Game Development, Please Help

Help and Feedback Game Design Support
#1

For five years, I have been developing. In those years, I was unable to create one game. I think these are the problems:

Math

This one is holding me back too much. I feel like it scares me from development. How do you know what math to use in a specific problem. Sometimes, when I look at a solution with math in it, I am confused. When I search things up, I am even more confused. This kind of stuff also occurs when I have to work with physics. I have no idea what I am doing. I don’t understand.

I also try visualizing problems, but that only leaves me with no more than what I started with.

Motivation

Motivation was a problem since the beginning. I have read articles about motivation. Some proposed solutions were:

  • Taking a break
  • Working on another project

When I take breaks, it doesn’t help me.
When I work on another project, I gain some motivation. Then I get hit by a wall and I work on another project. You see the loop here.

Possible Reasons:

  • Hitting on a wall and not knowing how to solve the problem (this kind of goes to the Math section)
  • Complexity (something that takes a lot of work to do. when I try to get things done, the first point occurs, and you know what happens).
  • Groups

I don’t think I can work in groups if I can’t figure this out.

So far, I couldn’t solve this problem by myself, so I’m hoping I could get some insight.

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#2

I recommend starting small. Make a game with the most minor of objectives:

Player must touch a block. Insert a script into that block so that the color of the block changes.

Congrats, first game completed. Now, expand on it.

Player touches a block, and now they have a point. Create a GUI that will display the points. Create a short if then script that states when a block has been touched five times, a GUI appears that says the game is over.

Expand again. Create a DataStore script that holds IntValues for those blocks. Create a Rounds script.

Build on each ‘game’ slowly, expanding outwards. I’ve found this approach to be a great learning experience. :slight_smile: The important thing here is to gain confidence by setting obtainable goals, watching yourself achieve these goals, and then pushing a little further for the next one.

Before you know it, you have a real game. Then it’s time to start the next one.

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#3

Math is a really big barrier in computer science, especially for younger programmers. I think what you need to make a basic game is basic trig, knowledge on exponents/logarithms, and some beginner linear algebra. Those are usually covered in high school so if you are still young/decided to skip those, it would be a good idea to learn and solidify the basics.

For more advanced development such as custom physics, wall walking, and other cool features, you may need more advanced linear algebra and a more developed mind for physics. You don’t need to know physics, by the way - if you have a strong understanding for how things work in real life (stuff falls down, balloons go up, etc…) then you can model these on a computer with google at your side. Some programmers are horrible at math and still get by, so don’t underestimate the power of approximation when you are trying to implement a game mechanic that seems to be coated in complexity.

Speaking of complexity, when you are working on a large project, keep in mind what you need to know to do the next step. Think ahead but please keep in mind what you need at this moment to get to the end goal. Go step by step, rather than jumping into the deep end.

If you feel tired/overworked, then take a break doing something else. A break isn’t meant to be a long period of time, and for truly dedicated people, their break is their work. Some people relish the time they get to commit to their dreams. Take a look at your life and try to find where your priorities are - it may give you more insight into what you need to do, and why. That may be a deciding factor in continuing to truck through the tough problems you encounter every day, just to get your game finished.

And this is going to sound cliché, but I hope that you never give up on what you think is right. Probably the hardest thing is losing hope in our work, our abilities, and moving on to something else. I try to remind myself every day that I don’t want to be the guy regretting wasting my life away because of bad decisions I made. I still make those bad decisions every day, but I want to continue fighting my way through so I make less and less of them. I hope that you will fight through your tough times and continue to move towards your goals, and I hope that with that dedication you will bear the fruit of your labour.

And yes I am Canadian so I spell weird.

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#4

As for math, here are a few things you should learn for game development (from my experience)

  • Ratios
  • Division

Those are legit the only two things (that I can think of off the top of my head) that I use in development often.

#5

Self-Discipline > Motivation

In order to create a game you have to understand that you cannot rely on motivation. Motivation is great to have and all, but motivation comes then goes–happens to a lot of people, always. Stop depending on motivation and just do it. Self-discipline is a skill that takes years to master and it is the only thing that you should focus on.

Your Math Problems

As far as your problems are with math, all you need to do is ask for help on the developer forum. You have to be willing and want to learn, because that’s how you become better at your craft. Once you figure out what went wrong and how to fix your problems with the math-side of things, you can move on.

Write down your goals

But why do you want to make a game? Do you have dreams of being a game developer on the platform and have a front-page game? First and foremost, figure out what you want. What are goals that you want to achieve and where do you want to be in 5 or 10 or 15 years from now?

Now that you know what your goals are, write them all down on a piece of paper and tape them to the wall of your bedroom–somewhere you can literally see it everyday and even better would be a place that you can’t avoid looking at when you’re in your bedroom. This will remind you of the goals that you want to achieve everyday when you look at them.

Now that you have your goals written down, write down what you think that you can do to accomplish those goals. For example, let’s say I have a goal to become a member on the Roblox developer forum. Now we can’t just stop there, we have to figure out what we have to do to accomplish that. Well, it’s easy because I already am told what I have to do, and the answer to it is that I have to post and be active consistently on the developer forum everyday.

Once you have it boldly clear what your goals are, write down a to-do list every single morning of things that you need to do/things that you want to accomplish. Think of that to-do list as a game, where you get more points after each time you check off a to-do task. The to-do list is meant for you to imagine smaller-stepping stones that you need to climb up and accomplish everyday to reach your goals.

Conclusion

To conclude this, I can say that this looks easy. Know your goals, write how to achieve them, a simple to-do list. But you will come to it and say “I’ll do it tomorrow,” or “I don’t feel like it, I just had a long day and I want a break.” Breaks are okay to have, sure (though personally I believe breaks are just delaying time to achieve my own goals–but don’t listen to me when I say this and take breaks if you need to), but try and manage how many breaks you have each day.

Keep on your toes.

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#6

Alright for the math problem I can’t really help you there, but for the motivation I can surely provide you some.

Think of what gets you excited all the time when you think of it, this thing can be anything that you might think of, Based on whatever that made you excited when you thought about try to implement that into scripting, this could even give you a good basis on what kind of game you want to design and the flow of it and other important things a game needs, When I watch anime battles I get so hyped up and then I just want to make a whole game about that particular anime, you don’t have to replicate this entirely but if there is something that you like to watch that just gives you that good feeling of confidence and you can do anything then try that, Motivation comes and goes but only you can decide if you want to keep it,
Good luck man, I know you can make an insane game
Cya!

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#7

I think my post might help a little:

People helped out alot and gave tips.

1 Like