Would you? According to me real devs are those who create everything on their own, I mean the Game art, the physics used and Of course not the software they use to build games with. A real Developer knows everything about their game, and I hardly know where is my game's android main activity created using Buildbox. A real developer can squash bugs, I can't. A real developer can add as much elements in his game as far as his creativity goes, I can't. The question remains, Would you call yourselves GAME DEVELOPERS after using BUILDBOX? What do you guys think?
Yes, most definitely a Developer. When people ask me what I do, I say I'm an App Developer. Sounds to me like you're confusing "Developer" with "Coder" or "Grahics Designer". Regardless of whether you're using Buildbox, designing your own graphics and music, coding from the ground up, or completely outsourcing everything, you're still the developer of your apps, unless of course you don't any input whatsoever into the design and development of your apps, then of course it's totally up to you what you wish to call yourself. As you mentioned above, "A real Developer knows everything about their game" and I think you should. After all, who's in control of your company?
You can call yourself anything you want... you're the only that can. The following is taken from The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. I don't share this as an act of plagiarism, I share this in hopes you buy this book, because it can not be said any better than this... and it is not the only question answered in your journey to make games for a living. Learning your craft will only make you better at it, and thus, increasing your potential at being self sustaining, and this book will change your life. What is Game Design? As we begin, it is important for us to be absolutely clear about what is meant by "game design." After all, it is what the rest of the book is about, and some people seem a bit confused about it. Game design is the act of deciding what a game should be. "You mean you design a game by just making one decision?" No. To decide what a game is, you must make hundreds, usually thousands of decisions. "Don't I need special equipment to design a game?" No. Since game design is simply decision making, you can actually design a game in your head. Usually, though, you will want to write down these decision, because our memories are weak, and it is easy to miss something important if you don't write things down. Further, if you want other people to help you make decisions, or to help build the game, you need to communicate these decision to them somehow, and writing them down is a good way to do that.. "What about programming? Don't game designers have to be computer programmers?" No, they don't. First of all, many games can be played without the use of computers or technology; board games, card games, and athletic games, for example. Secondly, even for computer games or videogames, it is possible to make the decisions about what those games should be without knowing all the technical details of how those decisions are carried out. Of course, it can be a tremendous help if you do know these details, just as being a skilled writer or artist can help. This allows you to make better decisions more quickly, but it is not strictly necessary. It is like the relationship between architects and carpenters: an architect does not need to know everything the carpenter knows, but an architect must know everything the carpenter is capable of. "So, you mean that the game designer just comes up with the story for the game?" No. Story decisions are one aspect of a game design, but there are many, many others. Decisions about rules, look and feel, timing, pacing, risk-taking, reward, punishments, and everything else the player experiences is the responsibility of the game designer. "So the game designer makes decisions about what the game should be, writes them down, and moves on?" Almost never. None of us has a perfect imagination, and the games we design in our heads and on paper almost never come out quite the way we expected. Many decisions are impossible to make until the designer has seen the game in action. For this reason, the designer is usually involved in the development of a game from the very beginning to the very end, making decisions about how the game should be all along the way. It is important to make the distinction between "game developer" and "game designer". A game developer is anyone who has any involvement with the creation of the game at all. Engineers, animators, modelers, musicians, writers, producers, and designers who work on games are all game developers. Game designers are just one species of game developer. "So, the game designer is the only one allowed to make decisions about the game?" Let's turn that around. Anyone who makes decisions about how the game should be is a game designer. Designer is a role, not a person. Almost every developer on a team makes some decisions about how the game will be, just through the act of creating content for the game. These decisions are game design decisions, and when you make them, you are a game designer. For this reason, no matter what your role on a game development team, an understanding of the principles of game design will make you better at what you do. For me, the magic words are simple.... I am a Game Designer.
Technically, regardless of coding you're still a developer/designer. If you're in a recording studio at the time of a recording and you added one word to the song, you're entitled to songwriting royalties and title as co-writer. Many Development firms in various sectors outsources contracts for various jobs in each project if employees cannot do the job.
