Hi all!

 I have more than 10 years of software engineering under my belt (systems programming, web, data, really done a lot) but I never looked for any opportunities in the gaming industry.

For the last few months I've been reading about game design and development and I realized I would like to make a game some day. It's been my main hobby for years, and I'd really like to create something someday.

I have been putting some toy projects in godot together and although I don't struggle with the code, I do find myself lacking direction.

What do I work on next? What should I study next? What steps does a game take to get from idea to production? How can I do art/music for a game when I'm mostly a code person? Are all questions I ask myself.

So, in short: I would like to find a project that can use my technical skills, and can in turn provide me with guidance in the game dev process. 

Nothing necessarily has to come out of it: it may be just a community to bounce ideas off each other. It would be great to have some overlap in game interests: I generally enjoy card games, roguelikes, strategy games, and sometimes fps/tps (slay the spire, balatro, dota, baba is you, are some of my favorite games).

Thank you! 

Your background sounds like it could be a good fit for a project I’m working on. We have an established codebase and development team, so it may be a better match than starting something from scratch.

If you’re interested, feel free to message me on Discord: .solera

hi tfarias

msg me on discord: pixelgoggles

happy to work on something or just chat about game dev, my games are here: https://practicalgamedev.itch.io/

i use godot and would be interested to have a body to bounce ideas off or give feedback

cheers  

Game jams are probably the fastest way to get the direction you're missing. They give you a theme and a deadline, so you have to take one small idea all the way from concept to something playable in a weekend or a week, and you see the whole process in miniature. There are always a few running here: /jams

A lot of jams also let you enter as a team, which is an easy way to pair up with an artist or a musician and see how they work. For art as a code person, simple placeholder shapes go further than you'd think, and Kenney's asset packs (kenney.nl) are all CC0, so you can use them even in a commercial game while you figure out a style. Since you like Slay the Spire and Balatro, a tiny deckbuilder with ten cards and one enemy would be a nice next project, because it's mostly systems and needs very little art. Ten years of engineering will help more than you'd expect once a project gets bigger.

Hi tfarias2 — your post is basically the exact thing I'm looking for, from the other side.

I'm not a developer. I'm a designer with a complete game design doc and no ability to build it. I've got the whole thing specced out — systems, economy, progression, combat, the lot — and what I don't have is someone who can turn it into something playable.

So here's what I'm offering, and it lines up with what you said you want:

**You get:** a real project with direction already decided. No "what do I work on next" — the design doc answers that. You'd be building, not guessing. And you'd get to make the calls on architecture, engine, and how it all fits together, which is the part you're good at.

**I get:** someone technical who can actually ship it.

**On the things you're unsure about:** art and music are solvable — I can handle art direction and find assets, or we find a pixel artist when we need one.

**The game:** top-down pixel pirate game. You captain a ship, sail between islands, fight real-time deck battles. Pokémon-battle pacing — readable, deliberate, damage numbers, ability callouts. The camera zooms in for combat and pulls back out for sailing. Contracts are powers with cooldowns, crew have traits, captains are 200 HP fights, and death is permanent with a score at the end.

Roguelikes are clearly your thing, and this has that DNA — runs, permadeath, a score that means something.

Want me to send you the design doc? Happy to just talk it through first if you'd rather.

you can reach me at rutzlershawn@gmail.com 

looking forward to your answer!

would you be able to help me out with my game?