#the complete unity game development course

[bobacupcake]

Hi Rob! After the events of last year I was really saddened by what happened with Unity, and haven't checked on it since. It feels like people are talking about Unity like normal again... Did things change back and it's okay to use again, or should I completely scrap my project?

unity walked back some of the changes, main points being

fee is no longer retroactive, only applies to unity 2024 and up

fee only applies to games with over 1 million in revenue over the course of a year, AND 1 million users

fee is now a choice between either self reported downloads, or a flat 2.5% revshare, whichever is lower, over the initial 1 million

ceo resigned

what that means for you is up to you ! most people are still pretty unhappy about the initial breach of trust. for bigger companies this also still means the per-seat cost that they were used to PLUS revshare, so a lot of them are considering switching to unreal since thats just revshare, but, i assume most of us here are not bigger companies, so its really just a case of, what you want to do with it

personally i am sticking with unity because i just cant really afford to learn another engine right now (which would probably be godot since getting away from unity just to go to unreal seems counterproductive for me . also i just dont like using unreal ..) godots also still a bit in its early stages, and this will absolutely change with all the attention its gotten, but again i cant really wait for that to happen.. and while some of my 8years of unity experience will carry over, id have to relearn a lot too and its just not feasible for someone who needs to launch a game like. Last Year

a lot of people still are switching though just because of the initial breach of trust, knowing that something like this could happen Again , jumping off a sinking ship, etc etc . a lot of people have been unhappy with unity for a While, it has a ton of different half-finished systems in place, some of them overlapping with eachother, while people really just want them to iron things out, focus on the structural issues people have when trying to launch a game with unity (unity was actually doing something like this, they were making a whole full fledged game in unity internally and going to release it as an example project. it got cancelled because they ran into structural issues trying to launch a game with unity . )

SO, basically . long story short its complicated . a lot of the initial issues got reversed, but the fact that they thought it was a good idea in the first place reveals larger issues that are going to take a while to address and build back trust of developers again . do what you feel is best for you. i Want off the unity ship but for me its going to have to be when im in a more stable place to actually do that... some day i hope to try out godot

[theroyalliance]

All About The Royale Alliance ₊ ⊹ ♡

We are a newly developed organization opposed to the capitalist practices at Royale High.

Royale High used to be an all-time favorite game for many. Unfortunately, It's all flashy garbage now, meaningless, fueled by inflation and boring updates. Capitalism has stripped this game completely away of its joy, and has horrifically thrown this game into a major crisis. the highest goal of this in-game system is profit and only profit. It’s not fun anymore. We undoubtedly need change. ✨ You can help the fight with the power of your participation(& more!)

“How can I join?” Easy! Our demands as listed:

• Include yourself in protests hosted by Royalliance if available.

• Boycotting Royale High is the best course of action you could take. Don't give them any money or invest in anything that might benefit them financially.

• Use the following tag: ‘#DownWithTheCrown’ Or emojis, as: 👑⚔️

• Keep talking about it while getting others involved. Your voice speaks volumes but your actions always speak louder.

You can also find us on other social media sites such as, X, Facebook, Tiktok, Insta, Etc. Be sure to follow our accounts to stay connected.

If you aren't available to do some of the things previously listed, that's perfectly okay!

What makes you a real Royalliance member is dedication, knowledge and commitment. (and that try your best not to give them profit lmfao) However, it’s important to keep in mind that unity and solidarity with your community is essential 💕

Members aren't a competition, they're a goal.

We kindly invite you to join our community if this resonated with you and you strongly agree with our beliefs & statements. 🎀

[canmom]

the unity thing is a hot mess huh. they will probably find some way to walk back some of it in response to backlash, clarify the install fee if they do commit, and solve some of the cases where it's prohibitively expensive (mostly f2p mobile games), maybe delay the Jan 1st deadline because their 'install detection' tech obviously isn't there - but 'retroactively changing the license' part is the really scary one. especially since this goes against some of the on-record promises made by Unity in the past.

it's kind of impressive how like... one of the cornerstones of the entire modern game dev industry can completely evaporate its trust overnight. this has apparently has to do with the company's IPO, the loss of most of the founders, the ex-EA CEO etc. but regardless of motivation, it's extremely horrible from a game preservation standpoint if we start to see games getting pulled from stores to shield against the new install fee.

