Godot Version
4.1
Question
Hello everyone! For the last couple years, I have been building small VR games for Meta’s Horizon Worlds. This was done using their visual coding language and in app 3-D graphics tools. I have found the limitations… Well, limiting, and I would really like to look at making games outside of VR.
I have some very light coding skills in JavaScript and Java (Im a CS student). I also have some skills with 3-D modeling and texturing. I find that is much more comfortable to me than 2D art.
I guess you could say that I’m not starting from zero, but I’m still very much a beginner and I had a few general game dev questions that I’m hoping someone might be willing to answer. They follow in no particular order and in various topics:
1- I’ve been working on a design document that outlines story, arcs, characters, game, mechanics, art, style, etc… I know that some of what I’ve included in the doc will likely change as I start development so I’m just trying to get something down to help direct me. My question is how do you know when you have enough to start developing?
2- My skill set is diverse, but I’m not great at everything. Additionally, there are large holes in that skillet. For example, I can produce some music, but I don’t have a strong understanding of that area and I don’t have a lot of interest in learning right now. Is it common to commission work for assets to fill these gaps or is it common to seek out a collaborator to work on the project with me? If seeking a collaborator to help fill the gaps in my skillset is the correct path forward, when do I know that it’s time to seek those collaborators and how might I do that?
3- The games that have created in VR have to run smoothly so that users do not have a bad experience or get sick from choppy frame rates. We target 72+ fps. I know this is probably a good goal for my game made in Godot, but I’m curious what other performance metrics I should be watching for.
4- Previously, I would take a game idea or concept and flesh it out. Then, I would start by prototyping the core mechanics after I had the mechanics I would start by gray boxing the level design, and then do preliminary play testing to validate my prototype everything went well in those test I would, pivot to finalizing the design elements. I assume that this general structure is still relevant So, soon I plan to start prototyping the game mechanics. To me, I imagine this is a single scene with placeholder art that will allow me to interact with the game mechanics completely. Does this sound right?
I’m excited to get started with Godot! I’m sure I’ll come across other questions in the future and hopefully in time I’ll be able to help answer some as well.
Analysis paralysis. Just do a simple 2D game first by following a tutorial to learn the ins and outs of Godot. Example is this