How do solo devs make an entire game themselves? M - eviltoast

So, the question seems vague but I will elaborate.

I’m a software developer, but I don’t do games; yet I have an urge to try and make something.

It just seems so overwhelming, I know I want to make a game where the main character is a cat and you have to complete missions, but where do you even begin. Where does the art come from? How do you refine your idea, if all you know is you want a cat game? How do you choose an engine? Do you just start with the basics and get a cat walking around and see what comes next? If you can’t hash out the idea then so you have a right to even try and make a game? Is it best to follow tutorials to get used to making games? I feel the answer to that is no as before I become a software developer, tutorial hell was a thing and I realised I needed to make things for me to actually learn.

Sorry for all the questions, this was just a stream of thought.

  • weariedfae@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    A gamedev I know who has a currently running online MMO says:

    "Don’t overthink it. When I learned gamedev I learned how to display something on the screen, I learned how to move things on a screen, how to play sound effects and music, and then rolled it all together to make a simple pong game. If you can make that you can scale up from there. Buy an asset pack off of itch.io for whatever genre you want to make. "

    For context this guy made his engine from scratch.