this means everyone's going to start looking for Unity alternatives. the obvious one that comes to mind is Godot, which has the advantage of being lightweight and open source. however, Godot's got significant performance issues baked into its architecture, especially in comparison to Unity's DOTS and Burst compiler. by contrast, Unreal is a beast in terms of grahpical performance (not so much CPU-side, it's beaten by DOTS there), but it's anything but lightweight - on my old laptop the editor had a bit of a tendency to swallow up my 1050Ti's VRAM and crash. still, this will probably be a real shot in the arm for Unreal lmao

Bevy is the engine with the most promise imo (pure ECS with the power of the Rust compiler underlying it), but Bevy is immature, and lacks a lot of features you depend on in Unity (which is to say, Unity has some really great tools for profiling and debugging which Bevy lacks, plus Unity has a lot of good built in systems for VFX, shader authoring etc.) particularly the rendering side needs a lot of work. if anything good comes of this, it might be a whole lot more interest in developing Bevy.

for my line of work in VR, if Unity becomes toxic, this is pretty devastating. nearly every game for standalone VR is made in Unity - I feel like I can count the non-Unity games on the Quest 2 on one hand. almost all the pedagogical information out there is written for Unity. so I can only speculate what's gonna happen there. it may be that Unity is able to stay on as the default for Quest 2/3, since Meta has made it so most games are sold on a flat one-time price rather than f2p. of course it does rather depend whether Unity's secret proprietary install-counting tool starts counting pirate installs.

all in all I guess we see how this shakes out but it's kind of a rough thing to happen less than a year after I become a game dev working in unity ^^'

[blogchaindeveloper]

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[s-lycopersicum]

There are many ways to go about making a browser game, but since I don't want to deal with a big tangled mess like Unity, I am going with a small HTML5 engine, which requires a build system.

With the state of web development, one is never starved for choice of build systems, but I had one priority in mind: it has to do as much of the work for me as possible. For that, I needed something I could expand easily.

But therein lies the trouble... Since a lot of these systems were designed to handle very complex projects, they ended up incurring a lot of complexity themselves. Like, Rollup, buddy, I enjoyed with you for a while, but I'm not uncovering the tree of life just to write a plugin for you. In the end, I chose esbuild. It felt well-designed and, most importantly, it didn't look like it would take a 300-hour course to understand.

And understand I did! As part of the "do as little manual work as possible", I wanted to see if I could work with the individual texture files and have the bundler take care of the texture atlas in the end. And the result. Is. Flawless.

I made so it would watch and update the atlas whenever I edit one of the textures, and it caches the results based on the packer options, and so it's fast. Once I assign the files to the engine, I don't even have to think about packing the textures anymore. It just happens.

There's just so many pending tasks in the road to the complete thing, so it's a great relief to just get rid of one of them like that.

That is...

Unless it breaks.

[automatonwritingproject]

What are your main inspirations when writing your stories?

Since I've only just sorted out how tags work, this could very well be the first people hear of my writing project. If that is the case, hello there! I don't want to be taken seriously at all, and my work is completely open to the public domain, and to public forum of critique, it's why I'm here. I don't want to be arrogant and say that I get my writing from a set list of places, I'm sure i've subconsciously drawn on a lot of things that have just invaded my brain and stayed there. For this project, my biggest influences have just been the stuff I've been indulging in while writing. A lot of the hallucinatory stuff with the automaton's memories came from Miracle Musical's Hawaii Pt: II, especially when touching on themes of insanity.

Furthermore, a lot of the emotion i'm trying to portray within the automaton comes from Cowboy Beebop, obviously Spike Spiegel in that show, but also the show's governing philosophy of the past in general, lingering on it, and the danger that comes from that. Linking this to that show's influences, the automaton is almost certainly inspired by the "man with no name" type western tropes of a soft-spoken cowboy lawmaker, and i plan to touch on this and gently lampshade it in my next short story.

It's also just been a weird period in my life, so a lot of stuff about psychology and psychoanalysis has been creeping into my vocabulary (you might notice if you read my stories that I rely on the word "subconscious" as a crutch waaaaay too much) which has driven a lot of the analysis within the work of the automaton's inner workings- I plan to explore it with a lot less flowery language as I have been doing in the next part, not because I don't think the flowery language has it's place, it most certainly does, and the automaton viewing his own brain with this verbose poetry is something worth pointing out, but there is still a cold diagnosis to be displayed here, and this won't be the last time I write about the automaton's brain "acting up". I can't lie, I love drama and theatre studies, so expect a lot more allusions to greek tragedies as this goes on- because ultimately, Aristotelian unities aside, the story of the automaton as I tell it is deeply tragic.

