Questions about starting a carrer on game development.

[Carrera]

That last part about cobol is kind of a lie, like you do still see the remnants of cobols code everywhere but I don't think anybody is looking for it. When I've seen postings specifically mentioning cobol, those jobs are underpaying by a significant margin compared to a junior dev or a full stack developer. This probably doesnt apply to everyone, but where I live in the US, if you want to get a job as a programmer you need to be a "full stack developer" which is a really broad term for knowing some front end and some back end. Most "Full stack" developers arent full stack devs at all. It boils down to knowing multiple languages and learning whatever the rotating flavors are.

A lot of people have different experiences with it but this is generally what employers want. My info might be dated since I haven't payed attention in like 2 years and was never interested in becoming a dev to begin with but this is my understanding

Front end:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript(using nodejs) and experience in mongoDB

Back End:
Python/django, Java, PHP, Go, Ruby, C#

Half of the languages I've listed I don't know but have used. For example, I've never learned php but I have had to look at its documentation and write scripts in it to interact with applications. Other languages are useful, but not practical, and are usually extra requirements for some niche thing. The last job I looked at that fit closer to my skills was a company wanting to write an OS for a plane and looking for low level programmers (low level means languages that are closer to bare metal binary). Every business can use those front end and back languages, only people around enterprises and hobbyists use anything lower than the fullstack languages I listed.

Kind of a lie, BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA

Otay A quick DDG search says otherwise but we'll go with kind of a lie just cause.

Anyway, I posted links to some sites that basically tell you (not the person I'm quoting) which languages are in demand and/or are on their way up. Kind of startling to see C++ getting wheedled out but I THINK it's because of all the "studio" applications (think rpgmaker or even one of the mod making apps like the GECK for fallout) that probably use it. Don't know, it's actually been a while since I've done any real programming. Once I could afford it I started paying other people to do that. AND everything I did know what self taught and researched and borrowed books from the library. I started my business on the back of library books and nudes of friends. I think I'm rambling, Nevermind.

 

[OsamiWorks]

Kind of a lie, BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA

Otay A quick DDG search says otherwise but we'll go with kind of a lie just cause.

Anyway, I posted links to some sites that basically tell you (not the person I'm quoting) which languages are in demand and/or are on their way up. Kind of startling to see C++ getting wheedled out but I THINK it's because of all the "studio" applications (think rpgmaker or even one of the mod making apps like the GECK for fallout) that probably use it. Don't know, it's actually been a while since I've done any real programming. Once I could afford it I started paying other people to do that. AND everything I did know what self taught and researched and borrowed books from the library. I started my business on the back of library books and nudes of friends. I think I'm rambling, Nevermind.

Hey, the reason I recognize cobol in the wild is because I've played with systems that use it and even have a decent amount of reference material on it. I still don't think I'm wrong. Finding a job that will hire you for it is more on recommendation and merits than anything else with that one, and like I said earlier, anything lower than the "fullstack" languages I mentioned is exclusive to hobbyists and people floating around enterprises. COBOL is included in that. The big money jobs with cobol definitely involve a lot of extra skills around systems and hardware that I think you might have glossed over. If you think that a large company with money to throw around for the best talent they can find is going to import a guy with unproven skills from a foreign country then you need a reality check. You don't need to believe me and OP doesn't need to take my advice. I'm not doing as well as you are and I have failed a lot, but I can't comfortably recommend learning that language if he wants to succeed.

 

[Meaning Less]

Kind of startling to see C++ getting wheedled out but I THINK it's because of all the "studio" applications

Rendered game development is among the most resource intensive programming there is, optimization is essential for things to work with decent response time.
Because of that C++ is still number one, Source, Cryengine, Unreal. Especially if you plan to create/edit your own engine which is a more common practice than you might expect.
I bet you most game development companies will expect you to have at least C++ as a base.

But yeah, for web development or other types of software development you don't need to bring the big guns, that's why they tend to move on to more friendly/abstract alternatives instead.

 

[Deleted member 4671389]

Remember that there are Free and Open source alternatives to software to get you going. There's LMMS for Music, Krita for Art, Audacity for audio, Godot and Renpy for game engines. There are also public domain art/assets to use on the web for either sound, music and art.

Hopefully you become a dev that does good by your fans and not another scumbag which the industry already has plenty of

 

[Kaeris]

Kaeris out of curiousity: where do you live? SA?

