How can you overcome challenges in online game design courses?

Overcoming challenges in online game design courses requires a combination of effective strategies, dedication, and a proactive mindset. Here are some tips to help you succeed in your online game design courses:

Theoretical education is no longer a standalone subject nowadays, and universities unfortunately can't teach us every single detail while they educate us. It is crucial for individuals to be able to choose online courses precisely tailored for their personal development. While doing so, it would be beneficial for them to be working at a company where they can practically apply this knowledge and education. In today's world, everything is available online and at our fingertips, which facilitates access to knowledge. If you make the right choices, this will always propel you one step forward.

I would suggest making some quick research before starting. Check out what they're offering, who's teaching, and reviews. Ask your friends and community if they tried it. And don't forget to make sure the mentors have suitable experience for you. When you rolled in, aim for real results – you want the course to level up your skills.

I agree but like my favourite quote says Everyone has a plan: until they get punched in the face” – Mike Tyson. On average, only 5-15% of students finish online courses. Because a lot of courses fail to take into consideration milestones real ones. What may seem basic milestones basic concepts most times go over new students heads. And since there is rarely any or no support courses get abandoned. And to make matters worse people think it’s their fault and in truth it’s the course failure to support students.

Pick the right level of course, if you take an advanced one while you are new to the area, it may be too intimidating for you and result in burnout.

Don't overestimate your mental strength like focus, if you think you can handle 5 hours daily just cut it by 20% and go for 4 hours. It will save room for the days when you want to do more than regularly, but also you shouldn't be working on the edge of your resources, it's not healthy. You should develop a passion for learning, your own learning steep curve, and then if you really believe you are ready, you can increase loads. You ask why? Because mental health is the #1 priority :)

Online game design courses require strategy. Flexibility can lead to procrastination. Consider these tips: 1. Space: Establish a distraction-free study zone. Dedicate specific study hours, like a regular class. 2. Timeline: Schedule assignments, quizzes, and projects. Use milestones for motivation. 3. Progress: Monitor your standing. Adapt if lagging. 4. Tasks: Juggling multiple duties? Prioritize and allocate time. 5. Avoid Burnout: Schedule breaks and diversify activities for balance. Ultimately, online courses require discipline. Plan and stay committed to maximizing benefits.

To stay motivated, learn together with a friend. If the course platform has a community forum, changes are good that you can find a learning partner there.

Believe in yourself and remember why you started. See the course as a smart way to reach your goals. Use the tools, join the community, and stay focused. This will help you make the most of the course and keep your excitement alive.

The very best you can do to feel rewarded is either to find a JOB where you will use your skills or to translate them into your own projects/assets.

Staying motivated in online game design courses requires proactive engagement. Break the course down into small, manageable goals and celebrate each success. Seek out feedback and apply lessons to your projects for hands-on experience. Connecting with fellow learners and instructors can also boost engagement; join online communities or forums related to your course. Sharing work and networking with others breaks the isolation and fosters a sense of community. Regularly remind yourself of why you started the course and visualize your end goal. Combining these strategies can help you maintain enthusiasm and commitment throughout your learning journey.

The sooner you get feedback for your work, the better! You get to see your work from a "bird's-eye view" and understand how others interact with it. A game has the intent to be accessible to as many people as possible, so getting feedback from someone else is crucial to understanding game design principles. Not everyone views a game the same way. Gathering different opinions, improvements and reactions can help you learn from your mistakes and refine your game design skills.

Gathering feedback is key in game design. In online courses where peer reviews might be scarce, try: 1. Platforms: Post on sites like itch.io for user reviews. 2. Tools: Use Beta Family for game testing and feedback. 3. Personal Networks: Share games with friends and on social media for diverse insights. 4. Game Jams: Join events like Ludum Dare for feedback from judges and participants. 5. Forums: Engage on gamedev.net or TIGSource for constructive criticism. These avenues help refine your game design skills through continuous feedback.

Playtesting and feedback are absolutely everything. You will never know if your game works unless you ask for feedback. We always believe our ideas are clear, but sometimes they don't quite translate into projects as well as we think. We are biased because we know what we tried to convey. Is a paradox.

Is hard to receive constructive bad feedback - after all games are things we put a lot of love, effort, and dreams into, but never think that they are a personal attack on you. They are not. It is just a thing that you can learn from. Is actually good to have bad feedback. It means there's still room for you to grow - and nobody wants to be stuck.

Don't hesitate to ask others to give you feedback, it works!) You even may ask random people to spend 15 minutes for you reading your idea, document, presentation, etc... Not everyone will give you a positive answer but if at least one will work out, it is worth it :)

Yes to all of the above, and also above all of it is playing other games that have similarities to yours. Even if those similarities are remote or abstract. This is the primary way game designers learn from each other, and it isn’t restricted by physical distance or time. You can get the most insight by watching GDC talks from designers of games you’ve played. And lastly, recognize that you live in an age where technology makes people accessible. If you have burning questions that you just can’t uncover on your own and designer X of game Y has done it, find them on linked in and reach out. If there is one thing all game designers have in common, it’s a willingness jibber-jabber about their own designs.

Learn from everything! Other students, technology, games, news, psychology, everything… Try to communicate with the world actively and translate useful information into your passion <3

The most important advice I can give is to be intentional with your learning and your career. What that means is: to have a goal in mind and plan the steps you need to do to achieve it by doing reverse engineering. Do you want to create your own game? Do you want to join a AAA+ company? Do you want to join an indie game company? Do you want to do it for fun? For sharing knowledge? All of this should impact: - What to learn - When to learn - Where to learn from - How to deliberately transform learning into knowledge (praxis aka building stuff)

One of the best ideas when it comes to getting feedback and playtesting is to set up a communication system with players (devs and non-devs) and ask them to play. If you can witness in real-time, is a lot better so you can perceive the intangible and what is usually not very straightforward to be communicable. If that is not possible, video recordings of players' reactions also help a lot. You want to know what they have to say, but you also want to see what they are actually experiencing. What might help creating this communication system is joining or creating communities (it could be Discord servers, Facebook/Telegram groups) where players and/or devs are present and you can ask for honest feedback.

Be aware, courses are a first step. Showing that you can follow a course / tutorial is good, but you should take your learning and apply it or expand upon it to create truly stand-out portfolio pieces.

One way to care about the course, enough to finish it is adapting the material. Adapt the course material according to your own taste, your own interests and style. That will make you much more invested and more likely to learn and finish.