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[linden]

Hey indie dev community! This is my first post.

I have been wanting to make games for years now but my current job (as a web developer) has always got in the way.
Anyway I am currently learning Unity development but have not yet made my own game.
Because of this I have felt hesitant to post anything on here due to my lack of experience. I was just wondering if anyone else on this forum has joint without having yet made a game but browses this forum for inspiration and/or other reasons?

Also any tips on getting through the learning phase? Especially while having to work full-time. I constantly feel frustrated that I just want to start turning my ideas into playable games but I am stunted by my lack of knowledge and experience. Just forcing myself through the courses and tutorials at the moment and don't want to give up.

Thanks! Go easy on me!

[ThemsAllTook]

Scope management is the most important thing early on. Back when I was first learning, I'd try to choose projects that I could almost get done with my current set of abilities, but would require me to push my limits just a little bit. This way I kept from being overwhelmed by needing to learn a thousand things before I'd have any hope of finishing a project, but was still expanding my knowledge so that the next project afterward could be a little bit more ambitious.

It's kind of like training a muscle. You can do a lot of reading and preparation and you might get some benefit out of it, but the only way to make tangible progress is to roll up your sleeves and put in a lot of actual work. If you set a goal that's way out of reach, you'll never get there without adding a lot of intermediate steps in between.

The other aspect of this is that no one understands what it takes to finish a project until they've actually done it. Severely overscoping your first real project is an extremely common rite of passage. Pick something really super tiny, then cut down the scope even more if you can, then see that project through to the end so that you can start getting a feel for how scope changes and evolves as a project progresses. Once you have something that's in a state you're comfortable calling "finished" and releasing it to the world, you should have a pretty good perspective on how to plan out your next project.

In your specific situation, I could imagine that Unity's initial learning curve could be a stumbling block. Can you write a game with the web technologies you already know? Removing the barrier of having to learn a whole new system first might be a good thing for gaining momentum.

[PixelDensity]

I have been a member of this forum for a while now, and I dont really post all that often as I dont have any projects to show at the moment. I have started a game in the past with a couple of people around the UK but that got shelved and since then I have used my time to prototype technical challenges I have set myself. These challenges vary and come about due to games I play or asking 'I wonder how they did that' Because of this these prototypes never turn into full games and thus I dont post them on here.

I am hoping to post work of a game idea I have in the near future, which is a collection of all the knowledge I have learnt from these prototypes, and the refinement of a story I have had for a couple of years.

I dont think lack of experience should stop you from posting though, if the game idea you work on is something small and simple posting it can still have benefits. This community is great in helping individuals refine their work.

The learning phase is something I believe you are always in, regardless of years you work in games design. Each new game has its new challenges and learning curves and you have to apply what you have already learnt to develop your skills in the next game. For example I believed to be an experienced user of Adobe Illustrator knowing all the commands and functions well, but with my current job I had to adapt it to a new work environment and use it in ways unfamiliar to me.

If you have a game idea work towards it, start by setting up a simple prototype while working on a GDD. Learn the skills you will need to develop it, as it progresses you will be able to go back and refine old code and art from the experiences you have learnt in the development. Keeping a blog here with this community will help you address problems you may have or gain new ideas from others. Even if you complete your first game and its not how you expected it to turn out you still have gained all that previous unknown knowledge and experience, and at the end of the day you can say you have made a game.

[ARF Initiative]

It is my first time working in a video game. And actually I do as a scriptwriter. It's really interesting to learn about procedural narrative

[badger]

I'm new and I'm still learning

[Ordnas]

For curiosity, when did you start to learn Unity? Just take your time anyway and be frustrate