Honey Select or Koikatsu (or even The Sims or TK17) would be a simple way to create graphics, but it may put off some people. Other people seem to be less bothered with it. But, they do place less of a burden on the rendering PC. Rendering Daz images can take a lot of time and do benefit from a top-end graphics card, which obviously costs money.

In terms of engine, Renpy is the way to go, no doubt about it in my opinion, unless you really want to make an RPG or something more complex, e.g. an actual game rather than a VN.

At least you write proper English and set reasonable goals. 250-300USD should be possible with a reasonably solid game even if it doesn't hit the jackpot.

Yup, in the good old South America, thankfully i live in one of the most "calm" parts of it, but still, believe it or not i saw 2 neighbors being killed before i was 12, somehow things got better after that violence wise.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, yeah i started up a python course to refresh any blanks in my "skills", and it would still be like 6 month's at a minimum before i even dreamed of starting a game, i still know squat about rendering and I'm trying to fit in a Blender tutorial on my day since i saw a lot of comments mentioning that learning Blender would help out in any kind of 3D skills i would prefer down the road.

I actually would love to make an RPG since the games i like the most are of the genre but i realize that it wouldn't be quite wise for a first project (I did make a normal RPG in RPG maker when i was younger but I'll be hones it was quite dogshit i couldn't figure out half the mechanics i needed and i didn't find any good documentation at the time), maybe after i do 3-4 small learning projects in Ren'Py, also my computer is relatively old, I'm still sporting a 970, but i had quite some money saved before my current predicament, and i was already planning on buying a newer GPU regardless at the end of the year, specially if i do find another job in the meantime, so until things are more stable for me to buy it i would go learning blender on the side and training in one of the ways you mentioned.

Since we're in the topic of it, would you or anyone here have the knowledge of how to get started on TK17, it seems like a good option and i have quite literally never heard of it, and googling couldn't find much outside of a Loverslab topic, otherwise I'll just go evolving in the Illusion games since they seem to have the widest array of options for a complete noob.

I'm still trying to improve my English skills, i never actually studied it outside of school classes, i picked it up playing SNES/PS2 games when i was a child, so that's why my punctuation is shit, i just never had the drive to actually take up on it without a proper reason since i never properly wrote much in the language as in stories and such, but i know that's something people find quite frustrating in quite a lot of games that come out of Russia and other countries. Also i know i won't hit jackpot since all the ones who did either were good writers or artists before trying out the dev life, but i believe that with proper effort at some point anyone can make masterpieces (Don't know if I'll reach that point, but if i don't I'm sure it'll be just because i didn't try hard enough), I'm very inspired by Tobyfox the developer of Undertale and Deltarune, he keeps grinding out banger after banger, even people who dislike his genre of games can admit that they're well made.

Remember that there are Free and Open source alternatives to software to get you going. There's LMMS for Music, Krita for Art, Audacity for audio, Godot and Renpy for game engines. There are also public domain art/assets to use on the web for either sound, music and art.

Hopefully you become a dev that does good by your fans and not another scumbag which the industry already has plenty of

I'll look into those software's you mentioned today, thanks a lot , i don't mean to intrude but would it be possible for you to suggest/name some of the public domains you mentioned? I think i would find it if i searched enough but i drew a blank here when i tried, i did find some but it was quite intuitive the navigation in those, maybe I'm just dumb lol.

I hope that one day i have fans ,also i promise to do my very best to never abandon anything i do maybe/eventually start (If i do disappear do know i probably died, since i have severe anxiety to answers any and everything people always tell me), I'll start small to build up skills and then try something "real".

Kind of a lie, BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay A quick DDG search says otherwise but we'll go with kind of a lie just cause.

Anyway, I posted links to some sites that basically tell you (not the person I'm quoting) which languages are in demand and/or are on their way up. Kind of startling to see C++ getting wheedled out but I THINK it's because of all the "studio" applications (think rpgmaker or even one of the mod making apps like the GECK for fallout) that probably use it. Don't know, it's actually been a while since I've done any real programming. Once I could afford it I started paying other people to do that. AND everything I did know what self taught and researched and borrowed books from the library. I started my business on the back of library books and nudes of friends. I think I'm rambling, Nevermind.

I did look up and i don't think that my country has the same demand as the US would have for the COBOL language, maybe i just didn't know how to look it up, but still I'm very thankful for the links, didn't have the change to quite read them yet but from what i could catch a glimpse of i think they'll be quite helpful in formulating a roadmap for myself.

