Is game development good to live on?

iDeveloperz

Ok so im getting rather depressed. I got my GCSE's (final exams) next year. Im not doing well in school and I don't specialise in anything. How am I supposed to get a job when i'm 16 when I fail at most things I do. I can't even make a game through gamesalad.

scitunes

hang in there, man! You've got a lot of living in front of you. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do when I grow up (and I'm 31!).

Don't try to be more...

...Just be you.

PPenguin

You don't have to decide what to specialize in until you're halfway through college.. Game development is a fine way to make a living, but iphone development is a different story, since there is so much competition in terms of # of other apps out there.

So just keep studying and don't give up so easily. Years down the road you're going to look back and think to yourself how easy high school material was and how you should have taken advantage of your time back then. So don't let yourself end up regretting your choices!

iDeveloperz

You mean it just gets harder?

scitunes

yup, but you'll get smarter and find something you're good at - trust me, it'll happen.

iDeveloperz

I tried a few things I like. Im not good at them but I can do it more so than people in my school.

Web design, Game development & Graphics. But for me there is no money in any of them.

RH

Why do you need money (I mean, it is nice, but i prefer enjoyment)? I always try to do stuff that I enjoy.

I'm doing architecture at university and that is (generally) a seven year course that apparently ends up with dreadful pay unless you make a name of yourself.

I don't mean to go after something that pays nothing and that you are rubbish at but you enjoy, a balance of the two is good.

JamesZeppelin

Top web designers make a lot of money, top game developers make a lot of money

To say there is no money in any of them is just none sense

Now think about why....

Because they typically work for a large company that spends ton's of money on marketing.
You got to have someone to sell your product to. Just making a product does not make ANY money.

Sure, there are one man teams but they are exceptions for a couple reasons:

1. On top of being good at development they are sharks when it comes to selling themselves.
2. They have been around the block enough to know how things work from experience (Ask Joe what all he has done in his computer career)

My advice - Dont get all whiny about life when your only 16. Take everything in...Learn, Grow!
Slow down and enjoy it and pick something you can make a career out of. Start it after college though. You arent doogie howser... thats some TV, not real life.
I hate those shows where kids are 19 and already are millionaires selling mansions and !@#$%.
They never brag about how there parents gave the a 14million for start up.

......

And also learn how to play guitar! (thats actually the secret to life)

iDeveloperz

Because I need money to afford somewhere to live.

scitunes

i think you just need to get laid

JamesZeppelin

iDeveloperz said:
Because I need money to afford somewhere to live.

Bag some groceries bro - start planning to take on the world in your spare time first
I didnt have a good job until i was 28

scitunes said:
i think you just need to get laid

Thats why i said learn guitar!
Took me around the world... i was broke but it was fun lol

iDeveloperz

@sci tunes: Im 15.

I know the guitar, sort of. I gave it up though. Which is kind of ironic.

nulo

exactly your still just 15.
you shouldn't be having middle life crisis yet.
stop whining and go do something about it. I'm sorry for the harsh words, but you wont get anywhere just complaining.
and hey, don't expect to get everything perfect on the first try.

BarkBarkCo

Not quite irony, but I definitely see a trend forming...

With almost everything I enjoy in my life, I sucked the first ( and second, and third, etc.) time I did it. The point is to not give up. Growth is a product of failure. If we didn't have the capacity to fail, we wouldn't have the capacity to learn/grow.

Just read up on how muscle is built:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_hypertrophy#Microtrauma

scitunes

2nd base, then?

iDeveloperz

If the kids you teach only knew what your outside of school life was like.

giacomopoppi

@iDeveloperz weren't you 12/13 years old? i remember you being a year younger than me...
im nearly 15 now, i'm a genius at computers because i have been using them since i was 5 XD
I'm quite good at school and i have Italian exams (GCSEs) in less than a month!
Last year i was completely lost as you are now:
Went very bad at school, i had NEVER come across a mac, i did not have a girlfriend and i did not recieve 200-500$ a month as i do now thx to GS.
be positive! Time will help

JoshKahane

You have to stop worrying. Honestly, I am 16, nearly finished my first year of A Levels (finished my GCSE's last year) and really your so young! You need not worry about making money now! At least for a couple more years. Sure a small job might be good to get a little money, but you can't expect to be raking it in when you have barely gotten into your main life.

Do you see what I mean? You won't be going into a career for a long while yet (likely anyway) and have soooo much time ahead of you. I am no expert being only slightly older than you, however you must simply persevere. If you can't do very well at something but enjoy it, i.e this, then keep at it, until you do get good. Then perhaps go to college or university and take courses in game design or something similar to your interests.

Anyway, to sum up. Don't worry! Just try your best!

StormyStudio

Go to college, have fun, learn a bit. Study something you know you will enjoy, game design, 3d animation, programming. Web design, HTML 5 or something.

