M
mysticjim
Guest
So, it's pretty much as the title says!
I've primarily got back into game making after a long hiatus. Messed about with Gamesalad, enjoyed it but quickly hit it's limitations (tried to make a Plants Vs Zombies clone, crashed it with 10 moving sprites on the screen!)
Wanted something with coding options. Had a brief go on Construct 2, didn't like it, prefered Gamesalad, but didn't give it a fair crack to be honest.
Tried Gamemaker, loved it, despite it having a few features I don't like (hate the Room editor most of all) - but there are plenty of threads about what it doesn't do, I was quite chuffed that I could get working ideas prototyped nice and quickly, and I could get my head around the coding language having not coded in years.
However, my main motivation was to create little 2D games for my 6 year old son to play. Despite having an Xbox360 and tons of games, his favourite gaming weapon of choice is our crappy little 7" Samsung Android tablet. He loves the thing. And while my current game making exploits are purely a passion project, I figured if I could find something that really captivated my little boy then I might be to polish it up to such a standard that I could try releasing it on the Android Play store and marketing it, etc.
And while I loved my initial experiences of working on Gamemaker, I obviously discovered early on the fact that you need to buy Studio Pro, and then shell out almost double that to export to Android, just to test the game out on an Android device to see if the damn thing works or if it looks/runs like crap.
This in itself is okay, the price point is pretty reasonable, although I'm pretty cash-strapped it has to be said.
Whilst I was getting to grips with Gamemaker, and I think making lots of really good progress, I was testing on my PC. And my son was impressed with my early prototypes, but soon I got the inevitable, 'so, when can I play this on the tablet, Dad?' The answer, 'when Dad is lucky enough to have a spare £200 burning a whole in his bank account,' didn't really cut it! I do wish there was a free built in function for quick testing on a target device. That would certainly have appeased the little cherub while I slowly and diligently saved up the money to buy the features I really need!.
So, under pressure from a 6 year old, and in a moment of weakness, I thought I'd give Unity a go. It's free, you get a lot thrown in to start with, it has a big wealth of tutorials, a huge community (not as freindly as the Gamemaker crowd, though ) and you can export to Android without opening your wallet.
So how have I gotten on so far (about 2 weeks in.) Well, I took more or less the same approach that I took to GameMaker. I studied. I did a load of newbie tutorials, successfully exported some test projects. I can just about navigate through the user interface. I think the 2D features in Unity get a bit of a bad wrap, they're quite good and I could see a lot of things built in that actually need a lot more effort to execute in GameMaker (layers and grouping are very useful) but 3D is a complete minefield, but I figured I could build up to that.
But I am having trouble with the coding. C# is complicated - and while I can just about understand what I'm doing - it's a real labour, but I expected that. I've worked my way through most of the Microsoft Academy Beginning C# tutorial and it's gradually going in, but it makes my head hurt so much.
And these last few days I've been thinking, when I used to get a game idea - without even going near the computer, I'd be able to plan roughly how I'd go about making it in GameMaker. In Unity, not a clue.
It's mostly the coding - I really took to GML. I know it's based on a language that hardcore coders sneer at, but I found it so intuitive. But also, the method for building a project, how to organise it, etc, I really got my head around that fast. I may not be able to produce a professional game yet, but I can clearly see exactly what things I'd need to improve, and I can realistically envisage how it would work.
But with Unity, there is so much to contend with, so much to grasp early on, and a much more complicated language to get your head around, it really hurts!
So, I was sat there, watching a newbie Unity tutorial, barely comprehending what was happening, and I thought, man I miss Gamemaker! I really do. And I thought, what if I flogged some stuff on Ebay, I could buy those damn extras that would enable me to do what I wanted in the first place using the tool that I've taken to so much better.
I feel pretty weak for going down that route. I know Unity is a very powerful tool, and with enough study I could get reasonably proficient at it. I may well one day. I don't know. It was fear of coding that made me try out GameSalad at the start. As I said, I got to Gamemaker and really took to GML, but C# restored all that coding-phobia I'd almost discarded - it was every bit as difficult as I thought it would be, and I know it will not get any easier for months. I reckon it would take me at least a year of graft to get anywhere near doing what I can code in my head in GML right now.
When I make something in GameMaker, even when I get stuck on something, I feel alright because I at least know I will be able to find the solution pretty soon. I typically end a programming session feeling satisfied. I finish a session learning basics on Unity feeling like I've been mentally beaten up! And as for appeasing my son - he was quite impressed with my simple ideas made in Gamemaker when he saw them on my PC. He was totally unimpressed with the 16 hours that went into trying to follow a basic Unity tutorial that resulted in him being able to push a 3D primitive around the screen on the tablet. Phrases like, 'Is that all it does?' or 'how do I shoot missles?' are cutting me like knives! And responses from myself like 'you will be able to, in about 3 years time,' - are met with looks of utter contempt and disdain!
So that's where I am. Maybe I am simply Yoyo Games total target market? I feel like a shoddy coder with not enough time on his hands! I don't know. Maybe I'm the lowest of the low, someone who only works well with a tool that gives near instant gratification? I hope it's simply a case of Gamemaker possibly being the best tool on the market for unlocking the creative ideas of someone who perhaps just hasn't got the time or patience for C#, or the complicated nature of Unity's interface. I guess I'm just going to have to buy those Gamemaker extras I need and actually create something that is truly impressive to make me feel better about myself now!
Just wondering, has anyone else here been mentally scarred by trying to learn Unity?
