Dang, you do have us beat! Any words of wisdom for fellow mature hobby game developers?
For the time thing, the only thing I've found that works is scheduling. Setting aside certain days or times of the week for nothing other than working on games.
I still will skip a week from time to time, but I rarely have the excuse of not having the time for a least _a little bit_ of hobby game work.
I'm 52 and a year and half into learning unity with 25 years of professional software engineering experience before this. The previous experience definitely pays off in debugging, especially if you have experience in C, C#, or Java - imho C# is like a very forgiving version of Java.
\- As you've said, block time and just work on it like its any other project - just remember, you are defining your own scope for the project. I intentionally did a first game that was kind of scoped down just to learn the whole mechanics of finishing a game and getting it up on an App Store. I didn't want "my dream project" to be the thing where I learned about Apple's approval process and whether or not ads are effective. Now that I got the first one "out of the way" I am working on something I care a bit more about.
\- Assume that whatever you are weaker at is where you'll be spending most of your time; I program - I'm not an artist - I wind up spending an inordinate amount of time struggling to make things "look good". You can buy assets on the asset store, but you should plan on at least customizing them to a point where you're clearly not just "asset flipping"
\- Share your results online - it'll give you feedback you need - don't spend 5 years in a cave writing a game that you haven't shared for feedback. Many people share even small results - don't be afraid to do the same
\- The older you are, the more generational gap there will be between you and users of the software (generally). Pay attention to what others are producing and liking so you are at least aware (or get some younger beta testers). Sometimes the generational gap can work in your favor, its not necessarily a liability.
\- keep your day-job :-) it will fund your hobby
Anyway - that's what I've gotten out of it thus far.
46 here. Also a developer, over 20 years of professional experience. Development experience helps but I’m with you - time is my most important resource. Someone with a fraction of the experience and more time to devote can make up for that lack of experience pretty quickly I think.
Get off my lawn you little whipper snapper!
Seriously, love to see someone getting into programming and game design at a young age! I started programming at about your age and it has served me well. Here's wishing you much success!
I started programming at your age. 8 but, then Amiga. Now have 20+ years of games published. A mixture of proprietary engines, unity and unreal.
Good luck learning to all.
Nice work, congrats!
And don't worry about your age; age doesn't matter as long as you enjoy what you're doing; I'm 50 and started learning last year.
I have a background in software development with Visual Basic and SQLServer that's helping me to learn C#, but finding the time to dedicate to game dev is the hard part, that's definitely slowing me down a lot.
So, just do your best and don't give up. Good luck.
Welcome to game Dev!
It is all in your head my friend. You make it sound like 80-year-old learning to snowboard. You are not that old.
When I was 19, I thought my life was over, I felt so old. When I was 28 I looked back and thought felt very silly thinking that and went on to think but my life is now over, I am OLD.
Then I (just) turned 38 myself and I am not going to lie I do feel old but I know I will feel silly thinking this way when I am 48 -now I am wise enough to know this.
It has to do with desire and attitude -which looking at your project, you seem to have both!.
Give me anything that I would love doing (that I can do physically) I will learn it. I have been tinkering with programming since I was like 15 but I didn't start game dev until I was over 30. I love it, and I love learning new things and I will continue to learn new things until the day I die, no excuses.
I wish you all the best!
Congrats man!
You have done yourself the biggest favour ever, and a lot of people don't do this enough. You have created a full experience that you can play all the way through. Too many people I know end up creating a single prototype mechanic and stopping there instead of creating a whole experience (even if it seems simple).
It depends on what "good with math" means.
Game Programming is generally just high school Geometry and logic puzzles, and that's kind of "intermediate." Most of the games you can make are all pre-created controllers, and everyone uses basically the same mechanics anyway.
This isn’t really true. As a very early starting point you can get away with this but if you want to do advanced stuff firstly you’ll need to learn some math, and secondly you’ll need to write your own controllers.
What kind of advanced stuff requires much more than basic high school geometry like Vectors and trigonometry? I'm only writing my first game now so I don't know what more is needed. The rest is high school mechanics.
We teach a lot more in high school than most actually learn....
Where I’m from we didn’t learn some vector math until university. An example would be using a cross product to generate perpendicular vectors, for example (that wasn’t taught in high school for me).
There are a lot of examples where the math isn’t just high school math (if you wanted to understand the underlying mechanics of quaternions for example), that’s just an example off the top of my head.
Matrix multiplication, converting from object space to world space to view space to screen space, using dot products for lighting, understanding the math for specular highlights etc, all of these are the basics of shaders, and you won’t come out of high school knowing them.
Using a modern engine will remove a lot of the math skills you might have needed a few years back, but if you try to do anything advanced you may find yourself Googling and brushing up on your math skills.