I spent a year at art college, took up smoking and learnt that I loved animation. Then did 3 year course doing hand drawn animation and illustration. Taught myself other program like flash, 3ds max etc. Your obviously a bright super computer literate 15 year old.

Any luck with istax yet? What bits are you stuck on?

And yes take up guitar again. I've been playing for 18 years and still rubbish but love it.

iDeveloperz

iStax is not a game possible to make with game salad due to the camera capabilities. I find this out after I ask for graphics. But I now really hope you can tile scenes in the next few updates of game salad.

With help from a good friend, I decided to focus on web design. Maybe I'll take up iPhone programming when I come 20-22. But because at the moment I make games with game salad as a hobby. I won't be buying another licensee next year because I simply can't afford one. Unless of course they do updates to make unlimited scenes possible and then somehow Istax makes me £150.

BarkBarkCo

iStax is not possible in it's current form...

Maybe there is a gameplay modification that would get you around the GS limitation...No?

iDeveloperz

Maybe. Its just the bigger the scene the more lag it has.

Riffel

iDeveloperz, you're a very lucky person! when I was 16 the only way of programming was in
machine code, gamesalad appeared in my life when I turned 40. but I never gave up, worked
with web and animation in this period.
A big hug from Brazil

quantumsheep

When I was 16, 18, 21 and 24, a guy would appear out of nowhere and shake me yelling "APPRECIATE THIS YOU MORON!!!!"

I've had to go back in time to visit myself at these points just to prevent a paradox

I've posted this before, but think this might help:



QS

Kamazar

iDeveloperz said:
@sci tunes: Im 15.

I know the guitar, sort of. I gave it up though. Which is kind of ironic.

Shouldn't have quit. I'm picking up guitar, getting through the beginning stages trying to get past Green Day's "Time of Your Life", and truth be told, I'm despising it. I can't play half the songs I wanna, barre chords are a *****, I have no idea what I'm doing with the arpeggios, and Caprice... well, no, Caprice's going well, the chord progression for Pachobel's Canon, though, and learning to read sheet music. It's like I'm taking another high school class. I'm still pulling through hoping to finally play "Surrender" by Billy Talent.

I know what you're feeling about that point in life, but honestly, don't worry about it. Eventually, you'll sit down, be doing something, lose track of time working on it, and realize, "huh, I like this". The trick is to get good at it. You can make a very comfortable to extravagant income on anything depending on your talent and skills. It's the overpopulated ones that're tough, though. If you even plan on being, say, a general surgeon, you better be a really good general surgeons to get anywhere. If you're a neurologist, though, it's harder, but you've got a greater chance of success.

iDeveloperz

What radio station do you work for?

debugdesign

You have SO much fun ahead of you, it's awesome...
- GCSE's are achievable as it's just a memory thing just make sure you kick out all friends/
distractions 2/3 weeks before and then write down what you need to learn, every day try and shrink it down to key points & sentences, then shrink it again until you can have a series of cards with one word (or picture) on one side and an explaination on the other. Carry the cards with you every day up to the exam... Do your best.
- college/uni - do something you enjoy and not what you think will get you the most places or pay more as you will only come back to sething you enjoy in the end. Party very hard, travel on the cheap and enjoy the opposite sex (don't take a girlfriend to uni)
- getting laid: Read 'The Game' it's a true story about a pick up artist sub culture. Essentially they are geeks who work out ways to appeal to women... Pick up tips but don't delve and get TOO into it.
- games: start small, challenge yourself to make a game in a week but keep it simple like traffic ninja, doodle jump or red block remover. Once done try releasing it for free as hundreds of people will download it and will increase your confidence. Then try something bigger but plan first in a pad before hitting GS

this is only my opinion but hope it helps

p.s. You have a couple of years of having trouble getting beer and getting into clubs ahead of you. If you do try (which I would never recomend don't go for something strong, but a 4 pack of boddingtons, a bottle of White wine and a pack of teabags and milk (so you don't look so young) and with clubs... Changing a coat with a mate rarely work...

iDeveloperz

@Kamazar Yes Im getting back into the guitar. The chord structure for Pachobel's Canon (Which is an amazing song) is sort of like the chord structure for green days basket case. If my voice wasn't so high I would create a band.

@debugdesign I cant drink beer. I have coeliac disease. So It's just wine when I grow up.

@Tempowebdesign What were you doing with your iPhone near the toilet?

quantumsheep

Being in a band is like game development.

I can't sing, so I got a singer. I can't play drums (very well) so I got a drummer. If I wanted to play live, I'd need another guitarist and bass player...

And that Pachobel, eh? I can't believe he stole the chords structure from a Green Day song. OUTRAGEOUS!!!

QS

quantumsheep

tempowebdesign said:
@iDeveloperz I was taking a shower and listening music. The iPhone was over the towel and I garbed it and the iPhone slipped to the toilet and that's about it!

I think I'd cry

iDeveloperz

I would to.