How I learned Unity without following tutorials (Developing 1)

In this video I talk about how, in step 1, you just "learn the basics of Unity". Need some help with that? Well I've put together a monster tutorial focused just on delivering the key, fundamental concepts of the software. It's here - https://youtu.be/XtQMytORBmM

3:28 - "I went onto YouTube, I typed in ' Unity Tutorials' and found a bunch of, like, Swedish men who could teach me how to use the software." <- This is an incredibly relatable experience.

Man, this video gave me the warm fuzzies, especially when you talk about the pride in remaking a really simple game. It really made me want to get back into making games after ~5 years. Looking forward to the rest of your journey, Mark!

Imagine following a tutorial to not follow a tutorial

I know this is a year old, but I'm only 6 minutes in and this video may have just saved me from giving up on my own game. Hearing you recount your experience following along a tutorial and then becoming demoralized and frustrated when you felt as if you had learned absolutely nothing at all despite spending weeks on tutorials helped me realize that that that experience isn't unique to me, and knowing that you clearly found a way to push forward despite that setback gives me a lot of new resolve to keep trying. Thank you so much.

Honestly a series of "tutorials for people who don't like tutorials" would be pretty amazing.

15:38 - "I know what to type into google" This is, without a doubt, the most valuable knowledge when making anything

Not gonna lie. You just really helped me with my ADHD brain by formalising the steps I used to learn other complicated things and showing me how to apply them to things like Unity.

As a person who's already very intimate with coding, the problem I see with most of the tutorials is their first priority is to make you pump out something thats moving and working, aka giving you the short-term satisfaction of achieving something.

I like where this is headed. & Yeah you're exactly right, the most important part is just getting started. I was going to suggest making a couple of small games before starting but you're ahead of the curve!

It's incredibly awesome that you're making games, and I also love seeing your face! Exciting times!

You can learn literally anything with enough time and dedication. Everyone learns at their own pace.

Do you still will using Unity for your game?

Awesome first steps Mark, and great video, being both informative and motivational! I'm looking forward to following you on your game dev journey.

Yes, the first game is always awful. But you cannot create the second game without the first. - Game Dev Unlocked

4:17 - 4:50 This is exactly how I have felt (and am feeling right now) every time I try to go back and try to learn Unity. I feel like I can go in and learn to copy ONE thing from someone else, and just copy paste it into a mess of other copy pasted junk, but by the end of creating a plane which a character can walk on, I feel like I've learned (and accomplished) nothing. I do get bored easily, and am frustrated by failure (especially if I can't find the specific answer I'm looking for), but I really hope one day I can know enough to at least outline the games I want to make. There are so many games I want to exist, but don't have the skill to make. I want to aquire that skill - even if I become the only person to play that game. Right now the bug I've got up my butt is a dinosaur ecosystem simulator. I want dozens of features and story, and sandbox, and everything cool. But right now, if I could just make a demo version with two dinosaurs with AI, objects, the the ability to place dinosaurs? I'd be happy. So I think I'll take your advice and put that on the back burner and focus on building those simple projects I always glance over and actually start learning how Unity works. (I will however be using every tutorial I can find though, because trying to figure things out on my own is sometimes exceedingly frustrating and demoralizing for me 😂

4:31 - 4:52 Is probably the most important part of this video. Everyone is going to feel overwhelmed, and everyone is going to feel as if they're not capable of doing it. Anything worth doing always feels this way. The mere fact that you shared your headspace, thoughts, and feelings at this time, has probably had a huge impact and told people exactly what they need to hear. You don't need to be a genius to do any of this stuff. It's like you said; persistent exercise and application of small-scale ideas that build up in familiarity and skill over time. Loved your interactive game essay too! That helped me cement a lot of platforming tricks visually where I only had read about them before.

You are a great comunicator and you know how to tell a story and a very engaging one. A tutorial would be great. I'm downloading Unity right now :)

If “well done, jackass” doesn’t sum up the whole of learning, I don’t know what does. Kudos to you for pushing through.

its so funny that, after years of working and trying to teach myself, this single video, literally less than 20 minutes, has put into words what I couldn't figure out for myself. jesus I feel so stupid for not realizing this, realizing this is how I've taught myself literally everything else I do in life