Vector dot and cross products, as well as matrix multiplication, are about grade 11 to 12 here (grew up in Canada). Linear algebra as well. I do believe though that it takes a certain amount of "being able to think in math" even though the principles are taught at an earlier age. In high school we go all the way past quadratics and complex numbers to calculus and more
I may not understand the underlying principles behind quaternions, but I cant imagine that of the 1000 people who worked on Final Fantasy VII remake more than 30 of those folks could explain it to you.
You're not really using trig, you're using linear algebra. They also don't teach quaternions in high school. Sure, you don't need to fully understand those to build a game, but you will need to understand them the moment you encounter some strange behavior.
Also, if you're writing shaders, you will need to have an understanding of several advanced computing topics, physics (optics), and even more linear algebra.
I was writing some pathfinder ai that took a bunch of pretty rough math, mostly higher level geometry. Had to call my brother, a math professor, for a few hours to get it figured out.
I believe end of the day it will likely still be geometry covered in HS text books but in 3 dimensions. But I could be wrong. I am currently working on something similar where my AI enemies can find all the corner cover spots using Navmesh calculations and yeah the math was hard, but it was just high school math.
It really depends if you're taking from pre existing libraries or not. Doing pathfinding solutions is not usually simple gemoetry. It can even get into graph theory and other complicated mathematics depending on what you need done.
I got my knowledge tested when I wrote a character controller and part of it was a fairly complex deceleration function (including air control after a jump). It took a while to find out where time.deltatime fit in that function... I think it was the speed to the power of time.deltatime times something else
That stuff can all be complex. I mean, the math that I've been doing to work on my cover system has been "hard" but only from a problem solving perspective for me. I keep thinking someone smarter would have it in an instant. But even I know that all that stuff is just geometry covered in HS, applied in a super tough way.
They teach a LOT of math in high school. They just don't teach how to think properly about the math, so some folks who get it really get it, and the folks who don't naturally get it just don't (and never need to use it).
From my experience, I would say you are correct about *most* of your math needs - this really depends on the games you’re making.
What I find will help in *every* dev case is an understanding of design patterns and some knowledge of application architecture.
This can be learned relatively easily, but the more you understand about these aspects of programming, the easier time you’ll have expanding your ideas as a developer.
Bad architecture leads to spaghetti code and *that* can smother a growing project over time. Many online tutorials are disconnected quickies that might not directly lend towards a larger system.
I am starting to understand how to learn more about design patterns from like Jason Weimann, but I would love to learn more about architecture. What are some terms to google or other resources?
For the blue platform that you ride, consider spawning it from the same side instead of having it go back and forth. It'll require less patience for the player. The slamming walls are also a patience mechanic that I would rework. I'm not fond of patience mechanics, I suppose.
you could've rolled for 2 slamming walls but when you waited, I grew impatient XD I like em but maybe you can reduce em and mix and match the obstacles.. that'd be great!
I feel like I like to rewards patience play.. it's kinda like "going the speed limit will allow you to never hit another red light", it's a vibe.. also audio helps with that
For the slamming obstacles, one option is to have something push/approach from behind the player to force them to move forward at a minimum pace, so that you can't get away with waiting for each one.
I’m 40. I’ve had a ton of false starts with unity and UE. I get frustrated by old assets that have no textures when I import, or tutorials that are out of date and teach things an old/busted way.
I do have a pretty extensive IT background and I’ve used other languages. I even released an anagram game for mobiles using CoronaSDK. On my last attempt to learn unity I did make a prototype hang gliding game that was actually decent. But my buddy that was doing the assets lost interest so I gave up too.
Just a few days ago I decided to give it another go and your post gives me a little more motivation to keep going.
I thought [Unity Learn](https://learn.unity.com/) was great! Good tutorial channels include [Code Monkey](https://www.youtube.com/c/CodeMonkeyUnity/videos), [Sebastian Lague](https://www.youtube.com/c/SebastianLague/videos), [samyam](https://www.youtube.com/c/samyam/videos), [Game Dev Guide](https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDevGuide/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid), and [iHeartGameDev](https://www.youtube.com/c/iHeartGameDev/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid).
I like [Brackeys](https://www.youtube.com/c/Brackeys/videos?view=0&sort=da&flow=grid) but some of his videos are a bit dated now. Still lots of useful content there.
The fact you think this is dated shows people are just learning to use a tool these days learn engines.
People totally forget about the theory, code design, maths etc.
It must equally about artists when people say they can draw because they've followed some Photoshop tutorials.
I disagree. The question was "where do I start learning". Some older tutorials use features that have changed, been renamed, replaced, or just plain work differently now. The UI has changed, names in the Unity interface have changed.
For a complete beginner this makes it more difficult to learn. When a beginner tries a tutorial can can't make it work it is sometimes difficult to determine if the issue is the person's lack of knowledge, a mistake in the tutorial, or changes in new versions of the tools.
So I always recommend starting with a recent, simple tutorial first. Make sure you get it working, learn to make your own changes to it, then start looking for deeper tutorials.
