Young Artist trying to get into game development

[caboos]

To start this off I'm 17 and currently applying to game design colleges. The one im looking at is FingerLakes collage http://www.flcc.edu/costs/index.cfm




When I was young, I always had fascination with creating. The satisfaction and happiness from creating something is a high unmatched by anything else, natural or unnatural.

I started with poetry and writing short stories although you may have noticed my grammar and spelling skills are just awful. I feel this is partially because I never had much of a mechanical mind, such as spelling or grammar. Only a artistic ,feeling driven view. This worry's me about programming, i have tried countless times to learn, it just never sticks like it should. I'm no genius, but people I know that can barely comprehend speech learn it far quicker than I.
I have leaned basic 3d modeling, and have been animating with flash for about 5 years, and using lesser programs before that. I have just starting sketching and physically drawing, i'd say about within the last 4 months, but i have been told my skills have carried over from computer, to paper. In other words, I've been told I'm good.


I guess I'm boring people with back story of my life. Honestly you probably don't care. I'll get right to it. I would like some help. Is there any artistic sides of game design i could do right now without much knowledge of programming, beside concept art.
i guess what I'm asking is how could i implement all the skills i have uptained to game design right now.


I would also like to know if anyone else who thinks like me has learned how to program and how they did it.
im not looking for a short cut, i understand in this case there are none. I need to sit down and just learn it. To many people now a days expect shortcuts. I just need a alternate method. A different way to learn it.

It's 1:12 am here now, and i woke up at 6:00am this morning and need to wake up at 6:00am again today so im tired so excuse how badly written this is.

[Kamazar]

I kinda know how you feel. I started some simple programming a few years back when I was 11-12, but it was Python instead of Objective-C. Python is a dream to code in. It's simple, to the point, and very elegant. I didn't really have a purpose to learn it besides doing it just for the hell of it, so I quit after chapter 5 in my book. Last year, I checked out a book on the language at Barnes & Noble... I almost dropped it out of sheer fear. I've always been better at concepts, designs, and ideas. Kinda mediocre artisticly, but I can get by :p I guess it's worth pointing out to you GameSalad. It's basically a drag-and-drop interface where you put together the building blocks of programming. Currently, it's still in beta, but it'll be out in less than two months. Plenty of time to start getting to know the UI and build your game. I will admit, nothing'll ever beat pure code, but for some people, it plenty, and it is pretty powerful. Here's a link (http://www.gamesalad.com). Check out the forums and the game section to see what it can do.

[MikaMobile]

Hi Caboos, this is Noah at Mika Mobile. Your question is kinda hard to answer. Your best chance for working in games is probably to focus on your strengths and work on your art skills - whether its character art, environment art, or whatever. Games are usually made by teams of specialists. It always helps to have some understanding of other disciplines, and for that I'd recommend learning some code, or modding an existing game to get used to the kinds of problem solving that goes into all facets of game development, but spreading yourself too thin is a recipe for unemployment (I've seen it enough times anyway).

If your goal is to become a one-man-show that can design, write code, draw, model, animate, do graphic design, etc... well, that will take a while! I've definitely met a few generalists in my day (I'd consider myself one) but they usually start off focused in one area or another, and branch out from there. I was a character animator for years before I learned to write code as well (and I'm still a bit of a novice in that regard).

[caboos]

Thanks for your replies, one thing i would like to note is i have a PC, although im saving up for mac book pro, so gameSalid is a bit out of the question right now.



And thanks for the advise I should probably stick with my strengths. One thing I need to know is how to present myself, say if I applied for a job for a small developer.
also what I should start with as far as development goes.

[atommo]

Do you have your portfolio online Caboos?
That's a definite start :)
Plus, I'd like to see it :)

[caboos]

I don't have one currently, i have a shit load of stuff online but no full port folio i could put one together tomorrow after work. although It may take a while to gather all my work. But thank you thats is a good idea to start at. if you would like i can pm or just post it here if you would like to see it tomorrow.

[CommanderData]

I don't have one currently, i have a shit load of stuff online but no full port folio i could put one together tomorrow after work. although It may take a while to gather all my work. But thank you thats is a good idea to start at. if you would like i can pm or just post it here if you would like to see it tomorrow.

Go ahead and post something! And over the coming weeks start a website with a more well rounded portfolio of your work. That's the only way we'll be able to see if you are good enough or have the right style for a particular job. ;)