Game Developer to Software Engineer
Software Engineering is seen as one of the most creative fields of computer science out there. In Software Engineering you’re able to bring about anything you imagine to a screen. However, software engineering isn’t the only creative form of programming out there. Game Development is also a really creative form of programming. As a game developer turned software engineer I’m going to discuss my experience on becoming a software engineer and also mention my perspective on being a game developer in a software engineering community.
Anything You Imagine Can Be Made
One thing that both software engineering and game development have in common is the ability to bring whatever you imagine to the screen and in front of many. However, with game development the limits of 2 dimensional spaces is removed. With game development anything you can imagine can be built, animated, illustrated, and played.
You Learn The Balance
By starting off as a game developer you learn the balance between styling and functionality. Much like a web application, a game needs a balance between styling and functionality in order to work. For instance, a game that looks good but doesn’t offer much to do wouldn’t be fun to play. Much like how a game that’s filled with tasks to do however looks basic wouldn’t be much fun to play. The same can be said for an application. If the application is really appealing but doesn’t allow users to do much then it won’t be as successful. Same can be said if the application offers a lot but looks bad.
Challenging But fun
Game development is NOT a walk in the park! Game development involves sleepless nights, dedication, and passion. However, for the passionate this pays off in the end when your game gets players. The challenging part of programming games involve complicated and sophisticated systems. By programming these systems you’re building up problem solving skills and patience. These qualities will benefit you tremendously when transferring over to software engineering. Coding systems in web applications are often less arduous than coding systems in video games.
Apart from just building analytical skills game programming can be enjoyable as well. When seeing something you imagined finally come to birth and being able to let others see your imagination as well, developers feel a sense of thrill and excitement.
Building Fun Web Applications
Game developers are use to making games that are FUN to play for users. This transfers over to web applications. Often old software engineers aren’t use to making web applications enjoyable and fun to use for users. A software engineer can be considered successful with a boring working accounting application that doesn’t prioritize the enjoyment. Whereas game developers aim for players to enjoy using their creation so that transfers over to web applications, not only will they be functional but also exciting to use.
By starting off as a game developer you’ll build stronger analytical skills, sense of balance between styling and functionality, patience, and the ability to create fun and enjoyable web applications.