My initial prompt with this writing project was a sort of light deconstruction of Garth Ennisean and Alan Moorean anti-heroes; while I love and enjoy stories like the boys, punisher and watchmen, I sometimes get the impression that while trying to build characters that are morally grey and have more than 2 dimensions, writers can sometimes fall into the traps of creating irredeemable monsters that we are still supposed to follow and relate to. Ennis and Moore both handled it very well, but writing has been in an era of people trying to emulate them, and make comics "edgy". So, I wanted to contrast this by creating a character who started out as an archetypal "anti-hero", but who would, over the course of a full story, develop into a genuine person with connections, and not just be someone living for one purpose, in the case of the automaton, his revenge. Expect that sort of theme to carry on.

Finally, most of the idea for the automaton's amnesia started with Disco Elysium. Disco has always been for me a stand-out story, and as well as the intense dystopian worldbuilding, I like to think that a lot of that game's central ideology can be seen bearing it's head in my writing- while my story is still in it's infancy, I am a committed supporter of the ideas Disco is trying to get across, without naming it directly. Disco, Cowboy Bebop and Hawaii Pt: II are all for me stories that I use as influence purely because they focus entirely on the past, and I want my story to generally move towards the direction of the moral being that the past doesn't define us. The automaton doesn't have to be Harvey Moore, but he also doesn't have to reject that person entirely. Life, memories and whatever state of existence we find ourselves in is entirely dependant on what we make of it. There is always room for improvement. Nobody has to stay an anti-hero.

Thank you if you've stayed through my ramblings. I hope if you find my stories you find them as enjoyable to read as I find them to make. I don't particularly mind if you even like them, just the knowledge that someone can see what I enjoy doing and have an opinion is enough to show to me that there's a good reason to keep going.

Regrettably, this answer is longer than my last story. Don't worry, I'm capping my next one at two-thousand words minimum. I've been slacking on length.

[wobblydev]

just saw a video of unity 3d's upcoming ai "features".

to clarify anyone who thinks my contempt for "ai" is for the technology itself, of course it isn't. it's a tool.

my contempt comes from a stance that it is costing real human beings' livelihoods, while gleefully stealing their hard work to "train on" to cut them out of the production cycle completely, to increase shareholders' dividends.

every artist is in danger now, every single one. animators, illustrators, painters, voice-over, 3d modelers, riggers, lighters, developers, writers, editors, actors, musicians.

and as those jobs disappear, and as commissions dry up because why pay for art when you can click a button and have a computer make it for you, there will be no way to support ourselves creatively any more or ever again.

i wish i could just say "support humans" but we can't, we're all too poor and wrung dry to be able to afford it.

i don't know what to do friends. i wish it could just be a useful tool in my toolbox, but it can't be. i won't use it because it is inherently theft, and the death knell, the nail in the coffin for artists making a living from art.

and i look at my silly little drawings and my unfinished little games and ask what's the point? i don't have time to work on them and why would i now? the internet is glutted with ai trash that looks better than anything i could make in 100 years.

automation ought to empower us, but it never will under capitalism.

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

How about their color theory?

Are...are you asking me about the color theory of the survivors?

Uhhh

You'll notice a lot of green, orange, and purple in these designs, while the intensity varies it does form a bit of a triadic

This helps create a sense of harmony between most of the survivors, they look like they belong together which helps show their unity as a group. However, one character as you notice, does not fit

That character, is Aoi. Aoi has no green, no purple, and has a vibrant red and blue. While other characters, and by other characters i just mean makoto, have some red accent to help accentuate the design, Aoi just straight up stands out from how not like the others she looks. Her color scheme is all wrong when compared to the rest of the survivors, this serves two-fold, it's in character for her to dress in a way that stands out like this, she likes to win after all. Plus it help visually shows that Aoi is a bit different from the rest of the group, while the others grew closer together, Aoi while coming together in the end, for the most parts drifts away from everyone, going through a more negative character development.

While Kyoko also stands out a bit more because of her more pastel colored hair, Aoi just straight doesn't look like she belong. Which is really interesting! Her sharp red and her having the only blue clothing just cements her as more of an outsider!

You'd expect if Danganronpa wanted a group to be complete harmonious we'd get a design more like Chihiro to survive over Aoi but instead Aoi someone who is at worst maybe even clashing survives, which makes sense when you remember how much Aoi morally degraded over the course of the killing game, and it's a SHAME that Aoi is so well set up to be a recurring problem or even foil to Makoto but she never gets to do anything!

