that are so easily consumable that it feels like a treat every time a video gets uploaded!

[@Ularg7070]

Needs an * that states this will still not help the most talentless people like me out there. Believe me, I've tried. I've "made" a level of a game or some art or some music but with the most embarassingly bad process ever made. You could give me a piece of paper with code for a game just to copy by hand and it will still not work. Don't be like me, there are some people who are only born for manual labor.

[@AlexPope1668]

Even the most talentless performers can get reasonably okay with enough help or enough time, or both. I mean look at the pop music scene; I bet you can name at least one significant success every couple years that started out VERY badly, but kept at it, go lots of help, and eventually did it. So, if it still interests you, keep trying. You will get better. Great? Probably not. But better, and that may end up feeling just as good.

[@Necroskull388]

I also have no artistic talent, but I only found that out after I spent a couple years in art school and learned to draw reasonably well. And although I regret spending two years in art school, I do value the experience.

[@Bashyb]

Failing to succeed does not mean failing to progress, your not learning from the failures youve done, your only calling them failures and saying their embarrassing, you should go back and look at your mistakes and learn from them, and dont forget about the 10,000-Hour Rule, because you dont have to have to talent to do something good, practice it enough and you'll become good just because you wont be good in the beginning doesnt mean you should give up, if your not talented then practice till you get good.

[@TheOtherKT]

As the saying goes, "The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried." So just keep chugging on. You're going to suck at first. You're going to suck for a long time before you start being halfway decent. But you'll get there eventually.

[@rudyhero1995]

just work methodical, and work step by step, improving every little thing till it looks -even more awful-, -bad-, reasonable, I have a mandatory course of programming, I'm not good at it, but with my 160 lines of code I was able to change capital letters to regular ones (I now know how that one works). For a small game if it's functional you are far already (the chance that a homemad programm the size of a couple, kb's, mb's, bytes (or whatever if about 50-1000 lines of code) programm would burn out your processor s reasonably small, right? Right?)

[@WASDLeftClick]

This is some really incredible advice! I've taken a couple of stabs at making a game and I can say I've consistently made most of the mistakes covered in this video. Now, I think I can get into development again and not quit. Thanks for this.

[@somniloguy12]

Good luck!

[@DevilSpider_]

Game is the best Extra Credits character and no-one can change my mind. It's *adorable*

[@Wibblyeo]

man, you dont know how much your helping me to make my dream come true

[@stedunn563]

My first ever game was a tutorial I slightly edited, it still counts, I most importantly learnt what coding was and how much work is needed for such a small output! All my game was, was space ships coming down the screen and you was at the bottom and you had to shoot them, when they died they randomly spawned at the top of the screen, rinse and repeat, I slowly learnt how to do GUI etc and added a scoreboard and slowly added to it. Years on I'm a software developer, I have a game on the xbox360 indie section which made enough money to buy me lots of toys like an Ipad etc it's amazing what you can do with the tools we have now.

[@DoubIeRose]

I always forget about these episodes, then I see them in my sub box and it makes me happy.

[@SeanLamb-I-Am]

These are exceptionally valuable tips for a wide range of projects, and it's good to remind ourselves of these tips as we explore new activities. A model railroader friend of mine likes to say that "our eyes are bigger than our abilities" when he advocates for new model builders to work on smaller projects.

[@mennoltvanalten7260]

"go to internet if your stuck for an hour" is a good tip, i got code for things of which i don't know how or why it works, but it works, so i just copy paste it into new programs

[@DK1105-k3c]

Pro tip: When working on mobile game I do a lot of design work moving my fingers around on the phone with the screen turned off and making finger smugs. Really looking forward to the next episode. Rough prototyping is super fun to do. Try this find a random 2d character controller and design a short level with just blank boxes.

[@AndersDahnielson]

I just love how each week is being 8 days in the schedule calendar. :)

[@vatekehcorlon867]

You guys should definitely do a live stream of making one of these simple projects it would be fun to watch but also a great learning experience for all of us

[@Dragon4sale]

These are helpful tips for even more than making a game. I figured some of this stuff out the hard way while I was trying to make a simple application for myself, and I will begin using these management techniques as I continue. Thank you Extra Credits :)

[@ActuatedGear]

This information can be directly applied to ANY creative media, whch just makes it all the more awesome!!!

