Why are YOU developing a game?

Maximum honesty, please and feel free to elaborate in the thread.

 

Because there are games that don't exist and that I want to play, and because I love making things move. My aim is to release simple and unique games that earn just enough profit to pay for the tools I bought to create them. If I can make any money beyond that, I would be super excited! Maybe it could be my job someday... or maybe it would lose all of its fun if I went professional. I'll worry about that later, once a career in game development is actually an option.

 

I'm a grumpy 40 years old and just want to get rich now!

 

Because I still have that magnificent feeling I had during the magic era of computing when I would code in Commodore 64 basic. Man those were the days.

To answer in full; I need to develop and work of contracts in order to make my living and keep business from failing.

 

It's mainly a hobby, but I am also going to make some cash off of it by posting it to fgl.com. I'm only a teen and would much rather make some income doing something I love as opposed to flipping burgers and the like

 

As a hobby, because its fun and a massive sense of achievement. Maybe I'll make a little money from it, time will tell. I don't think that its just game developers that just want to make money from their hobby/passion; I know photographers, musicians and artists that all attempt to make a little money from their hobby (and maybe dream of making it big).

 

For me hobby making games, but I use unity at work for educational developments.

I hope to make a good amount off them one day but I doubt I can make more than my day job for the foreseeable future.

 

Because I used to work in the film business and see games as a far more immersive experience in both the playing, but also in the bloody hard creation of them. I see this medium encompassing all of the arts and that is really exciting.

 

Right now, purely for fun- but, if I had the choice I would become a professional game developer in a heartbeat. What do I vote for, then?

 

I used it for 3 years before finding a real day job, which I love. I used to work construction. I have a second job on weekends for another local company that pays very well. Not really doing "games" so much, more like "experiences", and we've developed apps for other companies.

Some of the toys I have to play with are oculus rift, kinect for windows, asus xtion pro sensor, leap motion, 2x sphero ar ball, and a bunch of tablets. Lots of plugins. etc

On my free time I work on kids games.

 

Same as DallonF.

I have very fond memories and feelings of awe back in the day when I'd copy code in magazines and try to get them to work on my Ti99/4a.
I remember writing my own animated title screen for a 'bards Tale' game I wanted to make,..only to crash while saving to my cassette drive and losing it all.


I am an animator by proff, and coding now serves as a hobby and outlet. If I can make a sell-able game, even better.

 

This is the same for me.

I hope I can make a game that would be loved by many people around the world. I hope to become rich from my games but not to buy a Ferrari or mansion but to have more money to put into the development of games and high sales would prove that many people like my game.

But I'd only wan't to have enough money to live on and buy lots of games, software and hardware. Then I'd be very happy

 

For me it's a second source of income that I hope to build to the point where it will replace my primary source of income. Not looking to get rich - just to run my own thing from home and do game development fulltime. Even that seems like a lofty goal though. I guess we'll see how it pans out...

 

I picked "day job", but both that and "hobby" are equally valid as I explicitly and separately do both.

 

I have been wanting to get into Game Development ever since I wrote that first line of code on a Timex Sinclair more than 3 decades ago.

Despite my desire to become a programmer, life had other plans for me, so I ended up making a career in the PC / Video production industry selling, marketing and distributing video production tools and 3D modeling animation software to consumers, professionals and many game developers. Now that I am semi-retired having sold my previous company, I finally get to do what I have been wanting to do all these years

Right now I would consider what I am doing as a hobby but I do intent to make it a full time thing. I do not feel like the term "Job" applies to game development as I am having a blast learning doing it.

 

It's a great hobby. I've been "creating" ideas for games ever since I was just a kid. I got into dev tools around 7th grade, and haven't stopped since. I'd call it a passion at this point. I don't think I'll do full time game dev because it's very risky and very competitive, like most creative fields. I still have fun with what I do though (I'd be lying if the thought of striking a gold mine wasn't part of my motivation, however)

 

I enjoy gaming and I enjoy the idea of making games. I'm kicking myself for not using my network connections in university despite the standing invitations for referrals. Got too darn comfortable in my job.