[teecupangel]

Did you hear about situation with Unity?

I have and I have spent the past days talking to my friends about it since a few of them have work related to video games. Unity was one (if not the most) of the most used game engines in the industry at the moment. I’m sure there are more people who are more informed than me about just how badly Unity has fucked not just everyone who used their game engine but also themselves. Even if they were to backpedal on this, they’ve lost the trust they have accumulated because they were blinded by greed. And the ones to truly suffer are not just the game devs who had been using Unity that knows they could never pay such absurd fees if it was to come to pass but also those employed by Unity to develop the game engine who have no say in whatever mindnumbing plans their bosses have, not those above who pushed for this. Also, there seemed to be some who believe that the CEO who thought it was a good idea to charge people for reloads in Battlefield when he was the CEO of EA (and that’s not even pointing at the fact that he sold his shares before they announced this) isn’t to blame for this situation but that this was pushed by the board members in Unity that are made up of… well… a majority of which are investment managers. There’s the whole “we won’t charge you if you use our ad monetization service” angle as well so, yeah, this is shaping up be the old “make a ridiculous offer first then start the bargaining until you get your actual target” schtick.

I don’t really have anything more to add to this other than the video game industry has the chance to fuck with those who only see the numbers right now but that would mean having a successful coordinated attack on Unity by (1) not using the engine anymore even when they try to backpedal and then (2) going “no deal” to all and every bargaining chip Unity brings to the table until they completely backpedal to remove all their planned bullshit and (3 – optional) even go as far as having the CEO step down (even if it seems he’s planning to raze the ground and run from the looks of it, not in the “I don’t give a shit anymore” kind of way but in a “Fuck you, board members, I’m out!” kind of way) and, even after they backpedal entirely, (4) everyone do not use Unity for any new games moving forward.

The main point is to give Unity a slow death all the while smacking into everyone’s faces that this is because of the lack of trust.

In this case…

A broken trust must not be repaired. Let it burn slowly until all that is left is ashes.

That would be a statement that those who are fueled by greed can understand if they are not idiots.

And a slow death would give the employees of Unity a chance to abandon ship but, even if this does happen like this, the casualties of this plan would fall on both the employees of Unity and the game developers who now have to learn a new game engine and/or port their games to another game engine. A slow death would minimize the casualties but it would mean more time for those on top to abandon ship. A quick death (find a way to plummet Unity’s stocks to the ground maybe? Idk) would hurt those on top as well but that would also mean more people would suffer as well.

In other words…

Killing Unity may prove to be the best course of action in the long run but there will be casualties and it won’t just be those who deserved it.

Sidebar: if you’re actually asking if any Ubisoft games would be affected by this and I just went on a rant by mistake, sorry about that, nonny, and no, they will not be affected. A lot (if not most) of AAA studios have their own game engine. The Assassin’s Creed series use Ubisoft Anvil which was developed as Scimitar for Altaïr’s Assassin’s Creed and Ubisoft has more game engines under them: Disrupt was created from the ground up for Watch_Dogs, Dunia is a modified version of Crytek’s CryEngine mainly used for Far Cry, and Snowdrop is codeveloped with Massive Entertainment and is used for… different games (The Division, Mario + Rabbids, South Park, etc). So yeah, if you’re worried about how this would affect Ubisoft, it won’t. The only game I could think of that may have been developed using Unity is AC Rebellion (the phone app) and I'm not even sure if it is developed using Unity. Ubisoft’s problem is most probably going to come from the potential SAG-AFTRA video game strike and we’re not sure if (1) the strike will happen and (2) if Ubisoft will be part of the struck companies as most articles only say “includes…” so it’s probably not the full list.

[f0rt1e]

Devlog #0 | An unexpected journey into a game development

What does it take to go from gamer to game creator, especially when you're the team's artist, coder, and tester, all rolled into one? I would like to have an answer!

In this blog, I invite you to join me at the very start of an (hopefully) exciting journey: developing my own indie game, solo. As I dive into the territories of game design and coding, I'll be sharing regular updates about my progress, the hurdles I encounter, the solutions I discover, and the lessons I learn along the way. 

Whether you're someone who's interested in the behind-the-scenes of game creation, a fellow developer, or perhaps someone thinking about starting their own project, this blog will give you a window into the real-time ups and downs of bringing a game to life from scratch.

