I have been on and off of game devolopment for a while though. I just need a sense of direction, where should I start? I don't want to go to school because I work m-f. I just need a good place to start. I have unity and have been watching tutorials on c# and am currently doing the "roll a ball" but I don't feel like I'm learning really. I couldn't turn around and do it all without referring to the video.

1 hour ago, GlassBacconGaming said:

I have unity and have been watching tutorials on c# and am currently doing the "roll a ball" but I don't feel like I'm learning really. I couldn't turn around and do it all without referring to the video.

Do that exercise again - maybe some of it will start to sink in. Get to the point that you can roll a ball without fuss. Then do some other tutorials. Keep at it (don't just do it for a little while and give up - that won't get you very far).

Other things to try, is do the exercise, then do another, then try to do something that's not part of the exercise, like make the ball 'jump' when you hit a button, etc.

Basically, get comfortable with the basic workflow of the engine you're working in, learn how to navigate that engine, learn how to try to solve problems with that engine.

I've been a programmer (professionally) for 19 years ... and I did the "roll a ball" unity tutorial.  And I can't do it all from scratch without the video right now ... because right now all I've done in unity is basically that tutorial and about 2 hours other playing around.  Not enough to know anything yet.

But I can honestly suggest a strategy that will work given some time.  Don't just watch videos and follow along, 1 after the other.  Also don't just jump into an empty project and aimlessly click things.  Instead here's a pattern for learning development things:

1.  Find a resource to follow (the roll a ball is one of many good places to start).  Follow the video exactly as is, just practicing the art of doing what you are shown ... not learning it.

2.  After every few elements in the video or tutorial guide (as small as 15-30 minutes to as large are 2-3 nights of tutorials) .. stop ... and think of how you could use the IDEA or SPECIFIC TECHNIQUE you just say, in a SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY.  The key is that it must be similar enough to use what you were shown, and different enough that once in a while you'll totally screw it up and be completely unable to figure out where it went wrong.  Don't worry if some ideas are too simple, don't worry if some ideas never work out ... Just try to think of 1-2 "uses" for the thing you watch ... then use it.

3.  Move on.

This is how I learned GWBASIC in 6th grade ... I read 1 command in the language ... looked at an example usage ... tried to think of a usage for me ... and if I could, I did ... and if I couldn't I skipped it and returned to the command a week or a month later.  In this way I learned to build a D&D character editor, played a piece of sheet music, and made a randomized colorful screen saver all in 1 summer at 11 from a book.  All because I learned 1-3 commands every 1-7 days.  And put them to use, each and every time I could.

To expound on this with an example.  Maybe you know how to do something simple like shuffle a deck of cards in a computer data structure.  Well, how about trying to have a unity scene with a playing card instead of a ball.  How about trying to rotate them different ways.  How about "dealing" 5 cards into the "ball positions".  How about adding a stack/pile to be a deck ... how about animating the dealing to pull them off the deck and move them into position.  How about changing the collision logic so that it adds the card to your "hand" and you "win" if you total 21.  and loose if you go bust,.,.,. etc etc etc