"Give a man a game and he'll be happy for a day. Teach a man to develop games and he'll never be happy again."

"you just talk about video games all day and everyone is into it." - Actually described my version of heaven.

I have worked professionally in game programming for 12 years and all your advice is spot on. My favorite part is that I am always learning something new for every game. The knowledge keeps building and you constantly find yourself doing things you never imagined you could. It keeps you hungry and excited for the next game.

Imagine learning how to be a doctor by trial and error...

The answer in my mind is always a yes. But the main point is do you have reasonable expectations rather than delusions of grandeur.

I've been in non-game development for nearly 2 decades, and I would agree that non-game development is generally easier. There are some exceptions around some very complex things, but generally I feel like that's true.

Thanks for this. I am currently developing my first mobile game, and some of your tutorials have really helped. A change of career in on my mind, but a big step for a 43 year old. Very motivating talk :)

Thanks Jason, such an inspiring to see you sharing and making the game. I'm a newbie in game developer picking up my forgotten dream back in College day, hopefully it will lead somewhere :-)

Love your content! I've started my career in accounting (about 5 years) now and know that this isn't the profession for me. Someone tipped me about game designer or game programmer and looked a bit into it. The way you describe your job sounds almost like a dream to me! Still not sure about what path to chose, but will start with some programming first. Again, keep up the great content :D

I must say sir. You give me the most hope in my learning. I'm going to school for game design now and am wanting to take those skills and transition them into game dev. I feel I will get a better understanding of how the game should be made or created and this will help me in my full creation of a game in it's entirety.

This is so awesome to hear. Lots of people are quite discouraging about trying to work in the industry but it's great to hear some optimism from someone with your kind of experience, I'm optimistic about employment too. Glad that gaming isn't a niche anymore :)

Wow. You actually answered so many of my questions. 1. Going to work excited for the first time doing game development. Nearly all of my jobs have been a drag to endure and I'd only stick it out for the money. 2. I was wondering about remote work as a game development, but you answered that just in time towards the end of the video. 3. Layoffs. I had no idea devs were geney the ones who did not get laid off as often as the other positions. Lots of good stuff here. I been learning some basic Data Analytics stuff lately but only for increase in pay. I could really care less. And before that, I tried regular development, but just felt something else was missing. And I avoided game dev because I've always heard about short term project-based work being the norm and I wanted something more stable. So here I am looking at game dev. I'm excited.

Love the videos Jason. Keep up the good work! I myself am studying from home trying to get good enough to start applying for jobs in game development. :)

I expected this video to be explaining how difficult it is, but I really appreciated the encouragement.

Dude ty so much you are awesome i will follow your videos from now on

Just wanted to drop a general comment that I really enjoy your channel and frequently check to see if you've made a new video every other night. For the past few weeks during WFH I've been watching KZfaq in bed while doing some coding in Godot while listening to channels like yours. I've learned about ECS, Rust, watched lots of videos on/from indie game devs and just find the topic fascinating. Thanks for doing your channel and please keep it up. Love, random programmer guy on the internet (Seattle, WA). Oh yea, concur with your assessment on "enterprise development" which is my day job versus game development. This game dev crap is WAY harder. I spend my days fetching rows from a database and returning JSON lol. From that to vector math, radians, trig and geometry math, WHAAAT. In closing, really love hearing any "insider" details about working at game studios, I played Vanguard and actually wished it could have gotten the love it needed so it was cool hearing you worked on that.

Really good tips and food for thought. You're awesome!

I tried to get in the industry since I was 18 starting as a 3D designer. I got a bachelor in digital 3d design and continued with a masters degree in computer science to round off my profile and maximize my "employability" if you catch my drift. I tried to soak in as much knowledge and diverse skills as possible while simultaneously working on a portfolio. My personality kind of revolved around being a guy who wants to be a developer and part of the industry. I'm 28 now and worked for a "edutainment" VR Startup kind of doing what I wanted to do, but I never really felt good enough to actually work on titles I enjoyed playing. Looking back on all of this I don't think this career is worth the trouble anymore. If you have any doubts about this path, please don't waste your time in front of a computer for 12hours+ and don't let corporations control your self-esteem. Passion gets you a long way but it can be dangerous for you- companies know how to exploit very very well.

