I am currently looking for a new job since my previous position was no longer working out, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stressed and scared about it. I am the sole financial supporter of my family of four so the stakes are high.

What the job search is teaching me is that I want a job I can get excited about, and while I’m still applying to places that check my “basic needs” boxes, the listings that actually get me excited are the ones for game development positions. Considering my experience as a software engineer, it’s not farfetched to think I can switch industries, but I do need to “respec” to show perspective employers that what I lack in direct game development industry experience, I make up for with my other software engineering experience, my creativity, and my willingness to learn.

The timing is sort of fortunate in that November is Github’s Game Off game jam month. I have one month to make a game and if I’m successful, while I won’t be winning prizes, I will have people playing my game. The month deadline is also a good motivator and time box. It’s enough time to where I think I can make something and not so much time that I descend into panic about wasting my time trying to foolishly break into a notoriously over saturated and difficult industry while our savings dry up and I lead my children into a life of poverty.

Well, the stars of misfortune have aligned and I now have a bit of time to make a go of it, so let’s begin! Let’s make a game!

I am prefacing the post title with “somewhat” because really I’m not starting at the very beginning. I’m a software engineer with eight years of experience and whenever I get discouraged, I keep reminding myself of that. Also I took a game development class in college and used Unity to make a tiny game, but it’s been so long I don’t know how much that counts for. I ought to dig up my old game design textbook while I’m at it.

From job listings and the current state of controversy surrounding Unity, I’ve decided to use Unreal Engine to make my game. My idea is 2D so UE5 is not the best choice, but my goal is to make something cool AND to add some experience to my resume for job applications, so this seems a better choice. Additionally, Unreal uses C++ which I have some experience in and could use more, both for game dev and other industries.

I’ve got a basic game concept in mind, now it’s time to start learning and making!