GUIDE

Learn game development without a degree

Studios hire for what you can show, not for a diploma. A finished, playable game says more about you than any certificate. The fastest way to learn is to build one: plan it, prototype it, make the characters and the world, and ship it.

Duke Forger teaches exactly that. Every one of the 67 steps explains its words in plain language, shows the step on a sample game, and then has you do it on your own game, with AI help and a check before you move on.

The steps

1. Step 1: Define the game in one paragraph

   Write who you play, what you do, what you want and why it is interesting. This paragraph is the compass every later decision is checked against.

2. Step 5: Write the game's rules as observable behavior

   Movement, combat, health, enemies, objectives, progression and death, each written as something you can test. This list becomes your development checklist.

3. Step 7: Choose an achievable first mission

   One small area, your character, one weapon, one enemy type, one objective and an exit. A complete loop you can finish before anything gets bigger.

4. Step 15: Build a blockout test level

   A blockout is the level made from plain boxes. You settle room sizes, door widths, jump distances and routes now, while changing them costs nothing.

5. Step 21: Package a standalone build

   Packaging turns the project into a game that runs outside the editor. Working in the editor does not prove the packaged game works, so you do it now and after every milestone.

6. Step 23: Photograph yourself

   Headshot 3 needs only one front photo. For the best likeness, shoot in soft even light with a neutral face: front, both sides and three-quarter, plus full-body front, side and back.

7. Step 34: Start the world in World Partition

   World Partition splits the map into cells and loads only what is near the player. Turn it on from day one, because converting a world later is painful.

8. Step 59: Finish the vertical slice

   One region with final graphics, controls, combat, population, audio and interface working together. Everything later is measured against it.

9. Step 66: Prepare the release

   A Shipping build installed on a different PC, credits with the asset and license list, store page, screenshots, a trailer made in Sequencer, and support details.

Common questions