Great videos man. Plz do a video on how to detect collision when the scale of the gameObject constantly gets changed. Plz do it soon.

Thanks for the uplifting video! I've often thought of doing game development but the couple of times I've tried has been pretty difficult for me. Time to try again I think! I do like using the unity engine though.

I always like your video! I always learn from you. someday, I really want to be like you who are super professional and cool when you are taking and coding at the same time in these videos. thank you from Japan :)

Trying to move from pipeline in animation to game development this was nice to hear.

Glad to hear remote work has been on the rise in game dev. That's been my biggest hurdle over the years. Even more so since I've been working remote for the past 3 years now and really enjoy it

Awesome video man. Just one thing game programming is a lot easier than most programming/engineering jobs out there unless you are a programmer on the core engine. But in general making games is easier than writing "enterprise" applications, especially in the case where there is already a mature game engine involved.

Just found you from your video about why you switched to Unity, and now, I think I'm going to go binge watching your channel now. I had written off game development as an industry that's over competitive and filled with jobs that don't value maintainable or reusable code. But maybe I'm wrong.

its a "weird F&*Ing ugly form, who cares?" lol this is totally what people think when I tell them about projects I'm working on for my day job.

3:48 especially when you're starting out, I think it's important to realize you probably aren't going to be working on your dream game or with your dream company. There's also a chance you'll never get there, but I feel like it's important to find the joy and find the fun in what you DO work in. Like if you play a lot of RPG's in your personal time but you only ever make racing games at your job, that doesn't mean you still can't enjoy it and enjoy figuring out what makes a racing game fun.

Hey! Thanks for your videos, just found your channel and I've been having a lot of fun learning from you how the gaming industry works. I have a question for you, so I have a msc in computer science and I've been working for a few years on one of the big enterprise companies out there, and the idea of working as a game developer has been coming up in my head, bc, idk, it sounds like a much more fun job to do than the kind of programming I do in my current job. So how hard it is for me pick up a pace and get a position as a game developer (around Toronto area likely if you know about that area specifically)? I never created code for games in general, but I've been learning the basics on unity on my spare time recently. Of course I have that weird voice in my head saying chances are high that I'll get paid less compared to what I do now, so I was also wondering if you're still planning on making that video about salaries in the gaming industry. Thanks again for the videos, very informative!

Great video! I have been programming for a long time! People think of getting into programming, but there are two skills many people fail to realize they absolutely need to have - critical thinking and problem solving skills! People give up at programming because of the lack of those two skills.

That's a pretty good insight on things.

Thank you for this amazing video!

Don't be the guy digging for gold, be the guy selling shovels to those trying to dig for gold.

thanks man! great stuff

you just helped me with a school project, your a legend

Few days ago I started Introduction to Computer Science CS50's, now I am solving tasks of Week 3. It is not easy, but I am doing it and moving to a dream of making games. Lets go everyone on similar path!

Thank you. This was inspiring

Good stuff. Thanks.

Can you make a tutorial for a "advanced" save/load system? I mean the actual file format itself doesn't really matter for the topic (it doesn't even matter if a file or database is used), but I mean to show how to integrate the system into a RPG game and keep the code clean. For example let's say you have a RPG the player has some variables, stat values, status effect information (like remaining duration), quest progress (let's keep it simple and say every quest is just an id with a int progress value) etc and all these things have to be saved/loaded, what's a good/clean way to integrate this? My current idea was to make additional "data" classes for all these things for example CharacterData and then the SaveSystem would get a reference of the actual character object, create a new CharacterData class fill the needed values of the data class from the actual character object and then serialize the data class to a file (json, xml, doesn't matter). But the main "problem" is how to reload the value, sure the LoadSystem would reload the file and get the CharacterData, but then you have to create the actual Character object and set all the values from the loaded CharacterData. I could just pass the whole CharacterData in the constructor of the Character object, but the CharacterData contains other "Data" classes for example "QuestData" but the Character needs actual Quest objects and not QuestData objects. So if I pass the CharacterData in the constructor of the Character then the Character itself would have to turn the QuestData into an actual Quest object, etc and that feels weird. It's kinda hard to explain but I hope you understand what I mean. So it would be awesome if you could make a video about this topic.

