I’m new to game development using unity, what sorts of projects or tutorials would you recommend a beginner to make when they’re just starting out in unity or game development in general.
Should I be making clones or variations of popular games, or should I make a totally new kind of game with different sorts of mechanics, should I be focusing on completion, or should I be coding right from the beginning? There are a lot of choices on where to start from 2D games or 3D games and with them a lot of projects to follow. I had a friend who started by making text based adventure games and is now making very good-looking and complex 3d role playing games. However, I have another friend who started by making 2d games of very low effort and is still stuck on making the same sort of games.
Are there any resources which I should be aware of that would help me in making games, at this stage should I participate in Game Jams. Moreover, what projects did you guys made starting out, what resources or tutorials helped you the most?
Scope small, smaller than you think your current skillset is
Challenge yourself - try to learn things rather than just copy/follow tutorials. Tutorials are fine, but always make sure after to test and practise so you actually learn
Actually finish - its easy to get carried away but scope small and keep it small, finish and release and move on
Scope a little bit bigger / challenge yourself a little bit more the next time
If you rinse and repeat that, it doesnt matter what you are making - you will become a better and better game developer and slowly get a portfolio of projects.
It takes many pieces of poop before you lay that golden egg, so best to keep those pieces of poop small and frequent in the meantime (Terrible analogy I know, this is what lack of coffee does to a developer)
Welcome to the community! Post what you are working on in the relevant sections, do not be afraid to ask questions, and have fun! Join the discord too!
Thanks for replying @MadeFromPolygons_1 I agree with you, personally I would like to experiment a bit with different projects instead of starting one big project and realizing that I don’t like it later on but still making it because of the sunken cost. Specifically my question is what kinds of projects I should make, should I start by making a rolling ball game or a match 3 game, or should I start with making new versions of old school games.
Also, that was a hilarious analogy and I get the point. I have been taking a look at the community, most of the questions a person usually has in mind have already been answered, but it is still helpful that people are there to help if a new one pops in. I might not join the discord, though, it’s too fast-paced and unfocused for my liking.
Make a tiny mobile game from start to finish. Release it to the public and see what happens. This will teach you a lot. DON’T attempt to make a big game. A small puzzle game is enough of a challenge for almost all beginners.
1980s arcade games. Pong, frogger, space invader, asteroids, breakout. This sort of things.
Not much point, as you won’t be able to complete a game in a short amount of time requires skill. That’s if you’re alone. If you have a team, you could try.
I programmed XO on a programmable calculator. Youtube and google didn’t exist and there were no tutorials aside from a single book.
I disagree with the idea of doing random generic games. Make your dream game, in whatever form is within your skillset. If a text game format is all you can muster, make that.
The reality of game dev is pain and hard work, and the only way to make that worthwhile is to aim at something meaningful. Theoretical golden paths of learning are for schools and universities. When you’re six months in sitting in your basement alone in front of your computer, having just had the bittersweet experience of finally understanding where one tiny piece in the jigsaw puzzle of game development goes, the only thing that will keep you coming back is firing up your project which, when you play it and stretch your imagination to its limits, starts to resemble the game you’ve always wanted to make.
A person who is just starting out is often unsure about their skills. If they were sure, they wouldn’t be asking for advice.
So, the reason why it is suggested to start with small projects, is because it is something they’ll likely be able to finish. By finishing the project, they’ll realize “Hey, I can do it”, they’ll give their positive emotions and they’ll be able to keep moving.
What will happen if they will tackle their dream project instead? Their dream project will be far beyond the scope they can handle, so they’ll try to fight it for a while, will try to make it happen, and then the project will die, and they’ll experience their dream being crushed. At which point they can just abandon all this completely.
The problem is that most people have a terrible idea of their “dream game”. It’s almost always some kind of high concept, like “Skyrim, but in Arabia”, or “WoW, but with action combat”. They almost NEVER want to make the “next Tetris”. They very often want to make an RPG. Why? Because they want to “tell a story”. Why? Because they are completely unable to design good gameplay, so they think that you will “unlock new story arcs by winning cool fights”. This kind of “designs” are very common among beginners and it always is a failure and a MASSIVE amount of wasted effort.
get a 8 bit era game commodore or arcade…look at it and try to reproduce it …on the way mess with unity …that7s a not so bad approach …learn by doing is usually the best
I very much like systems design and for the life of me I cannot figure out why so many people want to get into game design and start off with a story.
As for the whole “make your dream game” thing, I half agree.
I worked for a long long long time on my first game while learning to code and use unity.
It was pretty good.
Looked good.
And people who tested it gave me lots of positive feedback.
Then I had a bit of a crisis (major death and change of career) and by the time I got back to it I just couldn’t find the energy to return to it.
It was a cellphone game.
I don’t hate phone games, but after 30 minutes on one I’m done.
So I really don’t know why I ever picked a phone game to work on.
I may return to it just to finish it off in about the 20 hours it would take to complete, but right now I’m reinvested in something I ACTUALLY would play.
It’s a Doom Metroidvania, and will probably take a couple thousand hours to make.
But I’m okay with that, because I’m having fun.
And if you aren’t having fun, why do it at all?
That said, I’m not foolish enough to try and make my DREAM game.
My DREAM game is likely 20,000 hours of work and requires millions in art assets.
I think 3D is easier than 2D for a first project. You can get some 3D models off the Asset Store for cheap or free. Game mechanics and complexity, keep it as simple as Atari 2600 games.
wow! so many replies. I guess the consensus is the same, to make a game that wouldn’t take too long to make and can be finished. Most of the suggestions were about making 2D games, maybe because they’re less complex and the assets are less difficult to create, but I do agree with @Billy4184 there is no use of making generic games, it can be pretty daunting to complete a game if the heart isn’t in it.
This is not true. Depends on the game. They are recommending simple games so you learn and you don’t give up half-way, when nothing is working and you’re all alone and everything is a catastrophe.
That’s dev-life. That’s why they recommend short games. You can learn and can not give up.
(Terrible analogy I know, this is what lack of coffee does to a developer)