So why do I want to dive into a gamedev? You know, I've always been hooked on video games, always curious about the magic that goes on behind the scenes. Back in school and through university, I dabbled in a few courses on Unity, GameMaker, and Unreal Engine. But, to be honest, I never really threw myself into it—either the motivation wasn't there, or the ideas just didn't spark. Fast forward a few years, I've kicked off a career in tech, working now as a technical architect, yet my love for games hasn't faded a bit.

Recently, I found myself thinking, "Why not take a crack at the gaming industry?" But with little direct experience or relevant skills, just a ton of passion and a nagging curiosity, I realized I needed something solid to show for myself. So, I signed up for some new courses and decided to start my own little project. It’s sort of a mini-portfolio, something to back up my leap into game development. Let's see where this goes!

Sparkling idea

Lately, I've really gotten into city builders. I've played everything from SimCity to Cities Skylines, and from Banished to Settlers — not to mention the recent Manor Lords. It's been a blast, but sometimes these games can get a bit too intricate and overwhelming. That got me thinking — what if I could create a game that's more laid-back, user-friendly, and just easy to dive into? That's when the idea hit me: why not develop a medieval city builder? I imagined a game with a straightforward economy, some interesting research and discovery elements, but nothing too complicated. With just that simple concept in mind, I started developing my game.

As I mentioned, I was somewhat familiar with Unity, so naturally, I started my project there. I even made some headway — created an island with procedural generation complete with biomes and objects like rocks, trees, and flowers, got some pathfinding in place, and even prototype of a building process. But it didn't take long to realize that Unity might be a bit overkill for what I had in mind. My project wasn't that massive, and Unity felt too complex for my needs.

So, I began looking for something a bit simpler and more user-friendly. That's when I stumbled upon Godot. At first, Godot seemed a bit mysterious, but I decided to dive in and give it a shot. I'm really glad I did! Despite a slight shortage of learning materials, Godot has been a dream to work with. It's flexible, feels more approachable, and has everything I need for my 2D city builder, which, by the way, is going to be in pixel art style.

Right from the start, it's clear that being an artist is pretty much a prerequisite for game development. Sure, you could take the easy route and just buy or download assets, but where's the fun in that? Here's the thing���I'm no artist. Drawing a square is about as artistic as I get, and even then, it's a pretty questionable square. So, learning to create my own graphics was a big hurdle I had to overcome. Pixel art caught my eye because it seemed like it had the most forgiving learning curve for a beginner like me. So, I decided to give it a shot.

Current state and future plans

So here I am, just starting out with my project. I recently moved everything over to Godot, and it feels like a fresh start. Right now, I've decided to put the procedural generation on the back burner. Instead, I'm prioritizing what really matters to me at this stage—creating my first pieces of art, laying down the basics of the road system, buildings, navigation, and sketching out the interface placeholders. I’ll dive deeper into the progress I’ve made in my next post.

It's been almost two months since I started developing this game, and boy, it’s been a journey. There aren’t always clear-cut answers in game development—it’s more like an art form, with your imagination and ideas being the only real limits. I’m constantly faced with new questions and challenges, but that’s what makes this process so exhilarating.

I’m really hoping this is the start of something great, not just another fleeting idea. I want to see it grow into something both playable and visually appealing that I’ve created myself. I’ve got plenty of ideas buzzing around, and I’ll be sure to share them as the game develops and hopefully bring them to life.

Just a note to my future self: all you started with was an idea, interest, and a challenge to yourself.

Keep an eye out for more updates—I’ll have more to share very soon!

By the way - here is the photo of a project 2 months ago:

This white square is a house. Believe or not.

[yamen-yam]

Learning to Learn

Over the course of 12ish weeks, our team of 3 had been working on a game for a project. Alongside, I had another project that documents my journey into learning coding in Unity. The blogging of my docuementation was meant to start a few weeks ago, but with the news about Unity happened. Whilst I know that it doesn't effect my team and I, it had dampened my motivation to post publicly and worry about my future in making games. So I had made just made pages about systems and the development process of our project.

Below is an average overall reflection on my short journey learning to code as an artist

In this project as the programmer learning on the way, I had taken different self-study approaches and talked to a few others to help with my work. Whilst I could visualise how code would look in my head, applying it didn’t always result in what was intended. The biggest culprit was the dialogue system and my own stubbornness to use other users’ packages to aide with the project. Admitting to myself that a task is too difficult, especially with the knowledge I lack in the field, was probably the first step in making progress in development.

Did I do a lot of coding?

Yes and no.

Yes, as I written up multiple attempts at dialogue systems and understanding how loops work.

