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The Top 10 Resources To Make Your Game Better
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How Can You Make Your Game Better?
If you are dissatisfied with the game that you are making, you should know that there are resources that can prove useful for making your game great again. After all, games have become more and more popular in modern times, which in turn, means that there is more and more interest in making games. As such, there are a lot of resources to make games better that can be found out there, meaning that interested individuals should not hesitate to pass up on the opportunities represented by their existence.
What Are The Top 10 Resources To Make Your Game Better?
If you respond "Yes" to the question "Is your game in rehab?" you should take a serious look at these 10 resources:
For those who are unfamiliar with the name, GDC refers to the Game Developers Conference, which is exactly what it sounds like in that it is an annual gathering of professional game developers. As a result, it is a chance for said individuals to reap the standard benefits of professional conferences, with examples ranging from seeking inspiration to networking with one another. With that said, the GDC is also a chance for interested individuals to learn from the expertise and experience of their counterparts.
Better still, said information is not limited to professional game developers. Instead, those who are seeking to become game developers of various sorts can gain access to much of the same information through the GDC's vault, which has new videos on a regular basis. There are a number of reasons that the GDC vault makes an excellent resource for you if you have hopes of making your game great again. For example, videos are much more digestible than their text-based counterparts, meaning that they are a convenient way for interested individuals to take in a great deal of information within a short period of time. Furthermore, since the videos come from well-known names in the game industry, this means that interested individuals can count on them to provide them with useful information about the latest in best practices. Summed up, the GDC Vault should be helpful to those seeking insight into the minds of professional game developers, which could be applied to their own projects.
With that said, a resource like the GDC's vault has its limitations. For example, it covers a limited range of topics, meaning that interested individuals cannot use it to gain a full understanding of the world of game development. Furthermore, there is a limit on much information that can be found therein, which might not be enough for interested individuals who seek further understanding. Fortunately, there are plenty of other resources about what professional game developers think, with an excellent example being the website called Gamasutra.
In short, Gamasutra is a website that covers a wide range of topics when it comes to game development. For example, it covers the latest news in the field, which should enable interested individuals to keep up with the latest happenings. Furthermore, it hosts blogs by professional game developers, which should prove interesting to those who admire particular figures in the game industry. Finally, Gamasutra contains plenty of other articles containing plenty of other good information, which are bound to be helpful resources to make games better.
With that said, those with a fondness for videos as well as some time to spare should consider checking out Extra Credits, which is a YouTube channel that covers various issues in game design in an accessible manner. As a result, for people who are seeking to learn about game development in a rather relaxed manner should consider following the videos that are released on a regular basis, which should take up no more than a small fraction of their time. If nothing else, these videos should be more than capable of informing them about a number of serious concerns, which in turn, should enable them to address in a manner of their choosing when it comes to their own projects. Besides videos about game design, Extra Credits also covers science fiction as well as historical periods, which can make for interesting introductions to various topics even if they can't be counted upon to provide the full details for reasons of brevity if nothing else.
Accessibility is something that a lot of people overlook. After all, most of us assume that our experiences of the world are the default, meaning that we don't think about how other people's experiences of the world might be different from ours unless we are prompted in some manner. Unfortunately, such an attitude in game design can make a game inaccessible to entire swathes of potential players, thus limiting its overall potential. As a result, keeping accessibility in mind when it comes to game design is not just the right thing to do but also the sensible thing to do.
Fortunately, the Game Accessibility Guidelines offers interested individuals a fair amount of information about how to make their games more accessible to the players that they are hoping to reach. For that matter, it should be mentioned that this information can often prove helpful to other players as well for the simple reason that improved ergonomics tends to be welcomed by all players out there. After all, user experience is a critical consideration when it comes to design, with game design being no exception to this particular rule.
There are a lot of books about game development that can be found out there, which should be able to provide interested individuals with all of the information that they want to know about making their games as good as possible. However, Game Programming Patterns stands out to some extent in that it is a free book that can be found on the Internet, thus making it most useful to people who are interested in its particular topic.