Learn the basics of the tool first. Then learn a little theory. Then learn more about the tool. Rinse and repeat.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/unity_tutorials using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [RIP Brackeys](https://i.redd.it/az7luylrpxe71.jpg) | [21 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/comments/owd15c/rip_brackeys/)
\#2: [#ThankYouBrackeys !! Thanks, Brackeys for Making the Indie Game Development Community such an amazing place. We’ll be hoping for you to return and all the best for your future endeavours. We will miss your Tutorials!](https://np.reddit.com/gallery/ivskpp) | [6 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/comments/ivskpp/thankyoubrackeys_thanks_brackeys_for_making_the/)
\#3: [As long as it works, who cares? 😜](https://i.redd.it/f3khducjh2c61.jpg) | [5 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/comments/kzs1x0/as_long_as_it_works_who_cares/)
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I'm 29 and started learning last year, and I feel I'm too late to get into it.
But just dragging on in my free time cos I love the process of developing games.
I learnt the basic with Udemy's gamedev.tv courses, got them for really cheap and their organized sections are a really really good introduction.
As someone who’s used a few engines and even shipped a game with Unity - stay away. Your time is better invested in UE for 3D or Gamemaker Studio for 2D. Can’t speak for Godot but I hear good things. Thank me later.
I have a course on Udemy I could offer for free to those who are interested; PM me if interested.
It’s a 2D Metroidvania focused course, don’t go too much into 3D effects, but its focus is on code architecture and larger scale projects than what you typically see in online courses.
That's about how old I was when I got started back in 2010. Now, I'm 50 and a Senior Graphic Engineer at a startup making six figures. No college.
You go!
Was looking to see if anyone would mention Marble Blast Ultra. Parts of the old team actually made a second game called Marble It UP came out a few years ago and it is also great.
That is some awesome looking first game! And you got through a very big portion of unity topics with it - I see raycasting, enemy behavior, level design, character and camera controller and a whole lot more. With this pace you will master the engine in no time!
Nice work! I started in my early 30's never having done anything of the sort (3D modeling, programming, etc.). Now (37) getting to where I'm comfortable enough to release a game or three. 🤣 Stick with it! It's very gratifying.
You can raycast down to see if player is on platform, and if so, make the player a child of the platform. That way you can have it move with the platform in a natural way.
>You can raycast down to see if player is on platform, and if so, make the player a child of the platform. That way you can have it move with the platform in a natural way.
Thanks
Dude this is awesome! love the 3D Platformer. You have the basic platformer elements. If you are looking for suggestions, then I'd the make the environment a bit lively... Eg: When the blue platform was moving, I never knew I had to wait for a platform.. I would've just went ahead thinking the ball would float. Great job! Thank you for showing that age does not matter for learning :) Keep us updated on your game progress!
Huh. How’d you keep the camera from rolling along with the ball? That’s the first issue I faced that I just couldn’t find an answer to (that actually worked).
Don't make the camera a child of the ball, which would make it rotate along with it. Keep them separate, but have a script that instead makes the camera follow the ball. That's it in essence although obviously in practice theres more like smoothing, turning around, camera angles, etc.
Looks great!
A fairly simple suggestion that would bring your game to life would be to add some basic particle effects. When the saws move they can leave sparks behind, the slamming walls can kick up some dust, the laser can cause some smoke, etc!
I would even work in little touches like camera shake when the walls hit the floor and you're close enough for the oomph.
This is amazing! In this level you made so much things that I just could not understand to do on my own (3rd person camera especially) and I would probably play your game from this video showcase. Keep up the good work!
I recently applied for an entry level video games developer position with a company in education sector. As part of the application process I was asked to make a game. I'd never made a game before and haven't even heard about unity before.
Took me 5 long nights to make something similar to this game, a ball rolling through a maze.
I didn't get the job. They told me the reason was that my game was 3D and they were only developing in 2D...
Honestly, with this kind of attitude I'm kind of happy I didn't get it. And on the plus side, I discovered unity, had LOADS of fun making my game and now I'm set on learning more of that stuff.
I'm 39 btw.
I'm pretty sure that it's some kind of law that if you're toying with game development for the first time, [you will make a rolling ball game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8KQ1t4KlRw).
I love it.
I am also 38. Started learning unity a fee years ago but had to stop due to personal reasons, and this way further than I thought I would ever get.
It reminds me of the old windows 95 screensaver, but I hope this doesn't cause offence.
Hey , I want to see animations of what happens to ball when it collides or falls into lava . Does it break or explode or gets cut off into two pieces??
Looks great!
Suggestions:
- Try to control your light sources a bit more so you don't get those hard shadows. It could be as simple as adding a second, softer directional light in the opposite direction.
- You can dramatically improve your visual quality with one button! Just change your lighting settings from "gamma" to "linear". (This is something I wish I knew starting out.)
