#game dev advice

More for writing stories/visual novels. I love these things but I feel like I'd suck at them bc I like writing linear things or at least as linear as I can get them but I REALLY wanna try doing a multiple choice type story bc I think it would be fun for the sorta corporate hero type of story I wanna write :33

That's... Very hard to narrow down into one singular bit of advice that sucked...

One that is a bit controversial, but I'm tired of hearing; "Your employer can fire you at any time, you don't need to put in a notice when you quit." This... Is useful advice but not for the games industry.

Because the recruiters in the industry all talk; it absolutely will fuck your career if you dip without saying shit. Doesn't have to be a two weeks notice- even a week's notice will still at least ensure you leave your employer on a sort-of okay note. It fucking sucks, man, but it do be like that out there.

Here is some good advice for interviews; instead of telling them your expected salary when they ask- hit them back with a follow up question "let me get back to you on that- What is your current budget for this position?" But do get back to them within a day or two, armed with knowledge of their budget. Not having your salary negotiated properly can mean the difference of whether you're living with four walls and a roof or in your car. You don't wanna tell them you want $40k (USD) a year, and find out from someone else that their budget was actually fucking $90k- and proceed to dye your shorts brown- but you didn't ask in your interview so you're S.O.L.

This is advice that I could remember from experienced devs from off the top of my head. I often hear stories from folks, and I tend to ask a lot of questions. Here's to hoping it helps me out too.

Good luck to us both; we may be up against each other in the employment pool, among many others. Even my own instructors could be my competition. It's both scary and somewhat motivating though.

Again, KISS. Try with small toy projects. Flappy birds, minesweeper, physics toy. Don't be afraid to abandon projects if the roof difficult. I did toss and restated a few time just to get comfortable with the tools.

If you have no coding experience. (oof, brace yourself, the journey is long). Even going to W3Schools and doing their course for language of choice is decent.

At first, you are doing more learning than work, and that's to be expected. You are not wasting time, you are not a failure, you are learning and that's part of the process.

To celebrate our 1st year of running quarterly game jams, we asked some of our most prolific jammers to share their inspirational game development stories and advice! 

What advice would you give to people who are interesting in becoming a game developer?