So I’m a Spider, So What?
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Don’t let your future depend on other people, make it depend on yourself.
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I mean that’s what I’m going to college for @00T_Free
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Yes, and you haven’t even started college yet.
As much as I appreciate people trying to be “inspirational” all the time, I also think it gives people the false illusion that everyone can become an overnight success. “If you believe it, you can be it! Rainbows and unicorns!” Yeah, sure, okay. Nice positive message, but… let’s step back into reality.
For at least 99.999% of people, that is not how life works. It’s not a “make it by the age of 18 or else you’re garbage” scenario. Behind most successful people is a several year-long string of complete and utter failures. For some reason, nobody ever wants to talk about that. They just want to focus on “hey look what this person did, they became an overnight sensation!” No mention at all about the 2 years they spent living in their car, or the thousand or so rejected / failed submissions they made beforehand.
As much as I like the intent behind the current “anyone can be anything and do everything!” inspirational nonsense, it’s… honestly, just not even remotely true. You set your expectations too high, you’re usually going to end up disappointed. That’s not to say that you should give up, though. The only surefire way to fail is to give up entirely. Whereas your best bet for success is to keep on trying in spite of your failures.
Millions of people write books, invent products, make video games, etc. every single year, and most years, 99% of everything they make gets zero interest (and makes zero moneys). A lot of people actually go into bankruptcy pursuing things that they’re passionate about. Many of them spend their entire lives making stuff that nobody else ever acknowledges. That is the sad reality. However… flip side of that… every once in a blue moon or so, one of them, after a thousand previous failures… actually succeeds.
It’s a gamble for sure, but so is everything else. DO NOT assume that the world is going to be any kinder in any other field, because it isn’t. You’re worried that you haven’t created a professional level game when you haven’t even started college yet? I’m pretty sure that most PhD doctors never performed any actual surgeries before attending medical school; I’m pretty sure that most lawyers never tried a real court case before entering law school. Et cetera.
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I think it would be slightly worrying if they have before 
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I’m behind though, and I’m literally about to go to college. So while yes, I still can do it technically, I could never become very successful with such a rough start, unless I get lucky like Cawthon or Notch.
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Ikr, I just started learning Norwegian again for the 3rd time because I get discouraged every time, eventually I’ll be confident enough to push through it… I think I’ll learn Norse bokmål this time! (I hope haha)
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Those people aren’t just “lucky”, they failed many times before on their journey, whether it was learning a programming language or taking down game design… nobody is perfect.
Something a lot of game designers skip over when doing all this jazzy stuff is marketing, if you know how to market a game, the chances of your game being a success will sky rocket, this is true for everything… THEN, the more successful games you make, the easier it is to have a game being successful (also a higher chance of being unsuccessful, as many people are reviewing and playing games everyday, which is when game design comes in play).
Even though I run into so many bugs game developing, I’m pursuing my dream as a game developer at a young age (for those who don’t know, I’m 13 with a dream baby!), by doing this I can convince my parents to help me through things, even if they know nothing about it. For example, they’re thinking about putting me in a game design camp at MSU next summer, which would be awesome! But the only reason I got the chance from my parents is because they saw me pursue it, and I’ve never pursued something for as long-term as this (other than golf lol, golf is my second favorite).
If you’re going to college for game design, and you’re way behind… guess what?— That’s even better news, college is another learning path to success, doesn’t matter where you’re at in game development or where someone else is in game development, everyone going into that class will come out with the same skills, unless you pursue, take extra lessons… etc.
Just, don’t screw up your life at a young age, you can’t make up for it when you’re older. If you’re having trouble with finding inspiration, take a 2 week break and watch devlogs on YouTube or scroll through game design tweets. There are endless possibilities for inspiration, you just have to find them.
I know, you’ve read so much, I don’t usually type this much but I’m really convinced you’re on Earth to do better things than just send memes on an off-topic-channel of Destiny.
