No Artistic Talent Or Coding Ability. Anyone else in this boat?
Hey everyone, first post here :)
So I have been wondering this now since I started reading up on game development and how others cope with having no artistic talents + no real deep coding ability.
I am probably the least talented person you will meet. I can't draw both digital and on paper. I also have a really poor memory when it comes to coding and to top it all off I am no good with game design. I love games though and always wanted to make my own. I am using construct 2 with art used from this fantastic website resource (seriously I'd be stuck without it). The game I'm working on is a platformed which I hope to put on the Android store (free) and get people to play and hopefully enjoy what I have made.
How do you deal with not being able to do well at game development both code based and artistic based? I could use the tips and resources on offer :)
You work and learn.
If you are really interested in the subject you will be willing to put in that work and suffer through the hard times in order to reach your goal.
Talent is largely a myth.
Red warrior needs caffeine badly.
Agree with surt. True measure of your desire is the amount of hard work you are willing to invest into learning. In so many cases you can replace "talent" with normal abilities improved by hard-work.
Solano, I understand where you're coming from. If you want help with coding there are a huge number of skilled and able-body software developers that can help with debugging or showing you good resources. There are also a huge number of creative people who can help with creating art and sound that are willing to review things, give suggestions, point you to good resources, etc.
I'm least talented with art but I've been writing software for years. If you want help with software I'm happy to give pointers or review code for you.
Solano, a few years ago I was in the same situation as you are. My first game making experience is with RPGMaker 2003, yeah it was easy to learn but since it doesn't give me what I wanted. So I learn to program my own game. I took programming class during my school days just to learn to code games.
Okay, after a lot of chunk of code written, I stumbled a new challenge, I want my own custom asset for my game so finally, I ended up modeling. So here I am now, a 3D modeler with a novice knowledge of programming.
It took a lot of effort to be who I am now. So my advice is the same other had told you. If you want to do anything you just need to spend some time learning about it.
My advice would be to focus on one thing at a time. I know how to program but wanted to learn to draw. The time im using to learn to draw is taking away from my programming time and trying to do both seems like an impossible task. It seems like im going to eventually have to choose drawing or programming. One or the other not both. Each time I switch gears its causing the other to suffer. That is what my experience has been anyway. People are different you may get lucky.
Yes I agree a bit with Malifer. I know how to program but of course I can't do both at the same time. The most I can do is review the other while doing the best on the other one. So choose your primary skill Salano, find a partner to fill the remaining position.
I would recommend starting with a high level tool like RPG Maker, Tululoo, or Game Maker. Try making something simple using assets from OGA. If you find you enjoy it, then you can delve deeper. If you find it's more work than it's worth, then stop, it doesn't get any easier from there ;)
I have been using Construct 2 at the moment with OGA sprites. I have lost hours in designing a game and really like the "drag and drop" method to Construct 2. I know it will only get me so far but I am loving the game design aspect of putting my ideas into a programming and watching it come to life!
Well just know, we all started in this boat. I'm not a pro at programming, but I still rememer the first thing I made and well... it was terrible. The first "game" I made, was terrible. The second one, was terrible. The four hundreth is.... actually something I'm proud of.
Every artist was as bad as you are now and every programmer was were you are. Just keep doing it, keep learning, never give up, always be looking for new resources, and overall just keep tyring. Every minute you spend working makes you better.