I want to turn it into a second source of income to the point that it could replace my primary. A salary has a 1 to 1 cost to reproduce payment. A digital product has a much lower cost to me to reproduce. It's expensive enough to live, let alone think about raising a family.

DITTO! I have a bunch of good ideas that are burning in me. Some of them are old ideas redone, others are completely new, and it frustrates me when a game is released that I like -- but it doesn't quite do it well enough.

I tried learning QBASIC as a kid using the only book in the library because I wanted to make my own game. Then I learned HTML and javascript back in the IE 3.x and 4.x days. I modded Microsoft's Monster Truck Madness and made a few racetracks. Unity is where it's at now.

I feel like Dilbert at work. I've been in one trucking software company for 8 years. I like the flexibility and my coworkers, but I need new challenges. The pay isn't competitive and raises are barely above inflation. Been passed over for new projects because it's cheaper to hire a newbie than to replace a 30y/o with 8 years experience. If I could gameify my work (riiight... first dispatcher to match the trucks to the right loads and best trips gets to the next level!!! Guitar Hero for Accountants: Validate the A/R records and driver pay in order and unlock a new soundtrack!) or maybe turn it into some CUDA or graphics programming... that would be cool.

First comes portfolio, with it comes production, then comes experience, and then comes collaboration or employment in a gaming company.

And when doing anything game-creation-related, I lose track of time because I'm enthralled and enjoying it. I'm happier, and my wife likes it when I'm happier... as long as I eat on time and pay attention and take breaks So she wants me to make games too.

 

It doesn't stop being a blast when you get money for it. lol It becomes a dream come true.

I'm lucky to live in a big city where lots of places are using it, not just game studios. Before getting employed I was working on games "I" could achieve with my minuscule budget, but when I got a job they were all interested in augmented reality, motion sensors and lots of 3rd party plugins I never considered prior because they cost a lot of money.

But it turns out specializing in those makes you really valuable and employment easy. The two things I've "specialized" in are kinect/openNI and 2 augmented reality plugins/frameworks. The company I do work for on weekends insisted on paying $45/hr after I charged almost half that. lol I got $500 for 1 long days work.

 

I consider myself a hobbyist because I don't really need the money. Its nice, but I don't need it.

I've been selling stuff on the asset store and it was a good way for me to do game art on the side. I left the games industry because I wanted a change in lifestyle. I can't go back to working 80+ hour weeks but I still enjoy creating art so the asset store is a good outlet for me.

I've been prototyping games and I think I have most of the skills I need to make a game. My weakness is design so I've been doing a lot of reading and testing to get better. Its a slow process but I feel that I'm starting to make progress.

I'm hoping the end result will be a game that is artistically unique but still has solid, engaging game mechanics under the hood. I think this will be the next step on the ladder to being an independent artist.

 

It's my day job. Right now I'm working full time for another company, I like the stability, and I've just emigrated to another country, so there are visa requirements too.

But as my 'hobby', I'm working on my monster truck game.. because I want to be successful in my own right, I want to know what its like to release my passion and years of hard work to the world, and see people enjoying it... and eventually do that on a full time basis.

But ultimately I love it. I was a web/app developer for many years and despised it, as I always wanted to make games instead. I am now, and very grateful for it.

Oh yeah.. I also want an Azimut 48...

 

Reality is I want to make enough to work for myself..........but my laziness makes it more of a hobby lol.

 

I voted for the "I want it to be my job" option. But at the moment, it's just a hobby of mine which I have a great passion for. I work as a programmer by day, but hoping that some day I will be a full-time indie game developer. Of course for that to happen it better be able to pay my bills. Until then, it will remain a hobby.

 

I voted, it is my hobby, because ever since I was a kid, I wanted to make games and now I can with the power of Unity and my CG background... and I want to be a great contributor to show that Unity is an engine that is capable of doing such cutting edge graphics.

 

It's an outlet for creative energy. It could also be a job but I think the games aren't good enough yet to support me financially. Money is a secondary thing though.

 

Because I love games, always have and now it's my job, it's how I earn money.

 

Its fun a i want it to be my Job!

Thats why i took a Bachelor focused on programming and interactive media. And the same reason why i am doing a Master in Games Technology!

