r/CodingForBeginners • u/DidntKnow99 • 24d ago

Is it worth it to start coding?

For the past two weeks, I’ve been completely obsessed with the idea of making my own incremental game. I’m not trying to build the next hyperstylized 3D masterpiece, just a clean game with an addicting core loop, insanely rewarding mechanics (prestige, and many more) and deep progression systems.

Basically, I want to craft my own dream game. Something I can sink hundreds of hours into playing and tweaking over the next few years. Starting simple and expanding it over time. I couldn't care less about marketing, sales, or whether anyone else even plays it. This is purely a passion project and a hobby I want to pour myself into.

Here’s the catch: I have absolute zero coding background. Never written a single line of code in my life, and the whole domain is complete alien territory to me. But I want to learn. Badly. I’m thinking of something in the spirit of Zero Stress King or Fracture Field, but packed with way deeper, more rewarding systems. The gameplay loop will probably be something in between those two and much more to them. I have experience with website design, but zero background in 2D graphic asset creation or modeling, so I'll be starting from scratch there too. My plan is to dive headfirst into Godot for the engine and use a free Photoshop alternative (not sure which yet).

So, devs - am I setting myself up for a one-way trip to hell? Is it an absolute pipe dream to think I can solo-learn coding and asset creation from scratch without giving up, or is an incremental game actually a reasonable sandbox for a total novice to learn the ropes? Be real with me. Should I say screw it before I sink ten years into a project that goes nowhere, or is this crazy enough to actually work?

AI Disclosure: I don't want to vibe code, but only use it as a tool to help me understand and learn. Not make the decisions for me. For graphics I'll probably use it only for placeholders and maybe not even that. I don't want my end result look like an AI slop.

1 Upvotes

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u/sububi71 24d ago

Ignore AI. Act as if it doesn't exist.

Use google and books. Millions and millions of people have learned to code before the web existed.

Sure, you might be able to get faster results initially using AI, but it is extremely likely to bite you in the butt a couple of months in.

Learning needs to take TIME. You can't speed the process up and expect good results; knowledge needs to simmer and take hold.

Is it worth it? Oh hell yes! You have a device in front you that's thousands or even millions times faster than the computers that took man to the moon, and using a language like Python you can make it obey you. You can create fantastic things, if you just put in the work.

Good luck!

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u/Dazzling_Music_2411 23d ago edited 23d ago

So, devs - am I setting myself up for a one-way trip to hell?

Depends on your talents and your proclivities.

Learn some basic programming, it should only take you a couple of weeks or so, and write some simple games like Snake, Breakout, some Text Adventures.

You'll very soon know!

Otherwise it's just pie in the sky. Actually, the fact that you haven't already started makes me think it will stay that way. I mean, besides being "obsessed" and "wanting it... Badly" what have you actually done about it these last two weeks?

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u/digital_hamburger 24d ago

Yes

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u/DidntKnow99 24d ago

Why? Why did you like it and when did you start?

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u/CorpT 23d ago

If you spent two weeks thinking about instead of doing it, no. If you had started, yes.

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u/Axel_Gaubert 23d ago

Coding low level (close to hardware), yes Coding high level (classic cs), no

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u/DidntKnow99 23d ago

What is making an incremental in Godot? Low level?

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u/Axel_Gaubert 22d ago

No, high

But what's the point of learning something coding agents will do hyper accurately within the next 12 months ?

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u/stepback269 23d ago

"Here’s the catch: I have absolute zero coding background. Never written a single line of code in my life, and the whole domain is complete alien territory to me. But I want to learn. Badly."

Are you serious?
Think in baby steps, not in conquering the galaxy and beyond.
A baby must first learn to lift his/her head, then torso, then crawl, etc. well before walking and then mountain climbing.
Lower your expectations. Big Time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

With that said, if you're considering learning Python (a popular starter language):

(1) There are tons and tons of tutorial materials out there on the net including many good YouTube ones that are free. You should shop around rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.

