Hello everyone!

I have been thinking about these questions for quite some time.

For those who have worked in the industry (professionally at a studio), what was your time there like? Was your first year at a studio rocky or not so bad?

For those who haven't worked professionally but have still made games, what was your experience making them?  Did you find it difficult to pick up all of the necessary skills and/or did you work with others?

I have previously asked people here in 'General Discussion' what there first game was, but I never asked what their experiences making those games (or other games) was like.

My first experience with games was when I was young, and I didn't quite understand what I was doing at the time. Now being a game dev student I understand a lot more now, but have still yet to get a proper taste of the industry, so my experiences don't exceed outside of education or my free time hobbyist projects/game jams. Being a games student is quite an interesting experience.  Working with others was (and still is) new to me, so when I had to work as a team it was something I had to rapidly adapt to. All of my projects have been solo-made up until then.

So what have been your experiences working with games? I would love to hear about it.

Thank you for your time and I hope to have a friendly discussion with you all.

-LebbyFoxx

The industry is a nightmarish hellscape. Outside of it, making a game professionally (that probably includes an indie studio with serious intentions) can still be a lot of work. People are ambitious and don't really know or want to avoid crunch. But it can be fun, and rewarding. Just not in the industry. Stay away. Pass the word.

I worked as a software engineer in several other industries before joining game studios. Games as projects are great combinations of technology, working with people in a wide range of disciplines (game design, artists, sound design...) can be fun and educational (or really irritating if they're Steve Jobs wannabes that just expect everyone else to fulfill their creative vision) and I like working on things that turn into products a lot of people use. But it doesn't pay as well as other software jobs, the industry in general is very immature and unprofessional and you have to watch out you don't get screwed over,  and while I've had crunch on other jobs, it's just gratuitous in  games. I've had a much more enjoyable time working on game jobs on a freelance basis and dabbling with my own projects.

I've only made indie games across the last 4-5 years... technically longer than that but that was all on one pygame project that I'm not sure should be counted as a game :D... Anyway during my time I've had lots of experience with different parts of game development, especially as I'm always switching between things! I've always found picking things up, especially things like programming, to be quite easy for me (I just enjoy learning), however it's taken me around 6 years to put these skills to  something that looks moderately good (somewhat to do with things like art and programming also being taught at my school) - Also just released my latest game and I'm actually extremely happy with it, it shows how I've improved. Anyway I've never worked with others and that was definitely a mistake. It took me a long while to get into different communities and it's taken me until now to become properly active in them, ever since I started talking to others I've found the way I use the skills I'd previously learnt has developed much better, if that makes any sense... Either way that's my experience!