Wesley

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 39 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

A game design concept I've been looking into these last few days is onboarding, or, how a game teaches you to play.

It's difficult to get right, and there's many ways you can do it wrong - too much info and you overload the player, not enough and you leave them frustrated. Make it boring, and you may lose the player's attention. In the best versions of this, tutorials are clear, concise, and keep you engaged; introduce a concept, then have the player execute. From there, weave in existing mechanics or tie it into the narrative and it feels like a natural addition.

Portal is a great example of a game that has well designed orientation. It's tied into the narrative, it presents the object with some brief on screen controls, and it continues the dialog as you fumble around with your newly acquired portal gun.

Finding a good way to get this right definitely requires some nuance, and it's made me appreciate when a game does it well. People have all different types of learning styles, and finding a way to introduce concepts that lands with several of them is an art in itself.

If you've got a game tutorial that comes to mind as good design, I'd love to hear about it!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 38 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

I've been toying with the idea of attending in-person game development events (GDC, PAX, Gamescom, etc). I've been interested in it before, but I haven't been able to find many testimonials talking about whether or not people with entry level experience found it valuable to attend.

If anyone in my network has been to one of these events, would you recommend it for people just getting into the industry, or would you recommend holding off?

Let me know below! 😄

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #gdc #pax

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 37 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Definitely a dark day with the announcement of @bioware's closure. My uncle introduced me to Mass Effect growing up, and I got lost for hours playing through Dragon Age titles.

I'm hopeful all of the incredible talent lands new roles, and I'm hopeful mass layoffs like this become less and less prevalent.

Not much else to report on today - I'll be continuing the grind on C++/Unreal.

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 36 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Definitely feeling challenged by this chapter of C++ - something about strings and variables is taking longer to click in my mind. I've been increasingly relying on some Google searches to figure out what's wrong with my code any time I run into errors.

On another note, @VALORANT's newest Agent reveal has me excited to get back into the game - Hush's aesthetics are spot on, and I'm excited to get in game and play around with her abilities. Until then, I'll be queuing up to get back in form!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #valorant #hush

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 35 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Steam Next Fest started today, and I'm excited to see all of the cool projects in the works across the industry.

If something catches your eye on Steam throughout the week, I'd love to hear about it! 👇

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #steam #indie

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 34 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Going into this week hopeful to make some larger strides in C++, on top of a return to iterating and learning in Unreal Engine again.

I spent a large portion of my weekend catching up and resetting my house and work space, and with that I'm setting the foundation for new habits and routines to be a happier, healthier, more organized version of myself.

Here's to an awesome week!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 33 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Going into this weekend excited to unwind, eat some good food, and catch up on some more games. To those invested, I hope you enjoy VCT Champs and Worlds this weekend!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #vct #lol #worlds #champs

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 32 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Slowly working my way through learning variables in C++. I've been enjoying watching @LeagueOfLegends Worlds at the start of my day and @VALORANT Champions at the end of my day, so between that and learning I'm keeping my head down this week!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #vct #lol #worlds #champions

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 31 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Today is the end of the first month of "Posting on Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games." With that in mind, I thought it'd be cool to do a bit of a retrospective. I'm incredibly proud of where I'm at vs. a month ago, more so considering I'm self taught, working a full time job, and remaining a committed friend and husband.

In one month of learning how to make games, I've:

1. - Learned some basics of C++ (functions, values, data types, semantics, debugging)
2. - Played around in Unreal Engine Editor, became familiar with the UI and toolbox
3. - Built a foundation in recording/content creation with OBS and DaVinci Resolve
4. - Began to develop a social media presence and understand engagement metrics
5. - Developed a consistent routine, built discipline on said routine

6. - Expanded my network with new friends, followers, and connections

There's still much, much more to learn, but taking a step back and looking at how far I've come makes me that much more excited for what's next.

Here's to more! See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 30 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Today I rounded out the first portion of the fundamental data types quiz, and as the literature implies it's a lot like taking off the training wheels. The goal was a simple calculator, but missing even the smallest detail ensures the result you see when you run the project isn't in line with the goal.

I've also added a small clip of my (basic) video editing process - importing the footage in Davinci Resolve, detaching/removing the audio, and cutting out any extended lulls from me stepping away or taking some time to think. I'm excited to expand the video editing side further when this series evolves more into game demos and showcases.

Tomorrow marks a full month of this process, and with that a reminder that another skillset I'm developing in this process is social media management. Seeing what kinds of posts perform well vs. fall flat is a fun trend to track - some garner a handful of views, others thousands, all with some follows or connections sprinkled in - I haven't quite put a pulse on what it is that makes some posts stand out, but any advice on how to keep up with that would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thank you, and see ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 29 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Broaching a bit of a touchy subject today, AI.

In GDCs 2026 State of the Game Industry survey, about half of respondents said generative AI is having a negative impact on the industry, a stark contrast to the 18% collected in 2024. In the same survey, roughly a third said they personally use these tools at work. Those statistics are interesting given both the growing usage rate and distrust among the industry.

Unity recently announced their "Unity Spark" project, and other engines have released or are iterating on different AI integration tools as well. On one hand, I'm concerned about the power creep these tools are introducing and how it'll affect the industry as a whole, especially given how frequent layoffs seem to be. On the other hand, I'm intrigued in the kinds of games we'll see produced by these tools and whether or not it'll be apparent when side by side with those made without.

Personally, my primary use for AI has been as a glorified search engine; game design is a creative process, and I'll always fight for keeping work in the hands of humans and not offloading it to automation. What are your thoughts on the growing use of AI in the industry?

