Main Skills in Game Development

I wrote this post in response to a question somebody asked in the OSSU discord server, and thought it was worth posting here as well.

The big thing to know about game development is that there’s a lot more moving parts compared to regular software development, so there tends to be a lot of different skill sets depending on the kind of game being made, and the scale of the team working on it. Generally speaking though, nobody can do everything, so if you don’t know how to do a specific skill, you can either work with others who do, or find free assets online. Here are some of the roles I can think of:

Programmers: You need to know how to use a game engine (e.g. Unreal, Unity, Godot) and write the code that’s going to make stuff work.
- Engine programmers: Some game dev companies have their own engines, and need people to write code for that stuff too. Indie developers don’t need to worry about this though.
Artists: You need to know how to create the 2d/3d assets that will get imported into the game engine. There’s a bunch of different skills involved in this.
- 2D Artists: You have to know how to use tools like Photoshop or Illustrator in order to make the UI elements, sign posters, etc. If it’s a 2D game, this is where you would make the characters, enemies, trees, whatever. Some games use pixel art, others go for a stylized look, depends on the overall theme. Sometimes assets have to be animated too so the characters can attack or do whatever.
- 3D Modelers: You have to know how to use tools like Blender or Maya to make the 3D models. Depending on the types of assets, this can involve sculpting (e.g. for creating natural looking characters) or hard-surface modeling (e.g. things like guns or environment props). After that, the models have to be textured, (which can involve hand-painting, using textures online, or in the case of big studios, sometimes be a whole separate job). Characters also have to be animated, which can be a whole separate workflow.
Sound: You need to have music and sound effects to set the overall atmosphere.
- Musicians: You have to know how to make music. This stuff is wizardry to me, but somebody has to do it, so ‘nuff said here. I think they use DAW software and a bunch of instrument plugins, but I’m not sure.
- SFX Designers: You have to know how to make the sound effects when the laser gun shoots, or the rocket explodes, or when the player completes a level. This stuff is also wizardry to me, but some people get really good at it. :) I’m guessing they use tools like Audacity.

Depending on the size of the team, you could say that there’s even more, like the project designer, level designers, scripters, voice actors, writers, etc., but you probably get the gist. Again, because there’s just so much to do when making a game, most people don’t learn all of this stuff, and instead focus on one or two things maximum and work with others or find free/paid assets online. Alternatively, it is possible to learn most of this stuff yourself, but it gets very time-consuming and you’re always going to be a jack-of-all-trades as opposed to somebody who knows one or two disciplines very well.