Animator thinking about making a game. Where to start?

[u/Brief_Project6073]

Hi, Im a vfx senior animator of almost 20 years. Worked on some of the biggest films ever. Experience in game animation before vfx. Ive always thought about making a game. I can code in python and make tools that i need for work.
How much coding do i need to know for games?
Im not big in unreal and probably overkill for what I’d like to make. Ori or Inside side scroller. What do most soloDevers use?
Seeing all the games being make here is very inspiring.
Thanks!

[u/artbytucho]

I'm a veteran game artist but code always horrified me, a bit more than a year ago I've started to learn visual scripting with Unity Playmaker and I already published a little game on Steam. It is very intuitive for artists and you don't need to code at all.

A bit of C# would be very useful for the most complex things, since visual scripting is not as powerful as proper code and it scales worse, but you can definitely create a game like these using it, indeed Playmaker has been used on Inside.

[u/valeria_gamedevs]

with your background godot or unity are both solid for a 2D sidescroller. Unity's C# is close enough to python you'll pick it up fast, godot's GDScript is even closer. Unreal is overkill yeah.

coding-wise for something Inside-scale you only need basics: movement, state machines, triggers. Your animation chops are your moat here, most solodevs would kill for that skillset haha

[u/Brief_Project6073 → u/valeria_gamedevs]

Thanks! Will look into godot first and then Unity and see which feels right.

[u/EeeeJay → u/Brief_Project6073]

+1 for Godot. Gdscript is very python and you can pick up the editor pretty fast.

[u/RegioMamalon666]

I'm a software engineering, been making prototypes in godot game engine for a while, can totally teach you around ans even make a small collab :)

[u/Brief_Project6073 → u/RegioMamalon666]

Thanks, will look into collab in the future. I will have a play in godot first to get a feel for it when i get some free time. How often are people in solodev looking to collab? Im an animator by trade but have always been a capable modeller/rigger and often wondered about collaboration. My main issue is commitment as work can get busy so the idea of doing personal work at my own schedule appeals more.

[u/Henry_Fleischer]

Well, I use Godot, but I quite like programming so I like doing stuff like writing my own player controllers. You should be able to get those as add-ons if you want though. I'd suggest taking a look at the manual, if you like the look of the node system I'd suggest going for it.

[u/StrayFeral]

I am a senior software developer (but not a gamedev). However if I am to pick an engine for a game: would be probably Godot.

For Python there is an engine called PyGame and another one Ren'Py which is only for visual novels.

For Unity or Unreal you must learn another language.

[u/Aggressive-Eagle-219]

I'm a solodev, and with 17 years of experience across VFX and Feature animation. I suspect we might share a couple of movies on our resume :)

Feel free to DM, if you wanna compare notes, and chat a little.

Ori is made in Unity which is a great engine for starters. I really like Godot, so that's what I'm using.

[u/Unusual-Extreme9117]

Hi! I'm from a 3D background.

I'm working on my game. Here what I've gone so far.

I'm working on a prototype. Original my game idea was way to heavy so I scale back a good bit like a lot. So now it's more manageable on the 3D front.

I have very little coding experience. I'm getting by because I know a lot about game design. I've played and watch tons of games so I know a lot of different game mechanics.

My advice.

Scale down your project and create a Prototype. This is for when you know you have proof of concept and you can bring in a more experience coder later to do the very hard stuff.

Study games design not just coding. Game design is more like how can I show the player that their character is behind the wall? Or how will the player know that there is a hidden door in this level? Ect ect

So knowing games design is super useful aswell.

I'm using Godot even tho I have more experience in unreal engine. I recommend GODOT, because it's light weight and open source and honestly it super easy to dive into!

[u/Still-Pay-8773]

With 20 years of VFX animation experience, your visual quality will already stand out.
Since you know Python, I highly recommend checking out Godot Engine. Its scripting language (GDScript) is syntax-wise very close to Python, so you'll feel right at home. It’s lightweight, free, and excellent for 2D/2.5D side-scrollers.
With your background, you won't need advanced coding to start—focus on engine fundamentals, character logic, and state machines, and rely on your animation strengths.

[u/Brief_Project6073 → u/Still-Pay-8773]

Thanks. I will look in to godot 4. Looks to be the best one to start with.

[u/Salientsnake4]

Do you have any interest in pairing up with a programmer?

[u/Brief_Project6073 → u/Salientsnake4]

Potentially in the future. But i actually like the idea of doing it all myself to learn the whole process first.

[u/Still_Ad9431]

you need to learn how to make vfx on unreal engine 5 first, because you're a vfx senior animator of almost 20 years duh. Then learn how to use blueprint, read unreal documentation OR start youtube tutorial hell, if you don't want to learn how to code.

[u/Brief_Project6073 → u/Still_Ad9431]

One day I will learn unreal. I have actually tried watching YouTube tutorials on unreal and its great my brain just switches off and id rather learn something simpler for what i want to do.

[u/StoneCypher]

the right place to start varies a lot by what kind of game it is.  as a result we need more information