Confession time: I don’t know how to code (ie I’m not a programmer).
But I’ve spent the last 10 years earning my living from making video games.
So if you are sitting wondering how the heck you can make games if you don’t even know programming, don’t stress… there are tons of ways for you to pursue your dream of getting paid to make games without needing a computer science degree.
Three Options for us Non-Programmer Types:
- Make games using visual editors and engines (eg. GameMaker; Play Maker plugin in Unity; Unreal Editor; Construct 2).
- Partner up with programmers and make sure you fill another valuable role (designer, artist, project manager).
- Outsource the programming.
Advice on Learning Programming:
- If you hate programming, don’t learn it. It’s not worth it and you don’t need to.
- If you do enjoy programming and want to learn it then, yes, it will absolutely make your life easier and give you a big advantage when it comes to making your own games (or getting a job in the games industry if that is of interest to you).
- You can absolutely teach yourself to program by following online courses and video tutorials. But most importantly, you’ll get good at programming by diving in and making games and learning as you go.
- Don’t wait until you’ve finished learning programming before making games. Start making games today… and every day.
- It takes months and years, not days and weeks to become highly competent at programming. But as I’ve been hinting at, you don’t need to be highly competent to start making cool games.
- Join relevant forums. If you are working in Unity, then join the Unity forums. If its Unreal, then join those. If you are learning something more fundamental like C++ then check out Stack Overflow and other similar sites.
