Thread:InvaderrrZIM/@comment-25529718-20150204235430/@comment-4060139-20150205085938

Hehe. I can't really say much for the creative process behind game design because most of the games I've developed were either pre-existing games assigned to me by my professor (like Chess or Tic-Tac-Toe) or simple games that didn't require much thinking with regards to game mechanics (like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game or a game that just involved pressing buttons).

But I can tell you that game programming is actually really tough! Programming in general can be a real pain sometimes, especially when you have a really well-hidden bug hiding amongst several thousand lines of code.

And there are definitely times when I get stumped on how to go about implementing something. Like, I did the AI for a board game my group implemented in my sophomore year. I knew what algorithm I wanted the AI to use to make the best decision, but I had no idea how I would go about implementing it.

As for what I'm learning as a computer science major... Well, there's programming, obviously. Java and C are the two big languages that every programmer should at least be familiar with. But since I'm computer science and not pure programming or pure game design, I also have to learn a ton of theoretical stuff, and about the computer hardware/other things related to computers that aren't about programming, like networking/internetworking, how operating systems are implemented (we're actually writing one in java lol), etc. Then there's all the math classes you have to take... It's actually not that bad. It's a lot of work, though.

Anyway, being a Game Designer is gonna be tough. But it's also fun and rewarding! I've made a few (very simple!) games myself, and it's such an awesome feeling playing through them when they actually work. Don't let anything I said scare you! Even though I sorta complain about the work all the time, it's totally worth it!