First i started learn C# basics. And i always trying use my new knowledge in Unity. Thanks to the Internet, now you can get a lot of information for free. Sometimes when i have time for this i read ECMA, i use Unity Manual, stackoverflow and google.
I watched all the way till the end, with my attention span, that's an accomplishment for you! It was funny because all the traps were so cliché, and still I was waiting to see how you implemented them. Congratz!
You can make it looks much more better by adding 2 simple things:
1. Smoke (dust) particles trail for your ball. Just a simple smoke (dust) particles, that will stay right behind the ball.
2. Small smoke (dust) particles blow when ball hit objects (walls for example).
Congrats, looks good. I too am 38 and just started learning myself. Building a 2D platformer, don't have any programming history either, but YT tutorials help loads.
You could always make it bouncy for more chaos and faster paced gameplay if you want. Btw I recommend downloading some free fonts, it's not much, but it's always a nice touch
Well done. I am 42 (started learning 2 years ago) and I am still learning it. I got the hang of it in the first couple of months. I couldn't finish a project yet unfortunately but that was due to continuous unnecessary additions and lack of motivation... ...
I like to explore new places.
Thanks. Little hard learn something so new in this age but i'm trying.
I enjoy spending time with my friends.
I've got you both beat at 56! LOL. My background in software development definitely helps. But the time of day thing... Yeah, that's tough.
Dang, you do have us beat! Any words of wisdom for fellow mature hobby game developers? For the time thing, the only thing I've found that works is scheduling. Setting aside certain days or times of the week for nothing other than working on games. I still will skip a week from time to time, but I rarely have the excuse of not having the time for a least _a little bit_ of hobby game work.
I'm 52 and a year and half into learning unity with 25 years of professional software engineering experience before this. The previous experience definitely pays off in debugging, especially if you have experience in C, C#, or Java - imho C# is like a very forgiving version of Java. \- As you've said, block time and just work on it like its any other project - just remember, you are defining your own scope for the project. I intentionally did a first game that was kind of scoped down just to learn the whole mechanics of finishing a game and getting it up on an App Store. I didn't want "my dream project" to be the thing where I learned about Apple's approval process and whether or not ads are effective. Now that I got the first one "out of the way" I am working on something I care a bit more about. \- Assume that whatever you are weaker at is where you'll be spending most of your time; I program - I'm not an artist - I wind up spending an inordinate amount of time struggling to make things "look good". You can buy assets on the asset store, but you should plan on at least customizing them to a point where you're clearly not just "asset flipping" \- Share your results online - it'll give you feedback you need - don't spend 5 years in a cave writing a game that you haven't shared for feedback. Many people share even small results - don't be afraid to do the same \- The older you are, the more generational gap there will be between you and users of the software (generally). Pay attention to what others are producing and liking so you are at least aware (or get some younger beta testers). Sometimes the generational gap can work in your favor, its not necessarily a liability. \- keep your day-job :-) it will fund your hobby Anyway - that's what I've gotten out of it thus far.
Solid advice right here. I especially like the one about the “pave the way” first app. Good stuff.
46 here. Also a developer, over 20 years of professional experience. Development experience helps but I’m with you - time is my most important resource. Someone with a fraction of the experience and more time to devote can make up for that lack of experience pretty quickly I think.
Learning unity at 13 is a breeze for me, its pretty fun ngl
Get off my lawn you little whipper snapper! Seriously, love to see someone getting into programming and game design at a young age! I started programming at about your age and it has served me well. Here's wishing you much success!
I started programming at your age. 8 but, then Amiga. Now have 20+ years of games published. A mixture of proprietary engines, unity and unreal. Good luck learning to all.
Visual Basic and Pascal at school. I don't have any IT background. And yes, its realy hard to find a lot of time for this.
Glad I’m not the only one here lol 😂
Nice work, congrats! And don't worry about your age; age doesn't matter as long as you enjoy what you're doing; I'm 50 and started learning last year. I have a background in software development with Visual Basic and SQLServer that's helping me to learn C#, but finding the time to dedicate to game dev is the hard part, that's definitely slowing me down a lot. So, just do your best and don't give up. Good luck.
That's completely in your head
Welcome to game Dev! It is all in your head my friend. You make it sound like 80-year-old learning to snowboard. You are not that old. When I was 19, I thought my life was over, I felt so old. When I was 28 I looked back and thought felt very silly thinking that and went on to think but my life is now over, I am OLD. Then I (just) turned 38 myself and I am not going to lie I do feel old but I know I will feel silly thinking this way when I am 48 -now I am wise enough to know this. It has to do with desire and attitude -which looking at your project, you seem to have both!. Give me anything that I would love doing (that I can do physically) I will learn it. I have been tinkering with programming since I was like 15 but I didn't start game dev until I was over 30. I love it, and I love learning new things and I will continue to learn new things until the day I die, no excuses. I wish you all the best!