No, ‘cos I ended up not using 80% of it in the final project.

In saying that, sometimes it is best not to write too much to overcomplicate code that gets interweaved with each other. I found it better to write small individual code that is independent from one another to avoid confusion.

How do I feel about coding now?

It’s fun when it works and makes me rethink life when it doesn’t. Coding, at least in Unity, has methods and functions (are they they same? I don’t really know) that are fairly obvious, like OnTriggerEnter happening when something enters the trigger collider and SetActive to change if the object is active in the scene.

It’s when there is a very specific thing I want that it becomes confusing, where I need to problem solve with the tools available. Making a timer and path for an object to follow separately is fine by it itself, but when combining them I somehow becomes a mess of connected scripts and variables (at least when I work).

I am thankful for all the tutorials online (especially Brackeys lolol) that dive into the lines of code and break them down into their purposes. With the way they explain and use pseudo-code to visualise the process in which the code acts, I can apply their teachings into my own needs by moulding and splicing them together.

Whilst I’m not the best at it, I’d like to think I’m competent enough to code up basic things and branch off from there. Now, the way I see code is similar to reading a recipe or composing music, with steps to follow and jump back and forth from. It’s also great to look at others work and understand their own processes and see what commonalities they all have.

So, what is my learning style?

With the huge setback in Week 9 with restarting of the project, I found that I work best under pressure. It’s not the best and healthiest, as it stresses me the heck out, but it had given me the best results and steam ahead. However, I end up taking huge breaks after deadlines are hit and am reluctant to go back. It becomes a lopsided cycle where majority of the time I’m taking a break or just sitting at the desk and glancing at the project momentarily.

As Wu in 'Time pressure changes how people explore and respond to uncertainty' had experimented, I am less relucant to work when time pressure is forced onto me. I don't worry about the risks and I instead worry if I can even complete the outcome.

Thinking about it deeper, it’s really just Pomodoro but flipped around. That style of learning I had found to grant some progress at the beginning, but soon began to lose its effectiveness as I had begun to just wait for the clock to tick by until my next break.

So maybe for my next game or game jam, I’ll use this technique because I’m soon going to be unrestrained by the clasps of attending classes and multiple deadlines for entirely separate subjects.

Did I have fun?

Only at the start with the character controller lol

Otherwise, it’s a no. I like art too much.

[thy-kneecaps]

A Sick Man Learns Ren'Py

Apparently, all it took for me to make progress was being sick for a weekend.

I’ve been quietly working on a dating sim about a sea slug girl for a few months now. It’s been a bit slow-going; between developing Riverboat Pachinko, job-hunting, and job… working, I haven’t really found the time to sit down figure out Ren’Py. That is, until this weekend – when a cold completely fried my brain, basically ensuring I wouldn’t be writing any coherent cover letters for a few days.

What I did have the brain capacity to do, was to sit in front of several hours of Ren’Py tutorials on YouTube. So… I did – and it went surprisingly well!

This is nothing particularly impressive at the moment – but it’s about two hours of work, all of which was done through a head cold. It helps that I already had a pretty good idea of what sort of game I was trying to make, and had a grasp on how to go about coding in the systems I had in mind. I also had some basic python experience, so the only gap in my knowledge was really Ren’Py itself.

Overall, that part of it has proven to be… not too complicated, actually. My biggest hurdle was probably understanding how the engine separates Python from its own script; I assumed going in that I would need more Python than I actually do, and tripped over myself a few times instinctively trying to call functions in the middle of Ren’Py scenes. It didn’t take to long to realize what was going on there, though.

I apologize for this meme. I’m still sick while making this.

All-in-all, prototyping with this engine seems to move incredibly quickly – compared to the usual setup I deal with in Unity. I started small with this one, of course, and the real test will come when I start trying to work in some of the more fiddly systems I have in mind. However, I’m at the point where I think I might be able to actually get something substantial done on this in the next few weeks.

For now, though, I’m still sick – so I’m going to scrap the rest of what I was going to write here, keep this post short and simple, and go to sleep 🙂

Thanks for reading, and be well!

[dumbfinntales]

This might come as a surprise, I made a game! Yes, I made a short little test game set in the Kalevala universe of Finnish myths and legends. I’ve already done one game in the past, but that was in 2013 or so and the old link is long dead. Not sure where that one is atm. But here’s a link to the game:

https://dumbfinntales.itch.io/vinminen-the-adventure

You’ll find all you need on the itch.io page including install instructions. I’ll talk a little more about the experiences and what I learned under the read more. So if you’re not interested, enjoy! The game is very short.

