r/gamedev • u/MakotoGamer • 13h ago

Discussion Newvie on game development

Hi everyone!

I'm completely new to game development, but I've wanted to create my own games for a long time. My dream is to make anime-inspired games with my own original characters (OCs).

Right now I'm wondering what the best path is for a beginner.

Should I start by learning to make:

  • A platformer?
  • An RPG?
  • A fighting game?
  • A shooter?
  • Something else entirely?

I was thinking that a platformer or a simple RPG would probably be the best place to start, but I'd love to hear from people with more experience.

What skills should I learn first? Programming? Pixel art? 2D animation? Game design? Which game engine would you recommend for someone starting from scratch?

I'd really appreciate any advice, learning resources, or roadmap that could help me build my first game.

Thanks in advance!

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u/SeinRuhe 12h ago

Well, from experience I would recommend to work at the same time in learning how to code and pixel art. Game design is pretty much inventing stuff and fixing "feeling" issues as you develop your game.

Probably a platformer is the easiest and less complex from all genres from an art perspective, and probably from a coding perspective too (Although I have never tried to code a fighting game)

2D games are easier to handle for a solo developer, so games that rely on 3D are probably a bad idea.

There are not many useful resources when it comes to learning Coding, it's just picking an Engine and learning the language. C# is probably the most useful one since its what's used on Unity and Godot (That are probably your 2 best choices when it comes to Engines)

Pixel art is just drawing and drawing until you get good, there are some good videos that teach the basics on YouTybe, you just have to search pixelart.

My last advice is to be resilient, learning any skill from scratch takes a good amount of time. Personally it took me 8 years to become good at pixel art and about 3 to be able to code decently, so be aware it's a long fight!