Well i think this answers everything addressed to me, or at least what i perceived as such, as always thanks everyone for all the answers to my retardation. As the time goes on I'm forming a more and more solid plan, i still don't know if it'll pan out, but at least now I'm not walking blindly into the wall. I bought some crash courses on Python and Fullstack here on Udemy from a Dr.Angela Yu, both seem highly rated and liked by most who did them, and they also came out really cheap on a sale they were having this week (converting to USD it comes out less than 14$), don't know if it'll get me going but i doubt they can be harmful to me at my current skill level lol.

 

[Deleted member 4671389]

If you want to use Koikatsu assets then look into the mods for it on Discord for more info and help. There's even a Better Repack for KK and KKS (Koikatsu Sunshine) which should have most of the mods you need to get you going. Using Koikatsu is easy to do once you get the hang of it. Also you can find inspiration in retro games too, I find that modern games in the past 10 years are mostly garbage due to the industry which really needs a revolution to make gaming great and fun again.

If you grab yourself a Raspberry Pi 4 you can easily do some retro game emulation with Lakka OS or Retropie and find some games and systems that will inspire you. There plenty of old games that hold up, even a simple run and gun game like Metal Slug is still a great game to this day. For example I can name a few Neo Geo MVS games like Metal Slug 2, King of FIghters 98, KoF 99, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Shock Troopers 2, Twinkle Star Sprites, Waku Waku 7.

Atomiswave arcade games: Metal Slug 6, Dolphin Blue, The Rumble Fish 1/2, King of Fighters XI

Some Arina from Waku Waku 7

 

[Yngling]

Yup, in the good old South America, thankfully i live in one of the most "calm" parts of it, but still, believe it or not i saw 2 neighbors being killed before i was 12, somehow things got better after that violence wise.

I meant South Africa Another nice place going more and more down the drain...

Still, your English is remarkably good for a South American!

RPG Maker is, in my personal opinion, not bad IF you are really going to use it's capabilities. However several games use it as a way to make a VN more like a game but forget about combat, items, quests etc. For a VN it has many annoying "features" (or lack thereof) which are standard in Ren'py. Like skipping text, rollback, quicksave, autosave etc.

As a result, many people tend to avoid RPGM games.

With regards to graphics, my personal preference would really be Daz (or hand-drawn art), all others are quite sub-par in my opinion, although there are successful games which use other rendering programs.

You can find TK17 here:
https://f95zone.to/threads/the-klub-17-hook5-v7-5-15-tk17-pervokptr.7322/

 

[Kaeris]

If you want to use Koikatsu assets then look into the mods for it on Discord for more info and help. There's even a Better Repack for KK and KKS (Koikatsu Sunshine) which should have most of the mods you need to get you going. Using Koikatsu is easy to do once you get the hang of it. Also you can find inspiration in retro games too, I find that modern games in the past 10 years are mostly garbage due to the industry which really needs a revolution to make gaming great and fun again.

If you grab yourself a Raspberry Pi 4 you can easily do some retro game emulation with Lakka OS or Retropie and find some games and systems that will inspire you. There plenty of old games that hold up, even a simple run and gun game like Metal Slug is still a great game to this day. For example I can name a few Neo Geo MVS games like Metal Slug 2, King of FIghters 98, KoF 99, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Shock Troopers 2, Twinkle Star Sprites, Waku Waku 7.

Atomiswave arcade games: Metal Slug 6, Dolphin Blue, The Rumble Fish 1/2, King of Fighters XI

Some Arina from Waku Waku 7
View attachment 1754980

Could you point me in the direction of that discord? I only recently started using the platform and I'm still quite "illiterate" when it comes to some things, like finding servers lol. Also do you know if the ScrewThisNoise pack or the BetterRepack are better for KK? Not only in this thread but i see people recommending one over the other every now and then, i did play most of the games you mentioned (Though the part with the Raspberry Pi is gibberish to me at this moment lol), and i would love to one day reach the point where i can drawn like that, but i think that would need at least 2 years of daily training. Also i never got into really drawing, i only drew by hand and more as a hobby, do people draw images like that using a drawing tablet if I'm not mistaken, do you think one of the cheaper ones would be good enough to learn? A One by Wacom is a currently rather affordable price here in my country through amazon.

I meant South Africa Another nice place going more and more down the drain...

Still, your English is remarkably good for a South American!

