Game Devs Wrestle with Portfolio Building
11 posts across 4 communities in the last 60 days; 36% from r/IndieDev.
“First game and I feel like it shows! Inspired by WarioWare/What the Golf and...Pong, obviously. Here's a selection of some of the levels I've been working on. Basic pong Asset flip Level wrap Glass paddle Conveyor belt Squash Multiball Fog o' war Accordion Snake Dodgeball…”
“Trees, rocks, and bushes made by hand in inkscape. Birds and courses are made by animating polygon2ds (also made by hand) in godot.”
“Having worked on a title from prototype to launch, I'm wondering if a mid level designer needs a portfolio site. It seems like reading the resume and looking at gameplay footage on YouTube would suffice? Even when I was the interviewer I only ever read resumes. And we hired some…”
Multiple posts from game developers, especially beginners, discuss the challenges of building a portfolio. They seek advice on project selection, skill development (Blender/Unity), and finding collaborators to gain experience for potential employment at larger studios.
SOURCES (20)
“First game and I feel like it shows! Inspired by WarioWare/What the Golf and...Pong, obviously. Here's a selection of some of the levels I've been working on. Basic pong Asset flip Level wrap Glass paddle Conveyor belt Squash Multiball Fog o' war Accordion Snake Dodgeball…”
“Trees, rocks, and bushes made by hand in inkscape. Birds and courses are made by animating polygon2ds (also made by hand) in godot. submitted by /u/One_Range7575 [link] [comments]”
“Having worked on a title from prototype to launch, I'm wondering if a mid level designer needs a portfolio site. It seems like reading the resume and looking at gameplay footage on YouTube would suffice? Even when I was the interviewer I only ever read resumes. And we hired some great people. It doesn't feel like anyone has time to look at websites when studios get swarmed with applicants. Nobody I know in this industry above entry level has a portfolio. Curious your thoughts. subm”
“Hi, I've been making Putty, a sandbox Incremental game about creating a physics based golf factory for the last year. Sandbox has always felt like it would be a natural fit for incremental games, yet we haven't seen examples, so I decided to do it myself. I would love some feedback and general consensus. Free on Itch: https://shockxie.itch.io/putty AI Disclosure: AI was used to aid in physics optimization. All art, design, and other scripts were made by hand without assistance. sub”
“A few screenshots from the desktop version of Golf: The Journey . The aim is to make a proper deep golf career simulator — starting as an unknown golfer and working your way through the tours, rankings, tournaments, training, staff, sponsors, media, finances and everything around a professional career. The difference is that the tournaments aren’t just numbers on a screen. You can watch the golf unfold, simulate when you want, or take control of the shots that matter. The desktop version is desi”
“Hi, This is my long time passion project that I've given a lot of love during the last year. Now we're even starting to become a small team which is really exciting! Basically, player's move their phone around to swing their club. It also have multiplayer where you see other players' clubs in the room. If you want to check it out or join the discord, here are my links: https://linktr.ee/ar_minigolf submitted by /u/Soundvid [link] [comments]”
“I am a software developer who wandered into the game dev space around 6 months ago. Have really enjoyed building this side project on nights and weekends. The core is a daily three hole challenge where everybody plays the same holes, same wind, same pins, and you only get one attempt. I also added free play where you can play one of 12 courses (and try to set the course record) and also multiplayer where you can join a party with friends and compete on the same holes at the same time with lots o”
“Hello Im a software engineer with 2+ years of experience and I want to switch to game development. I taught myself how to create games on Unity but nothing thats worthy to put on a portfolio just yet. Im currently working on a pixel 2D platformer game with some levels, just something nice and simple and similar to retro games like Super Mario and Mega Man. What do hirers typically look for in portfolios? Are they mostly the game aesthetic (look and feel, draws a person in...)? Concepts (multipla”
“So I'm building a running/obstacle course game using Three.js. Right now it looks pretty basic, flat colors, simple cone shaped trees, no real lighting. I'm trying to get it looking more polished and stylized, kind of like those Pixar style renders, not full realism just less flat and cheap looking. I don't really know how to code or do 3D art. I've been using AI tools to help write the code so far. A few things I'm trying to figure out: Can Three.js actually get to that kind”