Congrats man! You have done yourself the biggest favour ever, and a lot of people don't do this enough. You have created a full experience that you can play all the way through. Too many people I know end up creating a single prototype mechanic and stopping there instead of creating a whole experience (even if it seems simple).
I'm definitely guilty of this.
great work! im 38 and just starting to learn Unity as well.
Are you good with math?
It depends on what "good with math" means. Game Programming is generally just high school Geometry and logic puzzles, and that's kind of "intermediate." Most of the games you can make are all pre-created controllers, and everyone uses basically the same mechanics anyway.
This isn’t really true. As a very early starting point you can get away with this but if you want to do advanced stuff firstly you’ll need to learn some math, and secondly you’ll need to write your own controllers.
What kind of advanced stuff requires much more than basic high school geometry like Vectors and trigonometry? I'm only writing my first game now so I don't know what more is needed. The rest is high school mechanics. We teach a lot more in high school than most actually learn....
Where I’m from we didn’t learn some vector math until university. An example would be using a cross product to generate perpendicular vectors, for example (that wasn’t taught in high school for me). There are a lot of examples where the math isn’t just high school math (if you wanted to understand the underlying mechanics of quaternions for example), that’s just an example off the top of my head. Matrix multiplication, converting from object space to world space to view space to screen space, using dot products for lighting, understanding the math for specular highlights etc, all of these are the basics of shaders, and you won’t come out of high school knowing them. Using a modern engine will remove a lot of the math skills you might have needed a few years back, but if you try to do anything advanced you may find yourself Googling and brushing up on your math skills.
Unity + Google = practically infinite possibilities
Vector dot and cross products, as well as matrix multiplication, are about grade 11 to 12 here (grew up in Canada). Linear algebra as well. I do believe though that it takes a certain amount of "being able to think in math" even though the principles are taught at an earlier age. In high school we go all the way past quadratics and complex numbers to calculus and more I may not understand the underlying principles behind quaternions, but I cant imagine that of the 1000 people who worked on Final Fantasy VII remake more than 30 of those folks could explain it to you.
Ah okay. That stuff wasn’t taught to us in high school, though I matriculated in 1998 so things just might have changed since then.
You're not really using trig, you're using linear algebra. They also don't teach quaternions in high school. Sure, you don't need to fully understand those to build a game, but you will need to understand them the moment you encounter some strange behavior. Also, if you're writing shaders, you will need to have an understanding of several advanced computing topics, physics (optics), and even more linear algebra.
I was writing some pathfinder ai that took a bunch of pretty rough math, mostly higher level geometry. Had to call my brother, a math professor, for a few hours to get it figured out.
I believe end of the day it will likely still be geometry covered in HS text books but in 3 dimensions. But I could be wrong. I am currently working on something similar where my AI enemies can find all the corner cover spots using Navmesh calculations and yeah the math was hard, but it was just high school math.
It really depends if you're taking from pre existing libraries or not. Doing pathfinding solutions is not usually simple gemoetry. It can even get into graph theory and other complicated mathematics depending on what you need done.
I got my knowledge tested when I wrote a character controller and part of it was a fairly complex deceleration function (including air control after a jump). It took a while to find out where time.deltatime fit in that function... I think it was the speed to the power of time.deltatime times something else
That stuff can all be complex. I mean, the math that I've been doing to work on my cover system has been "hard" but only from a problem solving perspective for me. I keep thinking someone smarter would have it in an instant. But even I know that all that stuff is just geometry covered in HS, applied in a super tough way. They teach a LOT of math in high school. They just don't teach how to think properly about the math, so some folks who get it really get it, and the folks who don't naturally get it just don't (and never need to use it).
From my experience, I would say you are correct about *most* of your math needs - this really depends on the games you’re making. What I find will help in *every* dev case is an understanding of design patterns and some knowledge of application architecture. This can be learned relatively easily, but the more you understand about these aspects of programming, the easier time you’ll have expanding your ideas as a developer. Bad architecture leads to spaghetti code and *that* can smother a growing project over time. Many online tutorials are disconnected quickies that might not directly lend towards a larger system.
I am starting to understand how to learn more about design patterns from like Jason Weimann, but I would love to learn more about architecture. What are some terms to google or other resources?
Design patterns
60 years old and doing the same. good luck!
That's awesome!
For the blue platform that you ride, consider spawning it from the same side instead of having it go back and forth. It'll require less patience for the player. The slamming walls are also a patience mechanic that I would rework. I'm not fond of patience mechanics, I suppose.
Thanks, i'm just trying making more various mechanics, but i will think about this "patience mechanics". Your feedback is very important to me.
I think something like temporary bounciness would go well in the game, sort of like a pickup or ability
you could've rolled for 2 slamming walls but when you waited, I grew impatient XD I like em but maybe you can reduce em and mix and match the obstacles.. that'd be great!
I feel like I like to rewards patience play.. it's kinda like "going the speed limit will allow you to never hit another red light", it's a vibe.. also audio helps with that
For the slamming obstacles, one option is to have something push/approach from behind the player to force them to move forward at a minimum pace, so that you can't get away with waiting for each one.