Like its name suggests, Game Programming Patterns is concerned with programming patterns, meaning common solutions to common problems. As a result, it is a useful resource for people who are struggling with a wide range of problems when it comes to programming a game. Something that is particularly true because Game Programming Patterns doesn't just provide a simple to understand explanation for popular patterns but also explains why they are useful for interested individuals. As a result, it can be said that the book can help people understand why particular patterns are popular, which can help them achieve a deeper understanding of game development in addition to teaching them said information in a rote manner.
How a game looks has an important effect on how it is received by the player. As a result, people who are struggling with their games might want to check out Ctrlpaint.com, which is a website run by a freelance concept artist who works for the game industry. Said website contains numerous videos about various aspects of digital art for people who are interested in that particular part of game development, meaning that while it is rather specialized, it can be rather useful for people who are concerned with that specialized part. With that said, the free videos that can be found on Ctrlpaint.com cover a remarkable range of topics, which include but are not limited to making the right use of software, making the right use of hardware, and using references when creating art. Moreover, people who find the free videos useful to them should consider checking out the paid-for videos that are available on the same website, which cover an even wider range of topics.
On a related note, people who are interested in the role of art in game development might want to check out the blog called Seven Camels, which is run by a storyboard artist called Mark Kennedy. Credentials-wise, Kennedy is actually someone more associated with animated movies rather than games, as shown by the fact that he has worked on projects ranging from Tarzan to Frozen. However, there can be no doubt about the fact that his specialty of visual storytelling is of great relevance to people who are seeking to imbue the visuals of their games with particular meanings. As a result, Kennedy's blog posts are packed full of useful information for people who are failing to get the right messages across with their visuals, particularly since he uses real world material to make his blog posts that much more informative and thus that much more useful to interested individuals.
Speaking of storytelling, people who want to imbue their games with meaningful narratives might want to check out a book called The Writer's Journey, which is a screenwriting textbook centered around the idea that successful stories are centered around a number of common narratives as well as a number of common characters. Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Writer's Journey draws a fair amount of influence from The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which is a comparative mythology book by Joseph Campbell about his ideas involving the experiences of the archetypal hero. Said book is rather old by this point in time, but it has influenced a wide range of media creators that include but are not limited to George Lucas, Bob Dylan, and Jim Morrison. As a result, it can be said that The Writer's Journey is in excellent company.
GameMaker Studio is one of the most popular game creation systems that can be found out there. Like its name suggests, it was intended to help people with less programming knowledge to make games of their own, which is why it is so useful for people who are interested in becoming game developers but still lack the expertise and experience to fully strike out on their own. With that said, even the best tools are useless until people know how to use them, which is why something like the GameMaker Community is so useful.
Simply put, the GameMaker Community is the forum for Yo Yo Games, which is responsible for making GameMaker Studio. As a result, it is an excellent place to visit for people who are interested in using GameMaker Studio to make a game of their own but have run into various problems in their endeavor. After all, there are a lot of like-minded individuals who can be found on the forum, which should be able to help interested individuals with their issues, thus making the process that much more manageable for them.
Unity is a game engine that can be used to make both 2D and 3D games on a wide range of platforms. For proof of this, look no further than the list of games that have been made using it, which range from Hearthstone to Pokemon Go and Pillars of Eternity. As a result, it should come as no surprise to learn that there are plenty of people who are interested in using Unity to make their own games as well, particularly since it is so popular that it has a thriving community surrounding it.
Once again, there are a number of reasons why a community such as the Unity forums can help people who want resources to make games better. For example, it is full of like-minded people, meaning that interested individuals can count on getting advice with their problems from people using similar tools for similar problems. Furthermore, it is a great way for interested individuals to associate with like-minded people, which in turn, should help them keep track of what is happening within their particular segment of the world of game development. On top of this, it should be mentioned that spending time with like-minded people can do a great deal to help interested individuals maintain a high level of motivation, which can be much important than it seems on initial consideration. After all, there can be no true success unless people are willing to put in the necessary time and effort, which in turn, is impossible unless they have the strength of will needed to do so.
Categories: Gaming and other topics, LONG articles