“Hi! I'm making a small game - Gun Shop: Tidy Up Your task is to lay out weapons in the store. With light music and no hurry, you can collect cartridges, machine guns, pistols, look for their corresponding shelves and put them in their places. What is in the game: Added stamina. It will need to be restored periodically. Perks of highlighting objects, shelves, and object attraction. Upgrade player stats and perks. The game has just been announced, I will try to release it soon. submitted”
“I'm a solo developer, working on this game for the past two years (no AI). It's starting to feel really polished: I just pushed out an update with a new set of sound textures and some new story content. I hope folks will enjoy the game. It is short, with no filler, and all about building an intuition of what it's really like to move through space. If you were a golf ball. Wishlist on Steam , and play the demo now. submitted by /u/mgiuca [link] [comments]”
“Hello everyone. I am finally starting my dream project and wanted to share it. If you are a lover of the cozy sim genre then this might be for you, if not , it still might be for you. Since having a baby took nearly all my time, its been tough but I have poured as much as I could into this. Its very basic but I wanted to get the gameplay feel right as soon as I could. When I was small my brother worked at a driving range, and when it was his turn to mind me he'd bring me along. I'd sit i”
“Hello everyone. I am finally starting my dream project and wanted to share it. If you are a lover of the cozy sim genre then this might be for you, if not , it still might be for you. Since having a baby took nearly all my time, its been tough but I have poured as much as I could into this. Its very basic but I wanted to get the gameplay feel right as soon as I could. When I was small my brother worked at a driving range, and when it was his turn to mind me he'd bring me along. I'd sit i”
“Hey everyone! I’ve been working on a small incremental game called Puttlingo in my spare time after my 9–5 job, and this is the first gameplay prototype I feel comfortable showing. The basic idea of this first part is pretty simple: you have a limited amount of time and try to collect/putt as many golf balls as possible. Balls can collide with each other and potentially level up, and the resources you earn here will eventually feed into the rest of the game. This is only the first part of the ga”
“Hi everyone, I'm currently a website developer, so I already have a developer portfolio with personal projects and prototypes. However, what I'd really like to pursue is Game Design, and I'm struggling to understand what a good Game Design portfolio actually looks like. For developers, it's straightforward, you build projects. For artists, you create artwork. But what does a Game Designer actually create to demonstrate their skills? What kinds of materials do studios expect to se”
“For those that still believe that creating a full game is any good for a portfolio. Here is a great example of what we want for a programmer. https://youtu.be/\_JGMgpyCTsY I don't care about a full game. I don't hire you to make a full game. I hire you to research and write specific systems. It's not the first time I've posted this YouTuber. But it's a great example of what we mean. He doesn't waste time drawing crap graphics for his demos. They demonstrate a technical ch”
“I've been working on building out my golf game's course designer and would love to hear any thoughts! it's relatively simple, and the main theme of the game really isn't in the course design, but I do want it to be enjoyable to work with and a solid part of the game. each hole is just three draggable points (tee, landing, green), and the fairway is a tapered band generated between them, with par and a live difficulty rating computed straight from that geometry. the greens are see”
“I’m just starting to learn Blender and Unity. Right now, I'm a complete beginner, but I have a very clear long-term dream: I want to eventually work at a AAA giant like Tencent, Riot, or Epic Games. I know I am years away from that, and I know I shouldn't look for paid work until I actually have something to show. My short-term plan is to build a solid portfolio, start taking on small entry-level freelance gigs or indie projects, and eventually step up to bigger studios. For those of you”
“I have a bit of an interest in gamedev so I went and learnt some basics. Made a couple characters in blender, worked on some animations in mixamo and getting those out into unreal engine. After putting some time into unreal I really realized how hard making a solo dev game really would be. I’d love to make some hobby projects with other people. Not necessarily people who know what they are doing but even people who are also new and want to have fun. Is there anyway that I could find people that”