So for some stupid reason I’ve been trying to make an rpg and failed horrifically at it. I’d start it then get over whelmed and would quit. No surprise there. Any ways I’ve finally got it out of my head about making an rpg and just have fun with it and just make something extremely small like a simple hack and slash. I know there are Hack and slash guides out there but I’ve tried them before but I think I’d rather try and just do this one step at a time. Like I know I need movement. Unity provides that but I’ll do my own for learning purposes. I know I would need enemy ai’s, Health bar and enemy health bars. For something simple I think that would be a great start. What do you guys think? Also if i’m missing any steps that should be implemented let me know lol. I have no coding experience because I kept overwhelming myself trying to make and rpg and quitting. I would like constructive criticism such as if I’m being a retard for wanting to start on an Hack and slash game or what. Be straight with me. Won’t hurt my feelings. I’ve given up on making a game 3 times now mainly because I just don’t get how to code. One of the things I’ve been told was that if I start with something simple and just do it step by step that would be a good way to start. But like I said I would like some opinions. Thanks guys.
You’re likely to get a lot of “your scope is too big, start with pong” which isn’t bad advice, but it doesn’t work for everyone.
Personally I will start big, but then break it down into much smaller, and more manageable, steps as you are already suggesting. I prefer this because it helps to keep things small enough to prevent you from getting overwhelmed, while at the same time still contributes towards your larger goal.
For what its worth too, you’re much more likely to find resources on these smaller systems (third person movement, animation, health bar, etc.) than something like a full blown hack and slash tutorial. Not only that, but since you’re only doing individual systems, say you do change your mind. Now you’ve already got a controller ready to go instead of having to scrap the whole project for example.
2D or 3D?
Are you thinking about something along the lines of these?
My word, it’s been 4 years now since I made a H&S… I had a movement script around here somewhere, but start with the click to move script on the Unity Wiki.
In all fairness, the differences between RPG and H&S aren’t a great deal, but they are simpler to get “around” as such. Like optimisation due to camera perspective, you can get away with lower quality models / animations / CB’s etc. so all around it is a simpler endeavour.
I’d go for it, last time it took me around 4 months to do one? There’s some great H&S tutorials around as well.
I say go for it.
Hack and slash is quite costly, because you’ll need to create large amount of animation sequences. So, you’ll end up spending a lot of time creating animations for your game, not programming.
Ai scripts and mechanics can be very simple, as long as you don’t try to do something like an extensible stat-based magic system, which can easily eat few months of your time.
However, since you said you have “no programming experience”… honestly, I have absolutely no idea how it would go for you. I know I would be able to create a prototype for such game very quickly, but I do have programming experience.
Just give it a try, and see how it goes. You aren’t trying to make MMO/Skyrim/GTA, which is already a very good thing.
Thanks for all the comments. I have seen a lot of people suggest pong or some silly game that I have no interest in. I would honestly get bored and stop again. I need to do something that is small enough that won’t overwhelm me but big enough that won’t be a pointless game. Something that as I grow in experience I can add to and keep it growing. I just wish I could pop a plug in my head and upload programming knowledge lol. But that’d be to easy I suppose lol. I would like to go ahead and start with 3D because again I would have no interest in 2D and I would get bored. As far as animations I think I’d stay away from that for a while. Maybe build the game around it so that I could implement it in later but definitely stick to the complete basics of the game to start with. I’m just trying to keep this simple but not to simple. If that makes any sense…
You sound very level headed and that grants you at least a +49 on chance to complete a game.
I would suggest something like a SHMUP. Usually won’t require too much in the way of animations. Pretty much all coded systems, etc. You can even use placeholder artwork until the very end. it’s also not a very complex genre.
neginfinity is right, I started prototyping a third person controller with combat and I’m spending a lot of time with animations and trying to blend them properly in Mecanim. You should definitely take it apart into smaller pieces. First start with movement and the camera. Then throw in some attacks on left click, and go from there. I’m trying to make a controller similar to dark souls (with free camera, and lock-on camera) but improved in my own way (Added an over the shoulder camera, etc). Going slow I’m not focusing on it, but its been a fun learning experience, since I never used Mecanim seriously before. 
If you need animations and characters to start wtih, check out Mixamo, currently everything is free if you sign up for an Adobe account. Lots of free animations (for commercial purpose too), and Fuse is really useful. The only animations I didn’t find there is fast strafing like dark souls have, so I just sped up the regular strafing animations until I make my own.