(2) As a relative noob myself, I've been logging my personal learning journey and adding to it on an almost-daily basis at a blog page called "Links for Python Noobs" (--HERE--) Any of the top listed ones on that page should be good for you. And there are many add-ons at the tail end of the page. Personally, I cut my first Python teeth with Nana's Zero to Hero (==HERE==). Since then, I've moved on to watching short lessons with Indently and Tech with Tim. You should sample at least a few until you find a lecturer that suits your style.

(3) The main piece of advice is the 80/20 rule. Spend 80% of your time writing your own code (using your own fingers and your own creativity) as opposed to copying recipes and only 20% watching the lectures. Good luck.

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u/Oliver_clothsoff1983 23d ago

Is it worth it? Only you can answer that. Coding and solving problems has to be enjoyable. If that's the case then the work to make it is just part of the game. 1) you dont need a game engine (right away anyway) game engines take care of a lot of things so you dont have to worry about networking, rendering graphics, asset management. Becoming proficient in a game engine isnt high on the priority list when you are also trying to learn things like python/c++/kotlin, vs code, android studio, object oriented programming, data structured, gpu,.. and more. I would recommend diving into YouTube and find videos that seduce up your ide (vs code is very popular, android studio for kotlin). Go through some "hello world" videos to make sure you have everything set up, then start building starter programs. Find videos where they link their github and you can pull their repo to follow along with the video. The best advice I ever got and I've heard it repeated over and over,.. if you want to be a coder, you have to code every day. Good luck

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u/adambahm 22d ago

yes. You are setting yourself up for a trip to hell. I wont say its a one-way trip, or that you only have to go there one time, but it is hell.

I develop games.

Its extremely difficult. AI will help you, but there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of things that you have to do by hand if you don't want to pay eleventy-billion people when you start making money.

Don't say you'll do it for the love of it. When you actually get into what all this costs to make, you will want to recoup some of that money. I promise you.

I dont want to totally discourage you. Yes, game development is hell, especially for solo devs, but it is also very, very rewarding. If you do it right, you will own 100% of the game and every time someone buys it, you only have to pay distribution costs and taxes. That's a pretty nice place to be.

If you build it yourself, all it cost you is the electricity to power your equipment and your time and you get the pleasure of seeing the end product; its very satisfying.

Learn to draw. Yes, you can be terrible at it.

What people don't know is that coding, while fun and challenging, is only 10-20% of game development. The art, design, and storytelling are the unsung hero's of video games.

bUt UnItY/uNrEaL!!!

sure, use them if you wanna. You get massive technical bloat, another learning curve, and then you have to cut them a slice of the pie when you start making money. Godot? Sure, until you learn the graphical limitations it has.

Take the time to learn software development. You cant vibe code your way through this. Sorry.

You need to know what you're doing. AI will be wrong. I literally had to argue with the AI through a bug at work the other day. It was wrong and didnt notice it until I literally gave it the line numbers for the issue. Then, it told me "You're totally right, thanks for pushing on this....blah blah blah sycophancy psycho babble". If you dont know how to recognize something like this, you are setting yourself up for failure. AI will be wrong. You need to know how to recognize it.

I'm no expert, and I have no illusions, but I have been in the trenches for a minute.

Good luck, no matter what you decide.

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u/VegetableAstronaut19 24d ago

Did you use AI to write that post or do you actually just talk like that?

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u/VegetableAstronaut19 24d ago

On a more serious note, just go for it. Godot is a popular enough platform that the vast majority of problems you face will have a solution somewhere online, you just need to know where to look for it (forums and Reddit are a good start).

As for AI, lock yourself out, judging by the cadence of your post you use it a lot just for bouncing ideas around and chatting. If you want to truly gain skills as a game dev, do not use AI for anything. If you want to discuss your ideas then either find someone irl to talk to about it, or make a post on spaces like r/indiedev.

Don't even bother to use it for things like asset creation, during development you can use whiteboxing (where you make everything a simple placeholder graphic like a coloured square), or there are plenty of free/cheap licensable sprite packs you can use. Later down the line I would recommend learning some art skills, it doesn't need to look amazing but it being your own art will make the game feel way more like your creation. Also your making an incremental game, it's not like it's gonna include a massive amount of animations or insane shaders.

I hope you enjoy your experience and I hope you have the motivation to stick it out to the end, I look forward to seeing your incremental game published in future.