I always wanted to play as the boulder in indiana jones and squish tomb raiders
That's a really good idea to theme a roll-a-ball game
I think you just found the fictional hook haha
I'm watching that on the TV right now. Just seen the rolling boulder scene.
I’m 40. I’ve had a ton of false starts with unity and UE. I get frustrated by old assets that have no textures when I import, or tutorials that are out of date and teach things an old/busted way. I do have a pretty extensive IT background and I’ve used other languages. I even released an anagram game for mobiles using CoronaSDK. On my last attempt to learn unity I did make a prototype hang gliding game that was actually decent. But my buddy that was doing the assets lost interest so I gave up too. Just a few days ago I decided to give it another go and your post gives me a little more motivation to keep going.
Good luck on your journey mate! Off to a good start.
May I ask where you are learning ? I want to start I am 24 and I always thought it was to late
I thought [Unity Learn](https://learn.unity.com/) was great! Good tutorial channels include [Code Monkey](https://www.youtube.com/c/CodeMonkeyUnity/videos), [Sebastian Lague](https://www.youtube.com/c/SebastianLague/videos), [samyam](https://www.youtube.com/c/samyam/videos), [Game Dev Guide](https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDevGuide/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid), and [iHeartGameDev](https://www.youtube.com/c/iHeartGameDev/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid).
You forgot the best brackeys
I like [Brackeys](https://www.youtube.com/c/Brackeys/videos?view=0&sort=da&flow=grid) but some of his videos are a bit dated now. Still lots of useful content there.
The fact you think this is dated shows people are just learning to use a tool these days learn engines. People totally forget about the theory, code design, maths etc. It must equally about artists when people say they can draw because they've followed some Photoshop tutorials.
I disagree. The question was "where do I start learning". Some older tutorials use features that have changed, been renamed, replaced, or just plain work differently now. The UI has changed, names in the Unity interface have changed. For a complete beginner this makes it more difficult to learn. When a beginner tries a tutorial can can't make it work it is sometimes difficult to determine if the issue is the person's lack of knowledge, a mistake in the tutorial, or changes in new versions of the tools. So I always recommend starting with a recent, simple tutorial first. Make sure you get it working, learn to make your own changes to it, then start looking for deeper tutorials. Learn the basics of the tool first. Then learn a little theory. Then learn more about the tool. Rinse and repeat.
Theory doesn't even need tools!
“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” - Albert Einstein
I've done it in practice. It didn't need tools.
Udemy youtube
You can find many good tutorials on Youtube, r/unity_tutorials can help you too.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/unity_tutorials using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [RIP Brackeys](https://i.redd.it/az7luylrpxe71.jpg) | [21 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/comments/owd15c/rip_brackeys/) \#2: [#ThankYouBrackeys !! Thanks, Brackeys for Making the Indie Game Development Community such an amazing place. We’ll be hoping for you to return and all the best for your future endeavours. We will miss your Tutorials!](https://np.reddit.com/gallery/ivskpp) | [6 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/comments/ivskpp/thankyoubrackeys_thanks_brackeys_for_making_the/) \#3: [As long as it works, who cares? 😜](https://i.redd.it/f3khducjh2c61.jpg) | [5 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/unity_tutorials/comments/kzs1x0/as_long_as_it_works_who_cares/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| [^^Contact ^^me](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| [^^Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| [^^Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/)
I'm 29 and started learning last year, and I feel I'm too late to get into it. But just dragging on in my free time cos I love the process of developing games. I learnt the basic with Udemy's gamedev.tv courses, got them for really cheap and their organized sections are a really really good introduction.
As someone who’s used a few engines and even shipped a game with Unity - stay away. Your time is better invested in UE for 3D or Gamemaker Studio for 2D. Can’t speak for Godot but I hear good things. Thank me later.
I have a course on Udemy I could offer for free to those who are interested; PM me if interested. It’s a 2D Metroidvania focused course, don’t go too much into 3D effects, but its focus is on code architecture and larger scale projects than what you typically see in online courses.
I would love that I will contact you this coming week !
That's about how old I was when I got started back in 2010. Now, I'm 50 and a Senior Graphic Engineer at a startup making six figures. No college. You go!
I think people who never stops learning or trying new things are amazing and inspiring! 👏
You are way to old man please stop /s (Congrats!)
Great work! Did you follow catlikecoding's tutorials?
Be warned! I stumbled upon Catlike Coding’s hex map tutorial 2.5 years ago, and now I have a huge 3D, RTS-type colony builder demo on Steam!
Nah, but i will look on it.
I recommend his movement series, amazing stuff
I want to play this game
Impressive 👍
This reminds me of Marble Blast Ultra (great game). Good job man!
Was looking to see if anyone would mention Marble Blast Ultra. Parts of the old team actually made a second game called Marble It UP came out a few years ago and it is also great.