I've primarily got back into game making after a long hiatus. Messed about with Gamesalad, enjoyed it but quickly hit it's limitations (tried to make a Plants Vs Zombies clone, crashed it with 10 moving sprites on the screen!)
Wanted something with coding options. Had a brief go on Construct 2, didn't like it, prefered Gamesalad, but didn't give it a fair crack to be honest.
Tried Gamemaker, loved it, despite it having a few features I don't like (hate the Room editor most of all) - but there are plenty of threads about what it doesn't do, I was quite chuffed that I could get working ideas prototyped nice and quickly, and I could get my head around the coding language having not coded in years.
However, my main motivation was to create little 2D games for my 6 year old son to play. Despite having an Xbox360 and tons of games, his favourite gaming weapon of choice is our crappy little 7" Samsung Android tablet. He loves the thing. And while my current game making exploits are purely a passion project, I figured if I could find something that really captivated my little boy then I might be to polish it up to such a standard that I could try releasing it on the Android Play store and marketing it, etc.
And while I loved my initial experiences of working on Gamemaker, I obviously discovered early on the fact that you need to buy Studio Pro, and then shell out almost double that to export to Android, just to test the game out on an Android device to see if the damn thing works or if it looks/runs like crap.
This in itself is okay, the price point is pretty reasonable, although I'm pretty cash-strapped it has to be said.
Whilst I was getting to grips with Gamemaker, and I think making lots of really good progress, I was testing on my PC. And my son was impressed with my early prototypes, but soon I got the inevitable, 'so, when can I play this on the tablet, Dad?' The answer, 'when Dad is lucky enough to have a spare £200 burning a whole in his bank account,' didn't really cut it! I do wish there was a free built in function for quick testing on a target device. That would certainly have appeased the little cherub while I slowly and diligently saved up the money to buy the features I really need!.
So, under pressure from a 6 year old, and in a moment of weakness, I thought I'd give Unity a go. It's free, you get a lot thrown in to start with, it has a big wealth of tutorials, a huge community (not as freindly as the Gamemaker crowd, though ) and you can export to Android without opening your wallet.
So how have I gotten on so far (about 2 weeks in.) Well, I took more or less the same approach that I took to GameMaker. I studied. I did a load of newbie tutorials, successfully exported some test projects. I can just about navigate through the user interface. I think the 2D features in Unity get a bit of a bad wrap, they're quite good and I could see a lot of things built in that actually need a lot more effort to execute in GameMaker (layers and grouping are very useful) but 3D is a complete minefield, but I figured I could build up to that.
But I am having trouble with the coding. C# is complicated - and while I can just about understand what I'm doing - it's a real labour, but I expected that. I've worked my way through most of the Microsoft Academy Beginning C# tutorial and it's gradually going in, but it makes my head hurt so much.
And these last few days I've been thinking, when I used to get a game idea - without even going near the computer, I'd be able to plan roughly how I'd go about making it in GameMaker. In Unity, not a clue.
It's mostly the coding - I really took to GML. I know it's based on a language that hardcore coders sneer at, but I found it so intuitive. But also, the method for building a project, how to organise it, etc, I really got my head around that fast. I may not be able to produce a professional game yet, but I can clearly see exactly what things I'd need to improve, and I can realistically envisage how it would work.
But with Unity, there is so much to contend with, so much to grasp early on, and a much more complicated language to get your head around, it really hurts!
So, I was sat there, watching a newbie Unity tutorial, barely comprehending what was happening, and I thought, man I miss Gamemaker! I really do. And I thought, what if I flogged some stuff on Ebay, I could buy those damn extras that would enable me to do what I wanted in the first place using the tool that I've taken to so much better.
I feel pretty weak for going down that route. I know Unity is a very powerful tool, and with enough study I could get reasonably proficient at it. I may well one day. I don't know. It was fear of coding that made me try out GameSalad at the start. As I said, I got to Gamemaker and really took to GML, but C# restored all that coding-phobia I'd almost discarded - it was every bit as difficult as I thought it would be, and I know it will not get any easier for months. I reckon it would take me at least a year of graft to get anywhere near doing what I can code in my head in GML right now.
When I make something in GameMaker, even when I get stuck on something, I feel alright because I at least know I will be able to find the solution pretty soon. I typically end a programming session feeling satisfied. I finish a session learning basics on Unity feeling like I've been mentally beaten up! And as for appeasing my son - he was quite impressed with my simple ideas made in Gamemaker when he saw them on my PC. He was totally unimpressed with the 16 hours that went into trying to follow a basic Unity tutorial that resulted in him being able to push a 3D primitive around the screen on the tablet. Phrases like, 'Is that all it does?' or 'how do I shoot missles?' are cutting me like knives! And responses from myself like 'you will be able to, in about 3 years time,' - are met with looks of utter contempt and disdain!
So that's where I am. Maybe I am simply Yoyo Games total target market? I feel like a shoddy coder with not enough time on his hands! I don't know. Maybe I'm the lowest of the low, someone who only works well with a tool that gives near instant gratification? I hope it's simply a case of Gamemaker possibly being the best tool on the market for unlocking the creative ideas of someone who perhaps just hasn't got the time or patience for C#, or the complicated nature of Unity's interface. I guess I'm just going to have to buy those Gamemaker extras I need and actually create something that is truly impressive to make me feel better about myself now!
Just wondering, has anyone else here been mentally scarred by trying to learn Unity?