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 28 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Bit of a short post today. @riotgames shadow dropped an orchestral theme for Worlds today (link below). The idea of helping to make something like this is what keeps me going, their art and music teams are so consistently good at what they do it's hard to not get hype for anything they put out.

I'll be rooting for our @LCSOfficial teams, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see some more @T1LoL magic.

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

https://t.co/A7wnFkeAiV

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #worlds #t1 #faker #lcs

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 27 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

I'm excited to get back into the flow of things this week. I'm aiming to get deeper into my C++ learning and play around a bit more in Unreal, but my primary focus these next few days will be on my resume and ways to stand out as an applicant.

A part of this process I haven't touched on much since starting is the job search. I've got a lifetime of experience playing games, and over a decade of valuable experience in IT, communications, customer service, operations, leadership, and more; despite this, finding a new position (even outside of games) is proving to be a tough task. It's hard to be optimistic about finding a role when submitting an application feels like starting a timer on the refusal email.

A valuable piece of advice I took away from @ArinGoldsmith "Breaking Into a Career in Gaming" panel at Blizzcon 2026 was to put yourself out there - recruiters and hiring managers have so many applications to sort through on these listings, so you often only get one shot at impressing them. The power of social media in this job market, however, comes from giving you more opportunities to make an impression when they come across your post. Even one impression on the right feed doubles your exposure, and every post that reaches the right feed on top of that gives you more opportunities to market yourself. Word of mouth is a powerful tool, and while what you know matters, who you know matters, too.

With that, I'll be taking a serious look at my resume, trimming the fat and getting it to a state where it speaks to my strengths and results. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 26 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Looking forward to a much needed rest day tomorrow. I'll be taking a full break from C++ for the day, and I'm hoping to check out some cool bundles I've seen in @humble for game development in both Unreal and Godot in between games.

Looking into resources for early game developers, there's a lot of pressure to grind as hard as you can and push yourself - while I think it's warranted in some aspects, I think maintaining healthy boundaries isn't discussed enough. Burnout is real, and pushing yourself to that point in your free time will make it that much harder to deliver a good experience for your players.

I'll be enjoying this rainy Seattle weather and spending time with my animals with the intention of hitting the ground running on Monday!

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 25 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

To say I'm excited for the weekend is an understatement. Between @PlayOverwatch's new season and hero, @hopoogames shadow dropping a Risk of Rain 2 DLC, and a new raid in @Warcraft I'll be booked and busy for the coming weeks.

What games are you looking forward to playing this weekend? 👾🎮

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #ror2 #riskofrain #wow #worldofwarcraft #warcraft #overwatch #ow

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 24 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

While my long-term goal is game design, the short-term is getting my foot in the door of the industry, no matter the discipline.

Game design is competitive at the entry level, and most design roles expect a portfolio to showcase what makes you a good fit. Mine's a work in progress, but while I'm working on it there are roles where skills you pick up working a normal job can be useful: QA, production coordination, community or player support, etc. These are well-known ways into the industry, and there's plenty of testimonials of designers landing their role from an another discipline.

Working inside a studio even in a role adjacent to those making games is education I can't get from tutorials alone. A loose connection to these projects is better than none, and I'd recommend anyone trying to break into the industry to apply for open roles even if they don't meet every criteria, or if the title doesn't align with where you want to end. I've had more than enough "No's" to be deterred from throwing my name at a role just because I'm missing a degree or certification. We're all in this for the love of the game at the end of the day.

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 23 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Learning C++ and Unreal Engine while working full-time is a different kind of challenge than I expected.

Most of the advice out there assumes you can dedicate large, uninterrupted blocks of time to studying, but that's rarely the case. I'm working a full-time job, so my learning happens in the margins; an hour after work, days off, etc.

A few things I've noticed so far:

1. - Short, consistent sessions beat long. Thirty focused minutes where I finish one small thing does more for me than a two hour session where I end up lost.

2. - Stopping at a clear point makes restarting easier. Leaving myself a note about what to do next, or a summary of what I learned previously saves me from burning the first ten minutes figuring out where I left off.

3. - Progress looks slower than it feels. Some weeks it's one concept or one small fix, and I've had to get comfortable with not seeing flashy results each day.

When I briefly attended school for game design, a vast majority of my peers were fresh out of high school. It was easy to feel out of place, especially when the curriculum required so much in-person attendance. I think what I'm getting at is, though it may be more work, there are other avenues to your goal.

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 22 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Today I rounded off the functions chapter. Personally, I found this to be a big step up difficulty wise from statements and expressions, especially when paired with the learning curve of Visual Studio on top of it.

Here's me working my way through the quiz! Not pictured is tons of notes I'm referring to off screen as well.

See ya tomorrow! 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal

[Wesley @Dabaksgg]

Day 21 of Posting On Social Media Every Day until I land a job in Games

Welcome back!

Nothing too exciting to report today. I'm rounding out the last of the functions chapter on https://t.co/qM4ZA0b2S1 and getting ready to start with Syntax/Semantics.

I did quickly want to spotlight some of the exciting competitive tournaments coming up towards the end of the year!

1. - @VALORANT Champions 2026 Playoffs start on Wednesday 🎉
2. - @LeagueOfLegends Worlds 2026 International Stage starts October 15th 🎃
3. - @HCS Halo Infinite LVT Pro League Finals starting November 13th 🍁 🍂
4. - @CounterStrike PGL Major Singapore 2026 on November 25th 🦃
5. - @PlayOverwatch OWCS World Championships starting December 2nd ☃️

Any upcoming esports events you're excited to watch? Let me know below!

See ya tomorrow 🍻

#gamedev #gamedevelopment #cpp #unrealengine #unreal #esports #halo #overwatch #leagueoflegends #league #lol #valorant #vct #cs2 #csgo