Do you want to make videogames?

[Adam Stone]

If you do, why and what stops you from doing so?

Also...

Would you like to make the big bucks, or would simply having your creation out there for others to experience be payment enough? Would you rather go the more personal route in videogame development, say for instance, Indie, or would you like to make a game for a studio you admire, such as Bioware, Valve, Naughty Dog, Capcom etc etc etc... Or even be a first party dev working on exclusive titles for one of the big three: Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft.

What role would you like to do? Code? Design, Content creation, such as script flow or level design? Or Test, Production, environmental art / concept design etc? Would it matter to you?

Have your desires or interests in creating videogames changed over the years? If so, how and why?

I will share my own thoughts later, for now im really interested in hearing yours.

:-)

[Brad]

Yep. I'd like to code npc ai. I've only not done it because I need other people to do all the other bits

[Robster]

Sorry slightly OT, apologies.

I think if I made games it would ruin it for me. I love the fact games are my chill time and making them would be a chore.

In the same way when I worked with food, the last thing I wanted to do was eat when I got home, I was sick of the sight of food...

[Adrock]

I would love to make games, I'm devoid of any artistic merit so I'd have to be involved in a technical role somewhere. I constantly sit down when playing and think as to how they programmed functions to act as they do.

Considering I finished my degree in Computer Science then went on to become an electrician I think that says enough for my ambition of ever getting into the industry. I did once, however, harbour a real desire to get into the industry as a youngster. My early experiences with office life put me right off though.

If I ever had time and money to be able to do my own thing I'd absolutely love to, but I never kept the coding up so its a distant dream I reckon.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I'd love to, but the last coding i ever did was on my Speccy 128 about 27 yrs ago. I have ideas for games pop into my head now n again. Sometimes i write them down to 'possibly' use in the future.

I have been eyeing up possibly buying a raspberry pi but finding the time & learning to code all over again has kinda made me pensive about going ahead

[Neon Ignition]

I used to find the idea appealing but over the years the reality of such work meant it wasn't for me. Hell, I find level editors dull

[Guts]

If I'd be incredibly wealthy, I'd start my own development studio specializing in roleplaying games. I'd like to design general game concepts (like an RPG with a really dynamic world where your every choice affects how the game plays out), but leave the actual execution and details to professionals.

[briareos_kerensky]

I wanted to, I kinda still want to, I'm...making videogames?
OK, this is confusing even for me
I did my fair share of job inteviews at gaming companies, big and small, but never got hired or refused the job on economic bases. In hindsight, I'm glad I never ended in videogame development: they are an hobby, something I can relax with, starting working on/with them could have been the death of this hobby of mine, or at least, a decreased level of interest toward them.
The idea of submitting my CV to one of the many studios out there still lingers in my mind, and in the spur of the moment, it might happen...but I doubt the studios/developers I like will hire me, and ending up doing something I'm mildly interested in would result in me building up stress and boredom very quickly, thus leading to a poor performance. And probably I'm too old for a job I don't have direct experience in, a year or so go I was turned down for these reasons.
In the past years I've been doing graphics for "real" flight simulators, that I like to refer to as "slightly expensive gaming rigs", and I think that for the 3D part, I'm not that far from game development (though games tend to be more graphic-intensive than the average simulators I work on).

[Dogg Thang]

I dabbled in games briefly in the PS1 era and, being honest, I didn't like what I saw. The way the process was split and the way studios seemed to work (based on a very low sample set, so most other studios could have been awesome) just didn't seem like fun to me.

I would be more interested in getting back to it now in a much smaller capacity - the more indie, very small team thing for iOS or XBL and so on. I'd like to be in on the top-line creative, forming and shaping content. As for what is stopping me, well, nothing really. I'm currently looking into it.

[fuse]

When I was a kid it was absolutely what I wanted to do - from as young as I can remember, I wanted to make games. I had dabbled with BASIC and the like in my own time, but when I actually got to a point in my education where computing came up, it wasn't quite as magical as it was in my head. I'd like to say that it wasn't my fault and that the teaching methods were poor, but I think the reality of coding didn't sit well with how I like to work.

My degree still ended up with a fair bit of a computing slant, and I had a few professors approach me and say that I was decent at it / ask why I wasn't doing CompSci instead, but I think I'd already made up my mind at that point that I wanted a bit more distance between my hobby and my career. I think if I would've done more digging I could've maybe found another approach towards the industry that didn't necessarily involve having to be a programmer, and might've been more suitable for me, but I never did.

[nakamura]

I have loads of cool ideas I would like to see put in games but no ability to make games myself.

[Decider-VT]

Having made a few games at university over the last couple of years, I'd say that I'd love to do so but only on an independent level. Going into the industry at a professional level almost seems like a recipe for eventual disaster these days, with terrible working practices and instability appearing to be commonplace. I'd much prefer to work as part of a tiny team where I'd also have an element of creative input too, as opposed to simply implementing whatever a designer wanted me to do.

Lack of confidence is also a major issue-having just completed my degree at 31, I also feel that I'd be too old to compete with other graduates, or would be at a significant disadvantage when considered against people of the same age, who have accrued years of experience. It seems like a better idea to be more realistic about my prospects and try to seek work in a field relevant to my degree, where I'll be able to have a good work/life balance and use my free time to pursue my own game projects.

[Widegoat]

These are some very interesting insights. My passion for playing video games is huge and while it dramatically outweighs my gaming skills, I have never found that to be off putting. I have always felt like I would love to work in the games industry (whatever that is / means), but never really knew what I could contribute. I also wondered if somehow I was to find myself working on a game, if it would spoil the gaming process somehow.

Anyway as a combination of luck and graciousness would have it - recently I have become involved in the production of a game for Android as part of a six person team. I'm not a programmer on the project (I don't have the skills), but I am a music composer and sound effects designer on it (technically I don't really have the skills for that either - but I'm learning as I go along).

If anything, being involved in this project has enhanced my enjoyment of games even more, although I am playing them slightly less because a lot of my spare time is now taken up working on the game itself. Having always wanted to make games, I now find myself involved in making one - and I'm finding it fantastically rewarding - I count myself lucky to be given the chance.

[wakka]

I would like to work in the games industry in a writing capacity, but have concerns that writing is not really given what I consider to be its due importance, and is seen as an accessory that can be easily pushed/pulled around according to other priorities. Hence it might be more interesting and satisfying to work in a different industry as a writer.

Probably why so many games have a crap story and worse dialogue. However this may be unfounded as I have zero experience of the games industry.

[Decider-VT]

Probably why so many games have a crap story and worse dialogue. However this may be unfounded as I have zero experience of the games industry.

I'd argue that a lot of game designers simply copy tropes that they've learnt from films and television instead of learning how to write properly and have the game follow a coherent and interesting narrative. Seeing Dan Houser's prominent writing credit at the beginning of GTA IV was just cringeworthy, when it seems like he's probably just watched Scarface, Goodfellas and The Sopranos and imitated their style.