[@johnathanmcnutt7167]

This is really awesome. I'm actually in a game development class this quarter so the timing couldn't be more perfect. I actually ran into the issue where my game idea is turning out to be a little bigger than I really have the time budget for so the next episode sounds really useful.

[@punkysuen]

Nice Katamari OST at the end, it fits the mood so well.

[@Gundurr]

I might just send this playlist to my friends who are planning on making a game

[@ZarroTsu]

This is where game modding vs game creation takes a steep diversion, from personal experience. Even if a community is deeply immersed in modding a particular game, creating something of your own on a beginning/middle/end scale is difficult when only those people in that community will be particularly interested in it. It's very easy to fall into a trap where the community tells you all the good things about your mod, but refrains from telling you the bad things until it's too late. My own experience took two years of few-hours-a-week to create a beginning/middle/end mod of a particular game. Every time I released a demo (roughly once every 4 months), I didn't receive the feedback I was looking for, but a long list of bugs people found while playing. Only after months since finishing the game did I receive a live stream of a few people actively picking apart the game from the scope of difficulty and player understanding. I stumbled blindly through creating something I felt proud of, and didn't actually receive critique until it was already "finished". I'm sure not every modding community is like this, but be aware if you're beginning game design through game modding, you probably won't receive the feedback you need. You can learn a lot about time management, design, working within limitations, etc. but you can't rely on it for player feedback. Not until long after you've already finished, anyway.

[@mcphersonsound]

So budding game composer here. I'm working on my first product, and even though its kind of different, everything here also applies. I started out with a grand scheme for interactivity, but I ended up cutting it down in favor of simpler interactivity but better quality music. When I become more familiar with middleware tools such as Wwise and fmod that is when I can really ramp up the interactivity.

[@dpurdy15]

I really like this episode. I am an beginning animator and game designer, I loved this because i have been giving up on A LOT of my projects so finding a way to stop this or at least make me feel like I'm doing something is awesome. Thanks Extra Credits.

[@zomb_rand0m16]

I took your advice and made my first game in four days with three levels! thanks so much

[@chartypeplays2396]

I really wish I'd seen this when I first started making games. I'll keep these tips in mind in the future, as far as they stay applicable. Thanks so much!

[@LatSpeak]

Thank you so much for doing these. This is exactly what I needed at a point where I wasn't really sure if I'd ever be able to do this, or if I should just give up. You gave me exactly the insight I needed to help my feet back under me.

[@HosTTtk]

One of the best things I found with starting to make games (and if I I am to be honest I am still starting to make games now). Remake old classics, Pong is a great easy game to recreate from my experience, and there are all sorts of interesting things you can experiment with.

[@eswar9255]

You got a new subscriber CONGRATULATIONS 🥳🥳🎊🎉 THATS ME

[@hannahn951]

Thank you for this video. I'm making a game for my senior project and this is really helpful!

[@Tackgnol]

I just want to point out that with a little wording change this one is very usefull on ALL small IT/Development project. Very good and transferable advice! Thx Extra Credits!

[@zeromus71588]

These are all great, but step 9 is something I have problems with in my own life. It's definitely a struggle. Loving this series so far, like the design one you guys did before. Keep up the good work!

[@RafaelSales55]

For my first game I used one year to end. It was cool, over 20 peoples played it online and I loved it!

[@SerenityM16]

Oh gods, I like that production week email idea, ALOT, I feel I could use this for a bunch of things

[@wolfson109]

I recommend reading about agile software development. It's about breaking your software up into 'user stories'. Each user story is an explanation of the action/feedback loop for a single interaction between the user and the software. It can really help to get out the smallest possible product with the highest value.

[@soulreaver19802001]

Thanks Guys. Also thanks to the person who suggested this series

[@rudlintheelf8228]

Thanks, EC! Without you guys, my first project could have been pretty bad! (taking too long, too large a scope, etc.)

[@letsdraw3900]

The "Mile Stone" earned you a sub. Good job

[@vaevictus4637]

The picture with the guy that nailed random pieces of wood together was absolutely brilliant and reminds me of every first project I've ever done for anything. lmao

[@Prededator777]

Great Videos! They tap into an aspect of my life that despite having been pushed back by school and chores is still a dear part of my and something that I deeply enjoy. Keep up the Great work!

[@eeach]

Wow, that chiptune cover of Lonely Rolling Star is amazing. Thank you. :-)