I’m Doing a Game Jam!

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The title of this post says it all:  After many years of flirting with the idea of making video games, even going so far as to take a few coding classes in college, I am finally going to dive in and try making a game of my own via either the Indie Game Making Contest 2018 or the Game Off 2018 game jam, though I’m still deciding which jam I want to ultimately submit to.  I wanted to do my first forays into game-making via a jam, because much like how many people do NaNoWriMo to put some pressure on them to write a novel, I want a bit of a time constraint to push me forward and keep me striving to learn new things.  These specific jams are also a month long, which will give me plenty of time to experiment and learn from my mistakes as I start off.

Before I go off to pick out the engine I will be utilizing, I just wanted to talk a bit about why I have decided to give game development a try.  I love to write about video games, and I always have an opinion on topics in the gaming industry.  Even still, I’ve always wanted to have more of an insider’s viewpoint on the work that people do to bring a video game to life.  Knowing how much work is put into creating a game will allow me to further appreciate what happens under the hood of my favorite titles.

Additionally, I’ve always loved the control that game development would bring to the table.  Obviously, as one person, the games I can create are very limited.  Even still, having full control over how a project looks and controls would allow me to create everything my way.  I have always said that I started blogging because I wanted to be a voice in the games industry, instead of having others speak for me, and game development is another path to the same goal.

My biggest fear as of now is an inability to get all of the components together by myself.  In the future, should I choose to do another game jam, I may team up with other people, but for this month, I want to go it alone and learn at my own pace.  That said, however, that means I am responsible for coding, writing, music, sound effects, and art.  As someone who can’t draw a stick person and codes at a pretty introductory level, this feels daunting.  As far as I am concerned, however, pulling this off would mean learning and honing so many skills that could open doors for me, both as an amateur game developer and in my professional career.

I do still intend on writing on this blog, though my updates may be a little sporadic.  My posts will likely include some amount of content on what I have learned so far from game development, as I want to help others start their game development journeys in the future.  Ultimately, I have absolutely no idea what will happen, or if I’ll even manage to get a game made in a month that’s worth submitting, but I certainly won’t know what I am capable of until I give it a try!

Have you ever considered game development before, or tried it?  Let me know in the comments below!