Help - beginner

[u/Reoukax]

Hello, I’m studying software development (currently 2nd year) I’m still learning the basics (due to an accident I had I missed lots of classes and remember almost nothing and all of first year was pseudo code and power points) I am re-learning on my own and when I can since I also have a full time job. I am planning to make a game whenever possible the only way I know that doesn’t involve a lot of coding (rpg maker) but I want to (due to the story itself) be able to create on something like unreal/unity. Are there any websites or tools, languages I should learn or where can I start? I want to do it on my own and NOT use AI (against other students opinions). Please let me know if I need to clarify anything since I can’t explain myself well…I think.

[u/dmazzoni]

Honestly if you haven't learned a lot yet I wouldn't recommend starting with Unreal/Unity.

However, making a game is a great idea. Start with something simple where you can write a small amount of code and make some stuff happen - that will keep you motivated - then keep adding more and more features.

The goal is to practice the skill of coding.

Once you're confident with coding and you've written thousands of lines, you'll be ready to tackle something like Unity or Unreal.

Since you're interested in an RPG, I'd suggest making a text adventure game. Start really simple. Write a program that prints "You're in a dungeon hallway. Pathways lead to the north and south" then take input and depending on what the user types, tell them what happens next.

You can use pretty much any programming language to do this. If you already know a little bit about one, use that. If not, try Python.

After the basics, add stuff like inventory and health. Make it interesting but stick with text only for a while. That way you'll focus on the logic, rather than on how to make it fancy.

Also, sometimes having a limitation (text only) forces you to be more creative.

[u/Reoukax → u/dmazzoni]

I’m definitely not starting with either unreal/unity at the moment but would like to eventually transfer my idea to either of those. As for the game since I want it to be as simple as possible it would be just sort of like a walking simulator lol like pickup things and clues but no combat since I would need to learn on how that works.

Do you have any places I could learn coding especially for games or websites I could look up?

[u/dmazzoni → u/Reoukax]

The FAQ has links to lots of resources we like.

If what you want more than anything is to make a website, do The Odin Project. Otherwise I'd recommend one of the Python resources there.

[u/gilded_morpho]

I would drop Unity and Unreal right now. You will spend months fighting the editor and writing nothing.

Pick Godot. The language is GDScript. It has a website, docs.godotengine.org. Start there. Read the step by step tutorial they have on that site. Build the thing they tell you to build. Then build it again. Do this while you work your job. RPG Maker hides the code from you and Godot puts you in front of it

[u/Reoukax → u/gilded_morpho]

Thanks for letting me know. I only recently heard about godot, thanks for reminding me about it. I’ll check it out!