RPG Maker is, in my personal opinion, not bad IF you are really going to use it's capabilities. However several games use it as a way to make a VN more like a game but forget about combat, items, quests etc. For a VN it has many annoying "features" (or lack thereof) which are standard in Ren'py. Like skipping text, rollback, quicksave, autosave etc.

As a result, many people tend to avoid RPGM games.

With regards to graphics, my personal preference would really be Daz (or hand-drawn art), all others are quite sub-par in my opinion, although there are successful games which use other rendering programs.

You can find TK17 here:
https://f95zone.to/threads/the-klub-17-hook5-v7-5-15-tk17-pervokptr.7322/

Yeah if i were to make a game in it, it would focus more on the game part rather than the porn, at least for quite some time, but that's a problem for future me. I do know that some of those features can be implemented by a competent enough dev, Tinkerer added autosave on Peasant's quite some time ago, but that would require way more knowledge about the matter than i currently posses lol. I do plan on making the first "main" game using Daz but since my computer is quite weak i would start up on KK or HS to get the hang of things for a while before trying to move to greener pastures. Although 2 of my favorite games (Ripples and Once in a Lifetime) use HS but i have literally no idea of how to even start up on making models look like them. I'll try to improve my hand drawn art while training the other stuff so maybe I'll be able to do something after a couple of years.

Thanks for all the answers and suggestions.

 

[Yngling]

Yeah if i were to make a game in it, it would focus more on the game part rather than the porn, at least for quite some time, but that's a problem for future me. I do know that some of those features can be implemented by a competent enough dev, Tinkerer added autosave on Peasant's quite some time ago, but that would require way more knowledge about the matter than i currently posses lol. I do plan on making the first "main" game using Daz but since my computer is quite weak i would start up on KK or HS to get the hang of things for a while before trying to move to greener pastures. Although 2 of my favorite games (Ripples and Once in a Lifetime) use HS but i have literally no idea of how to even start up on making models look like them. I'll try to improve my hand drawn art while training the other stuff so maybe I'll be able to do something after a couple of years.

I think the problem with RPGM now has also become a marketing problem: plenty of players will simply not touch anything made in RPGM. Even though I personally see the advantages in some games, in most it's just annoying. As a result I also tend to avoid RPGM games, like I also try to avoid the tag "sandbox" because that often means useless grinding or repeating events... Life is just too short, but that's my opinion. I am perfectly happy with more or less standard Renpy, maybe with a somewhat facelifted menu / interface.

Modelling in HS, KK or TK17 is so simple, anyone can do it and you don't need a monster PC either.

 

[Deleted member 4671389]

Better Repack

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Koikatsu Sunshine Better Repack

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The discord server is linked into their better repack site with an invite.


Through their discord you can find a Koikatsu community that has help and support for Koikatsu games and mods.

As for the

You must be registered to see the links

the base model is $35 dollars but once you do some research or watch a few tutorial videos it makes things easier to understand and use fore Retro game emulation.

You must be registered to see the links

is another good choice to install on your micro SD card for emulation. You can also use LBRY/Odyssey for tutorials on Retropie/Lakka OS as a alternative to Youtube. Even with the Raspberry Pi 4 you can emulate many systems such as Dreamcast and Sega Naomi games such as "Melty Blood". Plenty of good retro JRPG's can be emulated as well.

Micro SD

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Also you can use

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to upload a video of your game even if it does contain explicit sex content, unlike the piece of shit that is YouTube with their censorship.
If you do decide to pick up a SBC for emulation, you can't go wrong with a Raspberry Pi 4 B.


More FOSS to use

Inkscape -good for logos and vector images
GIMP - photo and image manipulation
OBS Studio -screen recording and streaming
Atom - Text editor

public domain/no copyright/ Royalty Free assets:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

- for fonts


If you want to learn, you can copy and use what you want from the Renpy VN "Demon Pie". It's a free game with no copyright, you can use it however you want to learn and modify. For instance there are scripts and coding you can copy from it to use for your game such as the Shop.rpy script, Side Event.rpy script, Room Hub,etc. There's even a cheat mechanic in there you can copy if you want to implement cheat passwords to be used in your Ren'py VN.

You must be registered to see the links

(Public Domain CC0)

 

[Kaeris]

Better Repack

You must be registered to see the links

Koikatsu Sunshine Better Repack

You must be registered to see the links

The discord server is linked into their better repack site with an invite.


Through their discord you can find a Koikatsu community that has help and support for Koikatsu games and mods.