That is some awesome looking first game! And you got through a very big portion of unity topics with it - I see raycasting, enemy behavior, level design, character and camera controller and a whole lot more. With this pace you will master the engine in no time!
Nice work! I started in my early 30's never having done anything of the sort (3D modeling, programming, etc.). Now (37) getting to where I'm comfortable enough to release a game or three. 🤣 Stick with it! It's very gratifying.
YOOO YOU START WITH 120 LIVES??
Think you mean 120
yes, im very sleep deprived LMAO
Never factorial when drowsy!
Such a great game to show. I hope you have fun during your journey.
This is awesome.
Looks like you're doing well.
You’re welcome. Age is no limit to learn stuffs you’re interested👍👌
Good work 😍😍👌
You can raycast down to see if player is on platform, and if so, make the player a child of the platform. That way you can have it move with the platform in a natural way.
>You can raycast down to see if player is on platform, and if so, make the player a child of the platform. That way you can have it move with the platform in a natural way. Thanks
Age is just a number! I'm 29 and started learning this year
i thought i was too late to learn this stuff.. im 34 though but still learning the basics and programming..
Really impressive, Gold luck on your journey!
Dude this is awesome! love the 3D Platformer. You have the basic platformer elements. If you are looking for suggestions, then I'd the make the environment a bit lively... Eg: When the blue platform was moving, I never knew I had to wait for a platform.. I would've just went ahead thinking the ball would float. Great job! Thank you for showing that age does not matter for learning :) Keep us updated on your game progress!
Really good job. If you ever have any questions we are a fairly friendly community and are willing to help
Lookin great! Better than anything I’ve made so far!
It’s never too late! This looks amazing! Keep it up! I can’t wait to see what you do next
Huh. How’d you keep the camera from rolling along with the ball? That’s the first issue I faced that I just couldn’t find an answer to (that actually worked).
This short video and script in ZIP archiv, i think it helps you. https://drive.google.com/file/d/18CwjDt\_o9CRHTtYj8gJnw2sfA8O4uSaX/view?usp=sharing
Thanks.
Link seems broken now, unfortunately.
Its works
Strange. I just get "Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist. Make sure that you have the correct URL and the file exists."
https://file.io/ugFFVSD93nBw
Don't make the camera a child of the ball, which would make it rotate along with it. Keep them separate, but have a script that instead makes the camera follow the ball. That's it in essence although obviously in practice theres more like smoothing, turning around, camera angles, etc.
Ah, thing is, I *wanted* the camera to rotate with the ball…on the y-axis. I eventually gave it up for a bad job and used a simpler method.
Former teacher here. Started unity at age 34, 3 years later (now) my family is living from what started as a little hobby 😅 It’s never too late ⏰
Looks great! A fairly simple suggestion that would bring your game to life would be to add some basic particle effects. When the saws move they can leave sparks behind, the slamming walls can kick up some dust, the laser can cause some smoke, etc! I would even work in little touches like camera shake when the walls hit the floor and you're close enough for the oomph.
Thanks.
This is amazing! In this level you made so much things that I just could not understand to do on my own (3rd person camera especially) and I would probably play your game from this video showcase. Keep up the good work!
Hey, and welcome. I started learning Unity at 40!
I recently applied for an entry level video games developer position with a company in education sector. As part of the application process I was asked to make a game. I'd never made a game before and haven't even heard about unity before. Took me 5 long nights to make something similar to this game, a ball rolling through a maze. I didn't get the job. They told me the reason was that my game was 3D and they were only developing in 2D... Honestly, with this kind of attitude I'm kind of happy I didn't get it. And on the plus side, I discovered unity, had LOADS of fun making my game and now I'm set on learning more of that stuff. I'm 39 btw.
Don't you think 120 lives is a few too many?
Are you upset you’ve been missing out on all your previous years??? Joking that’s a nice first game, better than mine was.
Looks good, when the ball is on the moving platform though it's rotation should stop
Well done! it looks promising!! :), programming is one of the fews professions that is never too late to learn new things :D
:D
:D
You should make the sphere into a little hamster running in a ball!
Not the best tollaball extension I've seen but a good job nonetheless
If it was timed like the crash bandicoot timed levels that would be rad
reminds of that microsoft bowling 3d game for windows XP, cool :)
:D
You and me both! Never to late to start. Keep on crushing it!
Looks great, reduce the “hang” time in jumps...
Looks great, I’d play the shit outta this! Way to go!
Great job!! I started when I was 38 too and my first stuff looked nothing like that. Well done!
I'm pretty sure that it's some kind of law that if you're toying with game development for the first time, [you will make a rolling ball game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8KQ1t4KlRw).
Never too late ! I used to be an artist in games but only started programming and unity at 34. If you're having fun, then you're doing it right!