The first time I've heard and type in a script to in-game was /scriptrePopme() from that day I'm curious to know, how the game works from the inside, thanks for your great advice, I'm looking forward for the future contents, great video.

Ok I’m buying the course I’m convinced

i have been making games for last 14 years...you points are so true.

Once or twice I though about switching to game programing, but was highly discouraged by one thing: game development business leeches on the passion you mentioned. I've only seen considerably worse pay for frequent crunching that ended with burnouts. The other side of the coin was unclear future of own ventures. The dream of making a game makes so many people unhappy and the few and far successes only hype it. Kudos to you that you were able to make a stable career out of it - "beware of an old men in profession where people usually burnout fast" 😂

I'm currently working in HVAC but I'm considering going back to college for game development. Im 32 and I don't know if this would be a good step for me but I also don't want to die working in the field...my only experience with this comes down to how I love games and during the early years of MapleStory I took some source files and started to mess around with some of the npc scripts and messing with some SQL files and port forwarding.. I'm not good at any of this I would solve simple things like a buggy npc or a map that would cause DC, I even started to fix maps that had portals that wouldn't work or you would fall straight through. The idea of fixing things in the game was more fun then actually playing the game. I took random codes I would find and combine them to make custom npc's and learned when debugging what I would do wrong and sometimes I would be able to fix it other times I would scratch my head and dump the files and go back to my copied files from when everything was working and try to head down a diff path to make it work .

Hey Jason. Insightful video as always. I gotta ask though... What's with the goofy images you put of yourself as the thumbnails for the video? You're always using an image when you're in the middle of blinking and also making a vowel sound. This has gotta be purposeful! I love it.

Thank you for the very useful video

Thank you

I've always loved games and CS in general, but as a hobby, and recently I decided to learn the iOS dev to switch my career (I’m a medical doctor). Now, after completing each project in my course, I create 1 game for rest and entertainment. After this video, I don't want to make those pauses between games. What have you done to me, Jason ?! 😭❤️

Honestly, game development is great. I just wish I could get in there professionally... I've been making odd ball things because that's what I am. And if I can find someplace that likes that, it would be great! Till them I'm just going to do what I do, try to kick out a project that's killing me. And finally play with some new stuff.

To the point of your 3 hour tutorial. I was having issues with my build settings actually saving the scenes, although I'm saving the project before I close the build settings menu. Perhaps youre covering that in your next update on that tutorial?

White hairs in your beard increase your respect in my heart & Thanks for your Videos

Thanks

You are my inspiration, I added your name in credit of game

Im currently at a stage where I have to decide on the course I want to take in a polytechnic(smth like a college). Stuck between Game design and programming. I have no experience in any of the two fields so I have no idea if I will like any of them. Definitely interested though

thanks

It's so hard to think about what type of development I want to get into. I'm in college for computer science, but niching down (not setting anything in stone, just on a personal interest level) is difficult. Pretty much just trying out every kind I can think of

U talked about non gamer developer is a lot easy and I agree with u, i am Android Developer and agree 100% with that

Right now all I really do programming wise is game development, I'm not even in high school yet though and am wondering if I should do something else in programming (my dad works in python for the government idrk, but it took a while to start making good money so maybe I want another job instead like engineering) or some kind of engineering. I want to stick with game development but my dad said anyone who can program is going to want to make games because that's the most fun job in programming. Because of this he said it could be hard to get into a company and there may be a lot of competition. I just wanted to know your thoughts, Thanks!