 

to conquer the world

 

Oh, thanks for the thread hippo, now I can post an excerpt from what I wanted to post in the "Can it be done"-Thread but didn't.

Anyone here read Tad Williams' Otherland? It's set in relatively near future, where people connect to the internet via brain interfaces that place the consciousness in a computer generated world, and each server if you will, is an own world created by the owner, to the specifications of the owner and without any limits. To add the element of transhumanism, people that die go to live on the internet permanently, governing their words and continuously modifying them. I like that idea a lot. This is what my pet project is for me. It gives me a virtual space where I can relax, do whatever I want, and slowly see it grow and become populated over time. It's not intended to be ever finished, much like for our biker brothers the journey is the destination.

 

Simply because I want it to be my job, I always wanted to create my own game and now I got my life together I finally work on my first game.
I plan to create my games to be free because I want people to enjoy playing games just like I do!

 

At first, I had games, and i loved games and i hadn't Internet. Then I got Internet and started learning everything that concerns the creation of games (and I stopped playing games). Now it's my day job.

 

I was inspired by by the golden years of the Amiga platform which I was a part of for about 10 years... and having pretty much all of the Amiga magazines I read a lot of the cool stories of `software houses`, the likes of Core, Psygnosis, Bitmap Brothers, Team 17 etc... and wanted to be one of those game-developer superheroes. Truth is though I find it a struggle to make games and seem to do better with apps/tools, but I'm trying to learn how to have fun and to create fun which is kind of new territory for me. I've started a lot and not finished a lot but I'm continuing to work on it because someday I would like to be able to just be creative and artistic and `play` at creating stuff all day rather than at a regular day job. I don't need to be rich necessarily, just enough to live comfortably and have enough to enjoy.

 

May I also add that making games in my home is also just as big a passion as being an author?

 

I guess i'm just another wannabe developer.. hardly newer complete any projects. Why is it so hard? All the early mistakes builds up, and when almost done, its nothing but a giant mess

 

I worked in the professional gaming industry for over 20 years and have worked on many games, big and small. I ran my own studio many years ago back in the amiga and PS1 days and developed some big titles with a small team. For the last few years I've been concentrating on animation working on movies, TV shows and advertising which is a lot of fun, but I wanted to work on a game for old times sake. More importantly for me, I wanted to work on something I had full control over again, which is the reason I'm now using Unity in my spare time.

Looking at the poll above, I guess I fit into the hobby answer more than anything else.

 

I'm a hobbyist. There's a certain "buzz" when you see something working in front of you in realtime that only minutes/hours/days before was just in your head. It's the ultimate combination of left brain and right brain activity happening at once. You want to design something that's "fun" which can be a pretty nebulous concept (and right-brained) and you have to implement that using left-brained technical solutions. Game development is like a game itself.

I enjoy all of the elements of building a game. Putting together sound effects and music, designing a world, coming up with gameplay systems, everything. In short, I do it because it's a blast!

 

On the one hand, it's my hobby. I love games, gaming, and the creation of games. If only I could create a game that creates games, which play games with each other...

On the other, it's how I cultivate my programming skills. I can be a lot more experimental with game code than I am with my normal work code, which leads to personal growth. Game Dev makes me a better programmer, but also a better artist as well.

On top of that, though, I'm working on small projects to round out my monthly income. I want a hobby that pays for itself (or, at least one tank of gas a month.) It's always good to be paid for what you do.

 

For me it started as a hobby. Now I make more money than in my day job and it has become my primary business. I now am at getting rich

 

I'm starting to think it's an addiction, for example I can't seem to resist a Ludum Dare and would love to take part in a game jam, but there are none in my area and my addiction has me working and living on a shoestring.

The fun of imagining and creating a little world inside a computer that people can play in and hopefully find fun.

For the making money part I would be happy to be able to survive off the income from my games, who could ask for more an addiction/passion that pays for itself and supports you.

 

One of my reviewers wrote, "it brought me back from my suicidal place." When I started Gigi Games, I thought I was gonna be writing the next angry birds, and it turned out my greatest strength was the uniqueness of my personal stories. So, I use a game engine and the principles of games design (flow, simplicity, motivation, and story) to build apps that change lives.

PS - I'm halfway through my 5 year plan.

