I think you're right. I've been thinking lots about what exactly it is that I'm averse to doing.
The coding part - yep that's fine - I've worked with game engines before, I'm familiar with Unity and have dabbled in UDK. If someone else gives me something to implement ("go make this character walk") I know where to start and I can get right into it. When it's someone else's game and things are plotted out, it's much easier.
I love working with the technology, I love working with artists. I feel that the scope of challenge in game programming is unmatched. I love how it requires knowledge from so many different fields, from physics to storytelling.
Yet when I'm doing it from scratch, when I have to come up with a game from nothing, that's when I get stuck circling around nothing. Yours and the other comments are right though - I just need to pick something and stick with it. Maybe I'm just putting too much emphasis on trying to have a crystal-clear vision before I start; maybe I should trust the creative process more.
Maybe I'm a fine game programmer, but just not a game designer. Which saddens me in a little way - I want to be independent. If I can't come up with a game on my own, like the Notches of the world, does that mean I'll always be stuck working for someone else? Does that mean I'll never be successful?
Comments
I think you're right. I've been thinking lots about what exactly it is that I'm averse to doing.
The coding part - yep that's fine - I've worked with game engines before, I'm familiar with Unity and have dabbled in UDK. If someone else gives me something to implement ("go make this character walk") I know where to start and I can get right into it. When it's someone else's game and things are plotted out, it's much easier.
I love working with the technology, I love working with artists. I feel that the scope of challenge in game programming is unmatched. I love how it requires knowledge from so many different fields, from physics to storytelling.
Yet when I'm doing it from scratch, when I have to come up with a game from nothing, that's when I get stuck circling around nothing. Yours and the other comments are right though - I just need to pick something and stick with it. Maybe I'm just putting too much emphasis on trying to have a crystal-clear vision before I start; maybe I should trust the creative process more.
Maybe I'm a fine game programmer, but just not a game designer. Which saddens me in a little way - I want to be independent. If I can't come up with a game on my own, like the Notches of the world, does that mean I'll always be stuck working for someone else? Does that mean I'll never be successful?
Hmmmm....
These are the kinds of things I'm thinking.
Maybe. But you sound like you're in an environment where you can learn how to develop those skills.