1. Job Stability 2. Fun - you working on Games 3. Similar interest community 4. Share your games 5. Easy to learn 6. Work-Life Harmony 7. Work Remotely

Currently in a school for full stack web dev but not really loving it lol I have always been more interested in the game side since I was a kid. I really want to pursue this dream and leave school honestly. I'm unsure on what path to take but am greatful for you giving us this insight thank you. Also subscribing :)

Interesting. I've heard somewhere that people who work in the field of their passion will stop do it as a hobby. I guess it is not true for everyone. Good to hear.

I have a question @Jason Weimann. I have a dream about a particular open-world, dark fantasy game that I want to create. Do you think that will be possible working for a company you think? I'm probably thinking of working primarily as a level designer.

I really wanna try it

The lamp in the background, where can one buy one ? :)

Hi Jason. Can you please do a video on Asset bundles that has a occlusion culling data. Cause when bundles(many static game objects) are re spawns OC cant apply to them , since they was deleted and spawned again. So its ether not use bundles and do 2d games) or don't use occlusion culling and lose performance. Thank you

i want to change careers and ive been trying relaly hard to get a portfolio that im proud to show. this video makes me excited cuz i want a job i can be excited about

Is there a way to related a design pattern with a game genre? Like this pattern is good for this type of game! Or this pattern is good to implement this part of the game (“inventory”) etc .

Ur videos are really helpful Jason.my question - I'm turning 33 soon. Is it too late to change careers if u dont have experience and go into game development. I found ur angry bird game tutorial v helpful and easy to follow.

I need your help currently I am making a board game in unity it's my first game and I am using ray cast to detect click on game object even when the condition for ray cast is true it is not detecting the objects all the time efficiently sometimes it detects the object sometime the ray passes through that object and does not detect it.Please help me out!

Great video! This seemed focused on doing game dev as a career, what are your thoughts about game dev as a hobby when you have a normal business SE job? Would love to see/hear your thoughts about this(video?).

One of our company junior developers which I hired quit Unity3d (non game programming) and joinied web development . He asked my about the advice i said keep working on unity as side project.

Hi Jason, I started 4 months ago because I wanted to develop a VR app for physiotherapy (that's my day job). With the lock down I've had a lot of time on my hands and am nearing the end of my first minigame and I have to say, I'm really loving it, first and foremost the programming side of things, for the art I just use assets. I'm not sure if this will ever become a job, at the age of forty I don't know how easy that would be, but I'm sure it's a great skill to have, and as I progress I have this awesome feeling that I'm starting to understand other people's code without having to go completely nuts. Thank you for your videos, some of them have been particularly useful, such as the ones regarding Singletons, Interfaces, and Abstract classes. Ciao from Italy!

Yes

I would want to see a video on what to expect on salaries in the industry based on location in your experience. Are they really that much lower than other software engineer salaries? I'm currently getting a CS degree and seriously considering game development but have heard horror stories about salary and bad job security.

Well, Thank you, really much appreciation, you are doing a great job here and kinda pushing me to be what i really want, but like I'm afraid of it, like what if i don't succeed ...

I’m leaning towards going to school for designing rather than programming because of my lifelong struggle with math. Is my gigantic lack of mathematical skills something that would stop me from being able to program/code?

do i get enough money and do i have to word more hours in game development compared to other developers please reply someone it is very important for me because i am in the desiding phase and i dont have much time for it

Jason, I have some advice for your KZfaq Channel, specifically about organizing your playlist.

I had an education as a systemdeveloper in Sweden and i tried it through an intership, i didn't like it at all and felt my soul was being crushed everytime, could be because it was a small company but that is the reason that i am testing gaming development now, Thank you for the video much appretiated!

I work in healthcare as a lab scientist but i just started learning C++ coz im fun of playing games and im thinking of making games as my new hobby and i’ll start with that and see where it goes 😜

Hello sir and thank you for the insight! I am currently 29 years old and would like to change careers. So id like to know. From scratch, how much time approximately do i need studying to know enough so i can work professionally. Id be working 2 hours a day. Thank you!!