I made the game with the intention of learning Unity and it being my first ever test project, so it wasn’t meant to be super polished. But I decided to share it publicly because I am somewhat proud of it. But boy was it a learning experience.

For one I learned that making detailed animation is HARD. I need to find a more simplified art style and try new methods for making animation. I’m just not good enough at making animation frame by frame and actually make it look good. You can see me try that with the giant fish enemy, and then completely give up with animation on the Joukahainen boss fight.

I also learned that making games is hard. Things that seem so simple to implement are actually really difficult. Like I tried to make an enemy spawn when the player reached a specific spot and then give the enemy a spawn animation. Simple, right? Nope. A ton of problems cropped up like the enemy attacking in its spawn animation, the enemy instantly respawning after dying or it just turns immortal for whatever reason. In the end I got it to work, but my code probably looks like spaghetti.

But in the end this was a valuable learning experience. I did the whole project on my free time, and I admit I took long breaks from it. I was supposed to finish this last summer. I’m currently in a school for programming and there’ll be some game development courses, so we’ll see what things I’ll produce in the coming years!

[xtcpanda]

Roadmap to Becoming a Game Developer Artist and Designer: Tips for Success

Are you interested in becoming a game developer artist and designer? It's a complex field that requires a diverse set of skills, including programming, design, and art. But don't worry, I've got you covered with this roadmap to help guide you through the process.

Step 1: Learn the Basics

Before you can become a game developer artist and designer, it's important to have a solid foundation in computer science and art. Here are some resources to help you learn the basics:

Online Courses: Take online courses in computer science and art. Websites like Coursera, edX, and Khan Academy offer free courses in computer science and art fundamentals.

Books: Read books on computer science and art. Some great resources include "Introduction to Computer Science" by David J. Eck and "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.

Tutorials: Watch tutorials on YouTube or other online platforms to learn the basics of computer science and art. Some popular channels include The Coding Train and Proko.

Online Communities: Join online communities like Reddit's /r/learnprogramming and /r/learndesign to connect with other learners and ask for advice.

Practice: Practice your skills by completing exercises and projects. Websites like Codecademy and Skillshare offer interactive courses that help you practice your coding and design skills.

Remember, learning the basics is an important first step in becoming a game developer artist and designer. Take your time to build a strong foundation, and don't be afraid to ask for help and seek out additional resources.

Step 2: Choose a Game Engine

Choosing the right game engine is a crucial step in becoming a game developer artist and designer. Here are some resources to help you choose the right game engine:

Online Resources: Research different game engines and compare their features and capabilities. Websites like GameDev.net and Gamasutra offer articles and reviews of popular game engines.

Tutorials: Watch tutorials on YouTube or other online platforms to learn more about different game engines. Some popular channels include Brackeys and Gamefromscratch.

Online Communities: Join online communities like Reddit's /r/gamedev and /r/unity3d to connect with other game developers and ask for advice on choosing a game engine.

Game Engine Websites: Visit the official websites of different game engines to learn more about their features and capabilities. Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, GameMaker Studio, and Construct all have official websites with documentation and tutorials.

Try Them Out: Download and try out different game engines to see which one you prefer. Many game engines offer free trials or community editions for beginners.

Step 3: Learn Game Development

Learning game development is a crucial step in becoming a game developer artist and designer. Here are some resources to help you learn game development:

Online Courses: Take online courses in game development. Websites like Udemy, Coursera, and edX offer courses in game development for beginners.

Books: Read books on game development. Some popular resources include "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses" by Jesse Schell and "Game Programming Patterns" by Robert Nystrom.

Tutorials: Watch tutorials on YouTube or other online platforms to learn game development. Some popular channels include Blackthornprod and GameDevHQ.

Online Communities: Join online communities like Reddit's /r/gamedev and /r/learnprogramming to connect with other game developers and ask for advice on learning game development.

Game Development Websites: Visit game development websites like Gamasutra and GameDev.net to read articles and tutorials on game development.

Practice: Practice your game development skills by creating small games and projects. Participate in game jams or create personal projects to build your portfolio.

Step 4: Learn Game Design

Game design is a critical aspect of game development that involves creating engaging and fun gameplay experiences for players. Here are some resources to help you learn game design:

Online Courses: Take online courses in game design. Websites like FutureLearn, Pluralsight, and Skillshare offer courses in game design for beginners.

