Here's how you can kickstart your game design programming journey with the best resources for beginners.

One way i found helpful was to learn and keep revising basics. Whether it's combat, narrative or economy. Always start from basics, gather knowledge from credible sources online or from books, youtube channels, website and listen to game design talks. I like to do a decontructive exercise after picking up a new term. Pick a game, then pick the feature. Deconstruct and redesign that feature from your perspective. This will not only help you build your perspective but, you can also discuss and cross check your system with other designers and tally it yourself too. There is no set in stone metric of good or bad other than basics. They are always key especially with regards to the type of game you design.

According to me the best resources still will be the documentation and forums present in the browser. Try to learn from documentation as it can tell you what not to do while jumping into any kind of project...

The best thing is always to start making a game on your own. Nothing else can teach you better than that. Play other game and analyse them to see how they handle the game design.

Programming is the act of projecting intentions for a computer to automate. Sometimes, those intentions are told to you by a superior, and their meaning is known. But when they are yours, their meaning is not always understood. In the business world, those intentions are easy to identify. This does not happen in the Game or Entertainment world. Intentions in Game Design are elusive, sometimes obscure, and hard to grasp. It is a relatively young field, with much to be understood yet. Unless your game design intentions are well identified, quantified, and documented, learning the basics of programming with an open mind will help you identify mechanics and interactions that will help with your intentions in your game design journey.

Now that you know your intentions with your game project and have mapped the mechanics and resources that you think will satisfy them, the tools you choose must allow you to achieve the desired results. The art-related tools, the audio-related tools, the narrative-related tools, but mainly, the tool that will allow you to deliver your game: The game engine. Is there any mechanic or resource in your game that no engine can accomplish? Then, you'll need to identify if one can be extended to deliver the result, or you'll need to craft one from scratch, which is highly unlikely nowadays. Select the engine using the programming language you're more familiar with, allowing you to produce results for the platform you want to publish.

It is always important to choose the tools that going to be easy to use and understand when starting your path as a games designer or programmer. Unity is the best options for beginners with programming languages such as C# and Javascript. Unreal Engine is more advanced, but it has both C++ and visual scripting so there are options open to you. I personally prefer Unreal Engine over Unity and this because visual scripting is easier than typing lines of code.

Tool selection is linked directly with the scope of the activity that you want to do. Once that you identify the tool that is capable to help you to materialize what you have planned to do, think about the tool survival in the long time. There are few things as terrible as to have to rebuild a whole successful project because the development tool has been dropped. Also is important to be sure that the tool that you select is able to run in the platform where you want to distribute your game or application. Unity is a great environment to start in the game development world, it has both code based and visual scrippting workflows. Unity is powerful and robust to cover a great spectrum of game and application development needs.

Other than Unreal Engine Blueprints within 3DS Max MaxScript, within Houdini you can use code such as Python or VEX (paired with Houdini Engine in UE4/Unity)

There are many tools out there for game development. The game engines themselves (of which there are many), 3d model makers, coding tools, 2d sprite creators, and AI tools help speed up the process. It's best to pick the right tools for the job not just for uniformity, but for ease as well. Changing the tool around mid-build can, and often does, cause incredible delays.

Before learning programming languages it is important to learn the fundamentals of programming. It is also, in my opinion, important to start small, if you have a big game that you want to make, don't. Yet. Start small. Make smaller games and experiences. You will see things you learn in theory start to make sense, you will see why people came up with design patterns because they help make your code more maintainable. Only then should you move to that big 25 hour campaign dream game that you wanted to make.

Je pense qu'il est bien de commencer par des langages de haut niveau tel que le PHP, Java ou le C# afin d’apprendre les différentes notions des langages de programmation comme l'orienté objet, la communication avec des api ou bases de données. Faire des petits projets simples pour prendre en assurance sur les langages, de plus, de nombreux tutoriels sont disponibles pour commencer avec les langages. Une fois à l'aise avec les notions de programmation tu peux te rapprocher vers des langages bas niveau comme le C ou le C++.

Every designer should study programming and technology. This knowledge not only enhances communication with the programming team but also saves time by clarifying what is possible within your tech stack. More often than not, you'll be able to sort things on your own rather than requiring assistance. Learning programming reshapes your approach to problem-solving and solution structuring as well, which helps with the game design process. On top of all that, it broadens your employability, opening up roles from tech design to gameplay scripting and other niche positions.

I think before starting to learn a particular language, is very important to understand programming fundamentals, how everything is created, the usual syntax and what does every structure do. For example, is important to understand what is a data structure (arrays, lists, dictionaries, etc.), a conditional (if/else,switch case, etc.) as a concept before applying it to an specific language. Once you know WHAT you are doing, is easier to use the best command that suits better every need. Finally, once the fundamentals of programming are clear, is very important to start from the beginning, and ascend the learning curve. There are great courses in Youtube, Udemy and other platforms that help to achieve that.

Start by doing some prototype, play with them, improve them. Once you are confident, try to do a complete level. Measure the amount of effort needed to produce that level, multiply per the amount of level you want. Consider working on improved process in order to produce these element faster (see Systemic development). And once you are satisfied with the process, you can start the production until release (or alpha, ..) Think more about your code process than your code itself.