But I’ll talk some more 
I got into game development by literal chance… I joined a school program called “Business Professionals of America”. Basically, you enter an event and compete with a project and a presentation in front of judges and a live audience (not this year, COVID hit) and you usually go to somewhere special for winning (next year is Disney or something). ANYWAYS, I was going to partake in Business Maths, which was a test, and Financial Literacy… also a test (ikr so fun, but I was into stocks at the time lol). THEN, my BPA counselor asked me if I would do game development with this kid, since you have to have a team of 2-4 and the other game design team from our school had 4, I REALLY didn’t want to… but me being introverted (lol), I said yes.
I definitely don’t regret this choice, even if it was me being an introvert, it was 100% worth it and changed my life. I don’t care if I become the WORST game developer in the world, at least I made non-game developers smile.
Game development is by far the most beautiful art out there, with the most artistic skills included. Think about it… Art, math, audio, planning, writing… it’s so much more complex than anything else, the best part being you an make it come to life, not only that… but you can control it too, it’s the best feeling in the entire world, it’ll always be on my highlight reel of best feelings.
Moral of the stor(ies)y, never give up… nothing is easy, literally nothing. I’m freaking 13 and I’m giving advice to someone older than me, so I don’t expect you to listen to me whatsoever.
Me 10 paragraphs later: “That should do the job!”
@TGW 100 paragraphs later: “I win.”
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I’m not going to make another game in the near future, it’s my favorite hobby but every time I complete a game, all the hate ends every game in depressing episodes.
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What about Till we have Faces? That’s one of my favorite games on flowlab, I loved the story, artwork and eventually learned from the programming.
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I think you’re alone on that unfortunately
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… I mean I liked it
Maybe you’re focusing too much on the “hate”, just try to make games for yourself to have fun, you have people like dino to encourage you.
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1 is better than nothing, right?
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Yeah, I wrote 10 freaking paragraphs just trying to sum the moral of the story lol
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@meburningslime
If it’s a hobby, you don’t have to delve into it. Have it be a side project that you work on an hour or so a day
You don’t have a computer? So what? It’s the idea that makes money. It’s the idea that makes a game fun. Write down your ideas on paper. Develop them. Make the game on paper, then on screen. Have a notebook? Thats better than the best computer.
Look, Depression is part of life’s mind games. There’s no way around it, Especially for people in the creativity business. Your depression stems from the deep fear that you will never succeed. And to your subconscious I say, “bullsh*t.” You’ll never succeed if you never try. But if you keep trying, you’ll eventually succeed.
Now, the prospect of making a game is absolutely terrifying. I get it. Will people like it? What do I want my game to be like? How will I program that mess?
But one of life’s greatest lessons that too few people learn is: take your time. You have it, after all. Why not use it to the fullest?
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Your “hate” that you get seems to be stemming from your own mind. Have you showed your friends and family these games? What have they said?
Also, the response to your struggles from this community practically screams “Stay!” We want you around. Ever wonder why? Then read this post again, lol. We appreciate the work you’ve done here, and want to see more of it.
If I haven’t convinced you, then from a completely objective standpoint, I can say that your games are, indeed, games, and fun ones at that. They have interesting mechanics, intriguing ideas, and unexplored worlds. The problem, and the solution. Your games have these. Sure, they could be improved upon in some way or another, but every game can, whether it’s Mario Galaxy, COD, or Tetris.
But I’m not interested in those big names. Those worlds have already been picked apart and explored. They are known conclusions to a story already told. But the stories you could tell? They are new and exciting, and they have the potential to be amazing.
Like, blow your socks off, amazing.
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I’ll tell stories via YouTube, I’m not really needed on this forum. Everyone is better than me, and I have little use other than economically and socially.
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Good luck to you, wherever you go.
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This is my last social outlet, so I’m not leaving entirely but I’m not going to be making games. Too many haters, and I don’t have a computer anyways.
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