Books: Read books on game design. Some popular resources include "Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals" by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman and "Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design" by Scott Rogers.

Study Game Design Documents: Analyze game design documents to understand how games are designed. Many game developers publish their design documents online, making it easy to study the design principles behind popular games.

Participate in Game Design Challenges: Participate in game design challenges like the Indie Game Making Contest or the Experimental Gameplay Project. These challenges offer opportunities to practice game design skills and learn from other designers.

Online Communities: Join online communities like the Game Design subreddit or the IGDA Game Design SIG to connect with other game designers and discuss game design topics.

Practice: Practice your game design skills by creating small games and prototypes. Experiment with different mechanics, challenges, and design elements to see what works best.

Step 5: Learn Game Art

Game art is a critical aspect of game development that involves creating visual assets that bring the game to life. Here are some resources to help you learn game art:

Online Courses: Take online courses in game art. Websites like Udemy, Pluralsight, and CG Spectrum offer courses in game art for beginners.

Books: Read books on game art. Some popular resources include "The Fundamentals of Drawing" by Barrington Barber and "Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter" by James Gurney.

Tutorials: Watch tutorials on YouTube or other online platforms to learn game art. Some popular channels include 3DTotal Games and Blender Guru.

Online Communities: Join online communities like the Polycount forum or the Artstation community to connect with other game artists and get feedback on your work.

Practice: Practice your game art skills by creating small game assets and gradually working your way up to more complex projects. Experiment with different art styles, color palettes, and visual storytelling techniques.

Software Tools: Familiarize yourself with software tools commonly used in game art such as Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, Maya, or Blender.

Step 6: Practice, Practice, Practice

The key to becoming a proficient game developer artist and designer is to practice regularly. Here are some tips to help you practice effectively:

Create Small Games: Start by creating small games and gradually work your way up to more complex projects. This will help you build your skills and confidence.

Participate in Game Jams: Participate in game jams like Ludum Dare or Global Game Jam to challenge yourself and practice your skills under pressure.

Create Personal Projects: Create personal projects that interest you and allow you to experiment with different game mechanics and art styles.

Seek Feedback: Share your work with others and seek feedback to improve your skills. Join online communities like Reddit's /r/gamedev or /r/gamedesign to connect with other game developers and get feedback on your work.

Collaborate: Collaborate with other game developers, artists, and designers to learn from each other and create more complex projects.

Remember, practice is essential to becoming a successful game developer artist and designer. The more you practice, the better you will become.

Bonus Step: Network

Networking is important in any field, and game development is no exception. Join online communities like Reddit's /r/gamedev or Discord servers for game developers. Attend game development conferences and events, and connect with other game developers, artists, and designers.

Game development is a constantly evolving field, and it's important to stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies. Here are some additional tips to help you on your journey to becoming a game developer artist and designer:

Stay Current: Subscribe to game development websites and blogs to stay current with the latest news and trends. Some great websites to check out include Gamasutra, GameSpot, and Polygon.

Join Game Development Communities: Join online communities and forums to connect with other game developers, artists, and designers. You can also find valuable resources and get feedback on your work.

Attend Game Development Conferences: Attend game development conferences and events to network with other professionals in the industry and learn about the latest technologies and trends.

Create a Portfolio: Create a portfolio of your work to showcase your skills to potential employers. Include screenshots, videos, and descriptions of your projects.

Apply for Internships: Consider applying for internships or apprenticeships to gain hands-on experience in the industry. This can help you build your resume and make valuable connections.

Keep Learning: Game development is a lifelong learning process. Keep learning and improving your skills by taking courses, attending workshops, and practicing regularly.

Remember, becoming a game developer artist and designer takes dedication, hard work, and a willingness to learn. Keep practicing and exploring, and you'll be on your way to creating amazing games in no time. Good luck on your journey!

[t1natr0n]

Not a resolution but a goal post.

I always fail my resolutions so I just want to have a vague notion of what I want to accomplish this year but not feel guilty if I don't. If it happens it happens.

Create 12 new personal emotes for myself (one a month ideally)

Be able to fast for 24 hours (and possible do it once a month?)

Finish my Javascript React Course and apply it and creating a usable product.

Tackle a Unity Development Course (and make a simple game)

Complete a game a week (complete 48 games throughout the year)

Draft a storyboard for a children's book (bucket list)

Research and flesh out more back history of my fantasy/sci-fi story (another bucket list item)

Acquire a new vehicle (ideally a used pruis, gas prices kind of suck)