If you are learning programming then small projects are the best way to go. Instead of writing a full 2d platformer, first write a program to make realistic looking jumps between block platforms by a square block character(I say blocks to make you forget spending time on any fancy graphics at first). Write a program to allow your square block to collect other blocks on the screen, a program to make a character fire in the direction of the mouse etc. This way you are writing elements of a game, each in their own small project. When you have perfected various elements you can then move to writing larger games which may incorporate some of those elements.

The best way to start is to create tiny clones of your favorite games! That way you will be inspired till the end & have a clear-cut design to follow! Tons of tutorials can guide you in this direction. Once you learned the very basics, you can start crafting your own games!

Building small projects not only reinforces technical skills but also hones your ability to navigate the complexities of game development. Each project serves as a sandbox for experimenting with mechanics, refining user interfaces, and optimizing performance—crucial elements in crafting compelling player experiences. Moreover, managing and completing projects instills discipline, fostering a methodical approach that scales as you tackle larger, more ambitious game designs.

When building projects it is always important to start with building small game projects in order to get comfortable with the workflow and to also learn how game development works at your own pace. You can develop a game for any genre just as long it is simple and easy to develop to start with, then once you gotten comfortable and know what you are doing, you can then move on to start building bigger projects.

Build small projects that show you can create certain aspects of a game to start with. Platforming? Build an obstacle course. Firearm handling? Build a range and modify free weapons from the Unreal or unity store. Character creation and story? Create some text interaction between characters.

Totally agree! Joining game development communities can be super beneficial, I'd recommend checking out channels on Discord and Reddit; they’re great for mentorship, collaboration, and feedback. Some well-known ones are the "Game Dev League" on Discord and the "r/gamedev" subreddit, these communities keep you updated on trends and tech, Plus, you get to connect with like-minded people who share our passion.

There are many communities all around. Reddit and Discord are two great places to start. Share your ideas, get feedback, highlight errors you've discovered, and help others with their issues.

As other said, Reddit and Discord are the two most popular source at the moment to find people to interact with on this topic. Be nice and it should be fine. Pay attention to the rules and also prefer small community when you start because bigger community are much more moderated and can remove your post if these are not rich of content.

Learning is better when done together. Your weak points can be someone else's strong ones, and vice versa. As you help others, you also help yourself by strengthening your knowledge, improving your confidence, and gaining different perspectives that can become new ideas. There are several communities on the Internet. A simple search can point you to one of your preferences. Check some presented in other answers.

Because of how quickly to gaming industry is developing, it is recommended that you learn some new and more advanced techniques which you can find through online videos, ebooks and even playing the latest games so that you can learn how to create them yourself.

Never stop learning. Technology evolves and always is offering new opportunities to expand our digital influence. Current game engines, specially Unity and Unreal have trascended the game development realm and currently are used to professional simulation training, education, real estate simulations and sales, medicine, car building and movies, to mention just some of their current applications. Learning well the different engines and how to take advantage off their powerful resources, open a broad spectrum of possibilities to build whatever that you can think and plan to create. What matters is the power to be able to create what we want, and it is only achieved with continuos learning and lots of practice.

As I've mentioned, game studies is a relatively new field. We have a good idea of what a Game is, but we still do not know for sure. The researchers are always providing insights, tools, perspectives, understandings, and other new ways to look into games and realize ways to identify what we want or don't want to create. In addition, the technological field is also changing rapidly. New tools and techniques are provided frequently, and designers and game programmers can benefit from those to achieve the desired results.

If you have a target game genre/platform in mind, playing the top 100 games in that genre/platform can help you understand the audience pulse & latest trends! Copy-cat won't help you to stand out from the market competitors, you need to differentiate. Study the game market in-depth, find the market gaps, and try to fill the gap! Ensure your game is a mass entertainer with a unique differentiation!

Every game designer is a 'gamer' first!! Only if you love to play games non-stop and want to sketch/design unique puzzles, fun fantasy levels/worlds, and create immersive/emotional experiences, then only go for game design! Else your design will be boring, disconnected from the audience, and unprofessional - something that no one wants to play/explore! If you choose game design as your forte, play/watch as many Hit games from market competitors as possible. This process can help you scale up your design know-how! Stay foolish, Stay hungry - always!!

One thing I find very helpful in understanding the game design process is studying the game in addition to just playing the game. While playing the game, we might miss some of the details of maybe characters, environment setting, objectives, etc. While studying the game, these details come to spotlight and acting as missing pieces, they complete the puzzle. I personally love to study characters and environment setting more than the game mechanics. The reason is that by understanding the character and the setting, you become more interested in the game, trying to make it better at every step, ultimately excelling the game mechanics.

This may sound very fun and trivial. But can help set foundations that can snowball later in life (even beyond game design to product) Play games Enjoy games Talk to people who also play games you play and understand what they enjoy Understand the mechanics and try to break them.

Always enjoy what you do. Play games. Not just your games, but others as well. Learn from their creations. Learn from their missteps. It'll pay off for you and your team in the long run.