I hope I can get job in game company this year that would be cool . 😃

I am a first year computer science student in Morocco 🇲🇦 and I am planning to continue my studies in the UK 🇬🇧 and specialize in game development. Is it a good choice or should I just learn at home ?

Would you use Cinemachine for a third person controller?

Hey! I really like games, and I always wanted to become a GameDev. When I first started learning C++, I instantly got to love it. I really love coding, programming, and making games. But I feel like I am too slow at learning :( Like I really have the attidute and I really am trying to get to it, but I think I am learning too slow :( This gives me a really bad feeling about myself, what should I do?

I feel like my biggest issue is that when I need to learn something new I have to find someone else who's done it instead of using what I know to make it work in code. New code is impossible to know without being shown or told how it works. idk if this makes any sense

I always say the last phrase you've said "Can not imagine myself working on something else" but I think it's not about imagining I've made a couple of small games and I've been working on Unity for 4 years and still unable to find a job though 😪 and I think I'm gonna be forced to work on something else for mony

Is it ever too late to get into game developement and how hard is it without a technical background?

I have been working on a game for over 2 years as a hobby. Should I concentrate on finishing this game or look for a job in the industry?

Idk nothing is more demoralizing than trying to be a solo indie that makes games that nobody plays.

Nice camera!

Hi there, I'm very much interested in C++ & gaming industry. While I'm proficient in C++, I have no clue about gaming industry or the prerequisites to do a job as game developer. I'm looking to pursue masters in U.S coming year. If I hope to be a game developer after graduating with M.S degree, is it necessary to graduate in game development specialization or do you suggest something else? Your words of advice are highly valuable. Kindly suggest you to guide me on this, as you have already walked this path and became a game developer yourself. Thank you ☺️

What about crunching and death marches?

I'm in healthcare IT and it's true. It's a completely random mishmash of people. And with regard to being easy I would agree. Anything highly technical is also done as a group on a whiteboard. It's hard to find things in common with people. Many employees are classified as "analysts" and have little to no personal interest in tech, programming, games, etc. It's just a job for them.

Sir I have already my hunger to learn game development and told my problem you told to mail you sometime back but still no reply please look into it

Hello Mr. Jason, I am a mechanical engineer, but I've always been interest in programming. Recently I started learning Unity during my free time and I've just published my first mobile game on Google Play. I'd like to have some feedbacks, but as you know it's hard to get visibility. Would you mind if I post the youtube trailer in this comment section? Maybe somebody here will give it a try. Of course it's not a problem if you think it's not appropriate. Thank you anyway for your video content.

Hi can i ask you something ? If i want to be like you what subject to study in university ?

Does it look bad if as a new grad I have no work experience within the past 4 years and I graduated a year ago, but within this past year I've been working full time on well polished personal/open source projects? All my online apps get filtered through HR (I suspect, as I have no professional exp) and it's hard to network now with all the events I was looking forward to being cancelled. Could I use devs I've worked with on open source projects as references?

I heard many times that the only downside in this field is low wage and salary, could you mention this please, or the salary is acceptable ?

I probably could have gotten a game development job a long time ago. But. I have been dealing with something called "imposter's syndrome." That is, I never thought I was good enough; even though on my own KZfaq channel I not only make my own games. But, I make tutorials that teach people how to make games.

Hi Jason, or whoever is reading this. I have a question...when I was a child, around 10 and 11, I got into Scratch, which is essentially a website developed by MIT to get kids into making games. I was generally good at it, winning a local competition at a tech camp which focused a lot on Scratch. I recently got back into coding (I am now 16), and I was wondering if taking on some big projects would be ok for a "beginner" like me? I know C# is a hell of a lot different than Scratch, but Scratch has the same logic skills that normal coding has. For example, I made around 20 scratch games, and I was wondering if an acceptable beginner project could be a 3D roguelite shooter. Its a project I feel very motivated to do and I've gotten somewhat close to getting the movement down. Should I continue with it or start off with a simpler game? Thanks!