Career as Game Developer

[poids]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post and I am very new to love2d and game development in general.

I just built a small sandbox game using box2d to make realistic collisions of balls that the player can click to add on the screen.

It was mostly for me to test out how a physics engine works and how game loops work because I hadn't had prior experience with either.
Next I would like to incorporate what I learned from making this sandbox game to develop a pachinko style gambling game which will incorporate dynamic camera panning/zooming, a currency/score system for placing bets, much more advanced physics objects of various types and attributes, and in general make it seem more like a game than a sandbox test environment.

I currently am lead data engineer at a start-up and really like being in tech but eventually would like to do something more creative.
Although I would not describe myself as a game, it seems like game development as a field combines everything I am passionate about within coding and design and AI.

Has anyone had experience starting their own indie game company or do this as more than just a hobby?
How hard is it to transition into this field and become successful at it?

For context I can already code, and am an amazingly fast learner, and have lots of experience working as both department and project lead within my company.

Please share with me any notable moments you have had working in this field whether it was a intern at a large game company or working as a contractor or leading out your indie game company.
I have no experience in game development and would really like to hear from others what it is like.

[milon]

You'll probably get more useful feedback from indie devs than from a framework forum. But maybe I'm wrong.

I'm just a hobbyist, so I have no helpful info myself. But I can make a few recommendations:

Tynan Sylvester, author of RimWorld, has a blog and even wrote a book about game development. Full disclosure: I'm a retired moderator of the RimWorld forum, but I don't get anything for linking to his stuff.

Jeff Vogel, founder of Spiderweb Software and creator of the Avernum/Exile series and other awesome RPGs. They're responsive to emails (or at least they used to be - I haven't been in touch with them in ages), and as a fellow indie group they've got the inside scoop you're looking for.

Good luck!

[ivan]

Indie gamedev is very much a passion driven field so it's silly talking about it as a career...
and no... don't expect a stable salary either.