Gigi.

 

I'm developing a game because its' always been my childhood dream. Ever since I was given a nintendo64 for my 3rd birthday, I kept telling myself this is what I want to do for both fun and as a job. I love being able to wake up in the morning walk a couple feet to my computer and just code, do texture work, create 3D models, and just generally have fun learning.

Almost everyday I have to deal with my father telling my to get a real job and stop screwing around on the computer. This just pushes me to become better and develop a thick skin. People don't realize that I'm not just playing games, I'm making them. Want to know something interesting? I quit Playing games in whole. I no longer have an interest to sit and just play for hours on end. I can't do it, I just feel lazy and pathetic. I'll just go back on the pc and work.

 

Since the option was not presented. It is an internal compulsion.
I have not been passionate about playing games for at about half my life know. But the creation process keeps me going. Even if I am not "working" on something, I will find something to work on.

 

I want it to be my job! I have known that making games, is what I wanted to do, ever since i was a little kid, Way before we had those classroom discussions about what our ideal dream job was. Life got into my way for awhile, also i really suck at art. Having the full support of my wife, who is going to help me, by being my artist, and being unemployed again, and not looking forward to having a minimum wage job. Made my decision of following my dream an easy choice to make.

 

In my case, I have had this feeling of wanting to make a game since I first I got a computer!
First time ever I saw a gamed called " Claw " I was like WOOOW. Seriously I always thought that game development is impossible.
Even when I tell some people that I am a game developer they don't believe me.
However, I am still new to this game development thing, there is alot to learn !
But the thing that pushed me to do this is how amazing it is to make a game and get some one else to play it. Man it's like you are creating the fun and basically put it infront of some one to experience it
Even though that's how I got my self into this, my only way of getting my friends to join my team was to have a chit chat about money *facepalm*

 

I've wanted to build games from the first time I laid eyes on my Super Nintendo when I was six. I was like, 'this can't be easy...but it's so awesome!'

For my current project, I can be more specific: I felt that The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link did things wrong (like, spam users with key items, have a magic system that makes little sense in context of the game's core conceit, which is the swordfighting mechanic, and has enemies who only adhere to the same mechanic sometimes - like the Red Goriyas and Poes.) So, I decided to roll my own in the same tradition and see if I can, in a short, 30-minute work, create a more enjoyable experience based on the same core mechanic.

So far, I'm about 29 weeks in and getting close to being done.

 

Definitely a hobbyist, although if someday I get good enough I would consider switching it to a career.

I am working on a couple games after finishing a very simple children's game for my son. Have always loved playing games but since I have gotten really into Unity I barely play anything anymore, it has become my new obsession.

I find myself hitting the Asset Store pretty hard lately, mostly to see how other people have implemented solutions which is more informative than any paid training I could ever take.

 

Because I want to make a living doing this and escape the cubicle. I need a creative outlet and the 40 hours a week, sitting at a desk with a headset walking people through troubleshooting their satellite dishes is beyond mundane and frustrates me to no end. It gets me a paycheck; it doesn't mean I see it as productive. I want to live and make art 24/7.... nothing more, nothing less. Whatever allows me to do so is essential to me. Game development is one of the much larger outlets I use.. and it also blends many of the other outlets I have.

 

So I don't die just another guy that worked for a pay cheque every day of his life and with nothing to show when he's on his deathbed waiting patiently for his time to come.

 

I want to change the world Aim high right?

 

Same reason as a lot of other people, enjoyed games a lot as a kid and want to contribute

 

I personally prefer computer games. So I wanted to make the 'Supposedly new and decently good idea game' to potentially make money with and to replace the not too intriguing games that are out there for the Computer FPS genre. I've dabbled my hands in app, web app, and web development, so I thought I'd give game development a try. Luckily Unity existed and progressed greatly ever since I first heard of Unity years ago when I downloaded some Dashboard Unity game. So now I'm gonna try making a mobile game, release it and see what comes of it. If I get a response that motivates me to push further and I will hire some devs to get a team together and hopefully release some even better games. We will then eventually built the 'Super game'. Long shot, yes.
So as of now it's a hobby. But I'm hoping for it to be more in the future.