Hi everybody

I have seen various opinions on how to start learning mobile game development. I've seen suggestions such as "learn java fundamentals - advanced and other languages then try game engines" and also " learn game engine and learn the coding required for a specific task you are trying to achieve/tweak" the last one sounds more exciting i guess, but I am looking for the most efficient path for mobile game development.

what way would be the most efficient, for a complete beginner, to learn mobile game development?

thank you in advance!

Edit: I used Unity before but recently Unreal 4 and looks like i want to give that a go.

I think it depends on the complexity of problems to solve.

If you can solve all the problems with the game-engine easily there is no need to learn complex programming languages. On the other hand it sometimes might help to find solutions if you have some knowledge of more complex environments.

I have the feeling that I do not found the right words.

Is the intent to become a better programmer, or to complete a game?

You'll learn different things depending on the path you take.

Learning an engine teaches you less about the inner workings and low level elements of programming, but it gets you faster on your wheels to learn game development, gameplay programming, etc.

Learning from scratch makes you a better programmer and gives you better "tools" or mental constructs to tackle problem solving later on (effectively increasing your velocity as a developer and developing your ability to resolve some issues such as optimization, which is critical in mobile).

The two are viable avenues.

You at least need to know the basics of programming, loops, branches and logic before you start using an engine. Even if you jump streight in you will eventually hit a bump and then go back to learning coding properly.

@Tribad thank man.. dont worry i understood:)

@ Orymus 3 Thank you for the reply... the intent is to complete a game. I dont really care about becoming a programmer (unless i have too in order to develop games) if i can work around game engines and make games work just as fine .... i guess i would prefer that.

I understand becoming a programmer first would be wise. A lot more benefits, most importantly, less down time just jumping in and tweaking the code for a specific action than searching for codes and then trying to understand and learning it while making your game.

I assume someone who chooses the game engine path would never be considered a programmer... since everything he learns is mostly related to the specific game he/she is developing only. Well.... Unreal 4 uses C++....If you want to make a character look like its walking ... you can probably learn that and use it when creating the next game that involves someone walking. So over time you will learn quite a lot of coding but nonetheless, it will be for specific actions that you want in a game.

Becoming a programmer can be tedious but rewarding.

Going straight to game engine can be exciting but take longer.

Am i understanding this correctly ?

You at least need to know the basics of programming, loops, branches and logic before you start using an engine. Even if you jump streight in you will eventually hit a bump and then go back to learning coding properly.

Understood ... would you recommend basic C++ (since i want to use unreal 4 engine) ?

@ Orymus 3 Thank you for the reply... the intent is to complete a game. I dont really care about becoming a programmer (unless i have too in order to develop games) if i can work around game engines and make games work just as fine .... i guess i would prefer that.

I think I can code, but I don't think of myself as a programmer.

I can make a game that works, or a prototype, but I'm not a low-level kind of person.

You can code games without having to program them (if the nuance makes sense).

Also, coding a game, brings your closer to understanding programming, and it is an applied way of learning more (especially about the basics).

Going straight to game engine can be exciting but take longer.

I think it's actually faster to use a pre-existing engine (isn't it the whole point too?). You may however grow into finding them limited if you want to do something very advanced, and may end up coding in the engine to "hack" the core logic. By making your own engine, you apply your strong understanding of what you set out to do to make things simpler for you in the long run, at the expense of spending a lot of time coding before getting any noticeable result.

@ Orymus 3 Thank you for the reply... the intent is to complete a game. I dont really care about becoming a programmer (unless i have too in order to develop games) if i can work around game engines and make games work just as fine .... i guess i would prefer that.

I think I can code, but I don't think of myself as a programmer.

I can make a game that works, or a prototype, but I'm not a low-level kind of person.

You can code games without having to program them (if the nuance makes sense).

Also, coding a game, brings your closer to understanding programming, and it is an applied way of learning more (especially about the basics).

Going straight to game engine can be exciting but take longer.

I think it's actually faster to use a pre-existing engine (isn't it the whole point too?). You may however grow into finding them limited if you want to do something very advanced, and may end up coding in the engine to "hack" the core logic. By making your own engine, you apply your strong understanding of what you set out to do to make things simpler for you in the long run, at the expense of spending a lot of time coding before getting any noticeable result.

I see,,,, so what do you recommend for someone who has an idea for a mobile game and whats to make it happen?(Wants to do it himself of course)

I see,,,, so what do you recommend for someone who has an idea for a mobile game and whats to make it happen?(Wants to do it himself of course)

I'm super biased, but C# in Unity3D can teach you a lot about programming.

Pros:

You don't need to worry about dependencies. Unity has about 95% of what a gameplay programmer needs.

C#, in my own opinion, is a no bullshit language.

Minimal effort, compared to a lot of engines/languages, to compile for different platforms.

Cons:

You'll most likely need to buy something off the asset store if you're doing something exotic. (Unity is actually really flexible, and you can emulate a lot of features from other engines, but it will just be a little slower)

I see,,,, so what do you recommend for someone who has an idea for a mobile game and whats to make it happen?(Wants to do it himself of course)

I'm super biased, but C# in Unity3D can teach you a lot about programming.

Pros:

You don't need to worry about dependencies. Unity has about 95% of what a gameplay programmer needs.

C#, in my own opinion, is a no bullshit language.

Minimal effort, compared to a lot of engines/languages, to compile for different platforms.

Cons:

You'll most likely need to buy something off the asset store if you're doing something exotic. (Unity is actually really flexible, and you can emulate a lot of features from other engines, but it will just be a little slower)

Thanks a lot .. damn i really wanted to try unreal 4 though .. its a lot cheaper too ... unity is 70 dollars a month without the mobile stuff i believe... unreal gives you full access at just only 20 dollars

I believe C# is only for unity though right ? i believe unreal uses C++

Nonetheless, you are suggesting to learn C# from scratch and then use Unity ? or learn along the way while making the game ?