I’ve been using Unity for a while now and I think its great, I’ve been through almost every tutorial I could get my hands on.
The problem is lately I’ve tried to make my own game with the skills I learned ( or so I thought ) I seem to keep getting stuck at things I cant figure out and whilst the unity forums/room are great and I get a ton of help from them, I cant always expect people to keep helping me one question after another.
So I’ve been thinking maybe its not for me, I do enjoy it but Im not really getting anywhere and my time could maybe be used better else where.
Off the bat, I can’t program anything in Unity worth a damn. Tutorials or not, I’m code-impaired. That said, I have two well rated apps out, one for iphone, 1 iPad, and am elbows deep in two others that should go by the end of next month. How? I did what I do best, and found folk who were good at what they do best.
If you’re a ‘but I wanna do it all myself’ kinda guy…then you’ll go nutz, possible bloody your head on the end of the desk and surely give up. But if you decide you want to get apps done and out, you’ll find the folk you need to do what you’ve decided to do.
Sure, I keep learning and sticking my nose into the code hoping for that breakthrough. But there’s a jedi knight coding voodoo master out there that does the heavy lifting, and our goals are in alignment.
When you are learning, think about what you can make with the skills you have, not what game you want to do. The game you want to do can come as you get better.
Pushing the edge of your skills, means that you will improve. But push too far, too quickly, and you will get frustrated.
I’ve just spent a long time on a problem and eventually posted a question on Unity Answers. I found the answer immediately I walked away from my desk (which I had already tried a few times).
I don’t think anyone minds answering questions, just as long as you have made the effort to try to find out for yourself first.
I’m in the opposite position. I’ve got a game that’s 95% done and I have spent over a month waiting around for audio and programming guys to finish their last details. I’m going nuts relying on other people.
When your programmer is done, you have one game. When you learn programming yourself, you can make as many games as you want. It’s the whole “give a man a fish” concept.
I’m speaking not just as an Indie ‘wannabe’ iphone developer, but as a professional games developer during the day making games for Wii, PS3, Xbox360, DS etc…
First rule - keep it simple. Second - work within your limitations (that includes knowledge, tools etc). Particularly when starting out - everyone (except me it seems) wants to make the ‘next great big thing’. BUT, such doesn’t guarantee success. Often, particularly for social games, it’s the simplest ideas and game mechanics that do the best — just take a look at the top apps. Flight Control, Angry Birds, the infamous Fart Button … simple game mechanics done well.
What sells these games is not the complexity of technology, but the way they are presented and packaged. They have a ‘personality’.
If I were you, before giving up, take a good look at your idea and ask yourself if you’re trying to accomplish something within your means, or have you simplified your game design as much as possible?
Don’t overcomplicate the process for yourself. At the end of the day, the end user doesn’t give a damn about the actual technology or code behind the app (sorry programmers!). They care only if the app is enjoyable and pleasant to look at. Remember - presentation counts for everything. What would you prefer? I new BMW or a beat up VW?
A significant part of the team leader’s role is to be a producer… Insiprational when it works, bloodthirsty pirate when necessary and a well organized,detail oriented sheep herder in all cases.
If the carrot doesn’t irk with your team…go stick. If they’re screwing up your delivery, call em on it. Noone likes to be pointed out as the team member who drops the ball.
I’m not a programmer, it took me like 2 years to start getting good results.
Keep doing tutorials and collecting samples for Unity and the Iphone. Start small with very small projects or tasks. Compare against other unity projects.
You have to have lots of gaming passion. Continue doing little programming challenges, even is they are not related. Sooner or later you will find the answer to previous problems, when you are not looking for it. Don’t give up so easily, good things come to those who persevere and work hard. And more important of all HAVE FUN!!!
Don’t get discouraged, focus on what you do well, if that is “concept” do concept. Personally, I suck at artwork, so I order out Document your design (if you are good at art, story board it); write out how the gameplay should work; then hand it to someone who knows how to take that and make it into code.
Now, not all coders are programmers…in my day job I have guys that can just write in C#, but have no idea how to really lay out a program, so we tell them what to do…you want someone who knows how to organize the ideas, and lay out the architecture.
You can work with either level, but if you start with the more juniour knowledge set, when you need it maintained later, it will be a hassle.
Sorry Matt, but you are the one at fault here. Why don’t you have a good handle on your team? You are the lead right? Are they just stupid and lazy? Why did you even hire them in the first place? If they don’t meet a milestone, fire them.
Leadership skills are just as valuable as any technical skills. It’s something that is lost with most “do-it-all-by-myself-indies.” Nothing against those that want to do everything alone, but saying stuff like “learn it all by yourself, it’s better that way” is mainly just an excuse for the lack of basic people skills.
Developing a game is quite difficult, but not impossible. Is a non-stop day/night hard work. None comes without effort and you have to work hard and not give up! But watch out your limits, never spec something beyond your limits. Keep your ideas smalls and simple. Design your game based on your own skills/resources/time. Add some new stuff to challenge yourself, but not too much! ^^
Keep pushing your own boundaries/limits and learn as much as you can. Let the time pass, looking back later, you will see how awesome have you progressed.
But never give up!
Cheers,
Seriously - don’t be so hard on yourself, most people who like to tinkle on the piano could never write a concerto or play on stage, but they just love being able to do something.
Writing a game can be a very long and complex process, involving many people, or it could just be something very simple.
Why don’t you set yourself a target you CAN acheieve and have a go at developing that? It doesn’t have to be COD or Blur or even space invaders, just something where a player has choices to make, and each choice may have different consequneces.
The trick is to set out on something which is doable for you, and you will suceed. Give it time.
) I seem to keep getting stuck at things I cant figure out and whilst the unity forums/room are great and I get a ton of help from them, I cant always expect people to keep helping me one question after another.
… simple game mechanics done well.