As for the

You must be registered to see the links

the base model is $35 dollars but once you do some research or watch a few tutorial videos it makes things easier to understand and use fore Retro game emulation.

You must be registered to see the links

is another good choice to install on your micro SD card for emulation. You can also use LBRY/Odyssey for tutorials on Retropie/Lakka OS as a alternative to Youtube. Even with the Raspberry Pi 4 you can emulate many systems such as Dreamcast and Sega Naomi games such as "Melty Blood". Plenty of good retro JRPG's can be emulated as well.

Micro SD

You must be registered to see the links

Also you can use

You must be registered to see the links

to upload a video of your game even if it does contain explicit sex content, unlike the piece of shit that is YouTube with their censorship.
If you do decide to pick up a SBC for emulation, you can't go wrong with a Raspberry Pi 4 B.


More FOSS to use

Inkscape -good for logos and vector images
GIMP - photo and image manipulation
OBS Studio -screen recording and streaming
Atom - Text editor

public domain/no copyright/ Royalty Free assets:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

- for fonts


If you want to learn, you can copy and use what you want from the Renpy VN "Demon Pie". It's a free game with no copyright, you can use it however you want to learn and modify. For instance there are scripts and coding you can copy from it to use for your game such as the Shop.rpy script, Side Event.rpy script, Room Hub,etc. There's even a cheat mechanic in there you can copy if you want to implement cheat passwords to be used in your Ren'py VN.

You must be registered to see the links

(Public Domain CC0)

I can't express in words how thankful i am for this comprehensive and well put together answer dig, i really really thank you, i haven't had time for these last days and won't have until the end of the week to properly formulate a roadmap for myself and my learning process since I'm in the middle of 3 selective processes/ interviews for a new job opportunity at the moment (Can't live on hopes and dreams alone sadly), but as soon as i have more time I'll have a through look on everything in there. For the game you mentioned in the end of the post the way to go about modifying it is with Un'ren if i'm not mistaken yes? Or is there another way/better way?

 

[Deleted member 4671389]

I can't express in words how thankful i am for this comprehensive and well put together answer dig, i really really thank you, i haven't had time for these last days and won't have until the end of the week to properly formulate a roadmap for myself and my learning process since I'm in the middle of 3 selective processes/ interviews for a new job opportunity at the moment (Can't live on hopes and dreams alone sadly), but as soon as i have more time I'll have a through look on everything in there. For the game you mentioned in the end of the post the way to go about modifying it is with Un'ren if i'm not mistaken yes? Or is there another way/better way?

The game "Demon Pie' is a Ren'py made VN, that has some dating-sim elements, but the game is under a "Public License (CS0)" so people are free to use it and even copy code and other stuff for it. If you're going the Koikatsu asset's route it can be used as your learning template since the code and everything is free for use and replication. Which is why the Ren'py files are left unlocked and open so others can view and use the code.

Some of the things in there is simplistic Day/Night time cycle, a Item Shop, Player Stats, Cheat Password system, A hub style base for carrying out various game tasks, A music playing script for players to play shuffled playlists, and other things that can help you learn and use for your game.

I also forgot you can use alternatives to Patreon such as Subscribe Star. It's highly not recommended for using Patreon because 1 they collect more from donations and 2 is they pressure dev's to censor their games. And if someone finds out you censored your game it ends up pissing off and putting off potential fans.

Ren'Py Which is popular for VN's can be manipulated a bit for other type of games as well.

You must be registered to see the links

Godot - I haven't used it yet, but I have my eye on this Free and Open-Source game engine

You must be registered to see the links

Good Youtube tutorials on Ren'Py

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There's even a FOSS alternative to Micro$oft Office called LibreOffice which I have used to create PDF's and other Excel type files for games.

You must be registered to see the links

-Think MIcrosoft Office but a free version of it

With the Koikatsu Chara Studio you can get creative and use images and screenshots within it. There are also many mods you can use with it. I will say that character creation with male characters is shallow when compared to female character creation.
Here's an example
And also that's Krita the character is using on his computer.

In the second thumbnail you can see the character is using Ren'py in good detail as you can make out the code if you zoom in on it.
The hackable text editor is "Atom"

You must be registered to see the links

 

[Sieglinnde]

I wouldn't look for a long-term career in this... Since I doubt this will last forever, I would recommend that you have something already secured (a college degree or something) that ensures you won't end up in a bad way if this doesn't work out