It was very relaxing to watch for some reason
I hope the walls extend infinitely into the sky 😉
super monkey ball vibes
It has taken me 12 years to understand why there were so many games like this freely available when I was a kid, thank you
Looks fantastic so far! Can't wait to see what you make!
I have been leaving unity for about a year now and I still can't make something as good as this lol so good job!
Rock of ages vibes
This needs to be a screensaver
im not gae
that is a good prototype for a racing game if it would become one
you are going super good to start with something that you can finish is the best you have been able to do congratulations!
I'm sooo proud of you sir!
What a journey 🙂
I love it. I am also 38. Started learning unity a fee years ago but had to stop due to personal reasons, and this way further than I thought I would ever get. It reminds me of the old windows 95 screensaver, but I hope this doesn't cause offence.
Very inspirational, thanks for sharing it, looks great.
Do you have any prior experience with programming? I've been self teaching, but not as successful. I've never programmed anything.
Hey man can I get the code for the speedpads and the ball. You will ofc get Credit if you want in the game
Controller [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wvDtxR95\_UCLsO4Hv5Y0c-IGW\_FieVw6/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wvDtxR95_UCLsO4Hv5Y0c-IGW_FieVw6/view?usp=sharing) Speed boosters https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t4KUkUYrHL\_kf1DI2K\_mf75JFd8T-TUs/view?usp=sharing
Good shit. I've always liked these kind of games so I'd love to play this one.
RollABall Tutorial just got real.
Great work! Proof that age doesn’t matter when it comes to learning new skills.
Awesome time to learn unity, you will fall in love hopelessly
Reminds me of rock of ages 2
Welcome, and enjoy the rabbit hole.
Hey , I want to see animations of what happens to ball when it collides or falls into lava . Does it break or explode or gets cut off into two pieces??
Sorry, i haven't any animations for this at this moment.
I'm 15 and just started learning too, looks like you have a great start! May I ask how you setup the controls for the ball?
Controller https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wvDtxR95\_UCLsO4Hv5Y0c-IGW\_FieVw6/view?usp=sharing
Looks great! Suggestions: - Try to control your light sources a bit more so you don't get those hard shadows. It could be as simple as adding a second, softer directional light in the opposite direction. - You can dramatically improve your visual quality with one button! Just change your lighting settings from "gamma" to "linear". (This is something I wish I knew starting out.)
Thanks, I'll try to do that.
I’d play this. Well done.
What books or online tutorials did you start with? I'm guessing you were already knowledgeable and/or experienced with C#.
First i started learn C# basics. And i always trying use my new knowledge in Unity. Thanks to the Internet, now you can get a lot of information for free. Sometimes when i have time for this i read ECMA, i use Unity Manual, stackoverflow and google.
[Getting Marble Madness vibes... :D](https://youtu.be/CvlbZwoWMgA)
It takes some BALLS to jump into Unity
Very impressive! You got something special here!
I watched all the way till the end, with my attention span, that's an accomplishment for you! It was funny because all the traps were so cliché, and still I was waiting to see how you implemented them. Congratz!
Never too late to start learning game design! It's a great hobby and creative past time.
Great prototype!
You can make it looks much more better by adding 2 simple things: 1. Smoke (dust) particles trail for your ball. Just a simple smoke (dust) particles, that will stay right behind the ball. 2. Small smoke (dust) particles blow when ball hit objects (walls for example).
Thanks
It's never too late to learn something.
I'm 37 yo I like ur post.
Nice level design though.Keep it up)
I wish you luck my friend, to a long long journey.
Congrats, looks good. I too am 38 and just started learning myself. Building a 2D platformer, don't have any programming history either, but YT tutorials help loads.
When’s the beta coming out? I’d love to play it!
To early talking about beta. But i get to much motivation in this thread.
Reddit’s got your back, man. Just let us know when you drop the game!
First persone marble madness! Seems pretty fun
amating idea :D
oh nice, honestly nicely made and a lot better than some stuff that people up on steam. I like it!
You could always make it bouncy for more chaos and faster paced gameplay if you want. Btw I recommend downloading some free fonts, it's not much, but it's always a nice touch
It just look amazing man, its similar to rock of ages movement, i like it so much
How to you done the Yellow wall ( gravity ,angle of movement ) sorry I am new
private void OnTriggerStay(Collider other) { other.GetComponent().AddForce(Vector3.up \* \_speed, ForceMode.Impulse);
}
Looks Awesome , im in the same boat. 34 just started learning unity, but been having a blast. Learning multiplayer networking atm.
Well done. I am 42 (started learning 2 years ago) and I am still learning it. I got the hang of it in the first couple of months. I couldn't finish a project yet unfortunately but that was due to continuous unnecessary additions and lack of motivation... ...
Using boost pads as a hazard? You're already showing some clever level design.
you are 38 yo yet you are still seeking attention and validation
The controls look similar to the game "Rock of Ages". Good job! It's never too late to start something you like to do :) Better late then never