So… I’m here because I made a new years resolution to myself to sit down and finally learn Unity along with a programming language. Why? Because I have 2 different RPG ideas that I want to make (different styles) and I’ve decided I need to start cracking on with it.
I’ve a small amount of programming experience. Started with BASIC back on the C64, did Turbo Pascal at college around the age of 17. Learnt Visual Basic at home for fun and was taught a mix of Java and Delphi as part of my degree… Which I finished a good 12 years ago now.
What I’m looking for is a few pointers on where to start. I know there’s loads of tutorials out there, but should I start learning some basic C# away from Unity, or should I crack on with both at the same time? How about games to start with? I know I can’t just go and make an RPG. Would something like a Pong or Breakout clone be a good start for learning?
Thanks for reading this and I’m looking forward to any advice I may receive.
When I decide to do something, I do it 100%. I don’t mess around.
I decided I’d learn Unity, so I posted every day, asking simple basic 1 line questions with simple clear intro text. I tried not to ask more than one question per post. I used verbose topic titles which explained my problem.
For every single command I didn’t understand, I immediately looked it up in the Unity help files.
Every time I had a tea break, I would read a random page of interest on Unity docs and forums.
I briefly joined the Unity IRC channel (but now reside in the skype channel).
I still need google every single day when programming. I typically use: unity as the search term. Works fantastically. Mostly, it’s a lot faster to find the solution myself.
I’ve released 4 finished Unity titles and a bunch of others before coming to Unity. The attitude you need most is to absorb like a sponge and help yourself. Do it your way and…
I have a suspicion that Google and myself will become very good friends. That is all very good advice though. I’m hopefully planning to put aside a couple of hours each day to either learn or work on a project.
I just need to find some appropriate tutorials for a complete newbie now.
Im not sure why people seem to miss the Unity Learn tutorials; they are very good in my opinion. Be sure to check out the “Projects” tab as they have complete tutorial series available.
and if you’re using Visual C# (which you should) you can press F1 on keywords/commands and it will give you examples of how to use that keyword/command (usually… but some keywords don’t have any example).
They really are very good. In particular, one of the best no nonsense examples of how to use delegates with Unity, and then feeds right into the event system.
It’s enough to get you started and aware of most of the key areas you’ll have to tackle.
Agreed; the scripting tutorials are VERY good. Don’t understand why people search for random people on the Internet when they can have professional in-house tutorials from the makers of the engine.
@tiggus I have completed the chunk system, thanks for the help!
They probably aren’t, but then they don’t need to be.
They are at the least professional software developers who are familiar with the concepts involved and didn’t pick them up for the first time a few weeks ago (or, in the case of some 3rd party tutes I’ve seen, the same day they made the video). I’d feel confident pointing someone towards the official tutes if they needed a pointer on how to get started or familiarize with certain concepts, but I do not generally feel confident pointing them towards other stuff because it’s a minefield as to whether the stuff they’ll find is good or not.
When I was looking for intro materials to Mecanima few weeks ago, the creator of one of the tutes I found (a highly rated link on Google) clearly didn’t know how to script.
Seems to me that when two areas of specialization are involved people tend not to be very discriminating. If a professional athlete suffers an injury would they be best to consult a professional athlete (who knows nothing about medicine) or a professional doctor (who knows nothing about sport)?
As far as I’m concerned a ‘professional tutorial’ is made by a professional maker of tutorials. To compare with someone who is professional in neither teaching nor the subject area is not very relevant as far as I am concerned.
If you’d prefer to be taught by someone who’s studied teaching but knows nothing of the subject area, go for it.
If I had to pick between the two, though, I’d take a surgeon trained by other surgeons with little formal teaching experience over a surgeon taught by pure academics with little surgical experience.
Anyway, I challenge you to find a 3rd party tute by anyone who’s got the specific mix of experience you’re mentioning. I doubt that any professional teacher would create learning materials of a subject they know little or nothing about.
This may be just me, but I think it’s a bit extreme to expect to find “professional tutors” hanging around the internet waiting to teach you specific things you’re interested in. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get, and a lot of the times what you can get around here is much better than other resource locations.
Also, your metaphor really doesn’t work. It’d be more like if a high school athlete wanted advice on how to get to the Pro level, he’d go interviewing Pros. I don’t want a professional tutor teaching me something they know nothing about. If you want to learn how to be a good tutor, go find your professional tutor.
Would something like a Pong or Breakout clone be a good start for learning?
