Ive created a learning plan for myself - would someone recheck it for me?

[DWA 113]

Hello guys!

Ill try to keep this short:

Currently im certified unfit for work, and this state will last about a year. I want to start creating video games. I worked as junior software developer in java about 3 years ago, but my programming skills are rusted, and i never programmed games before.

My tools of choice are C# and Unity 3D. So this is my "learning plan", if you have other ressources, or think i should tackle this whole thing differently, please let me know. I will be very thankful for every opinion i can get.

Programming/C#/Visual Studio

• Learn to Program from scratch again
• Learn further Software Engeneering aspects (Object Oriented Programming, Patterns)
• Get Experience (Mainly exercises you can find online, for example this - if you have more of them please tell me!)

Ressources: I cant decide between Begin Coding with C# or C# Programming yellow Book . Both seem to be from the same author one of them seems to be rather slow, but detailed. The other one seems to more a script than a real book.

Unity 3D

• Learn the Basics of Unity 3D
• Learn the Basics of Game Development

Ressources: Unity3D Tutorials and the ebooks Mastering unity 2D Game Development/Unity3D 5 by example

Game Design

• ?

I like to work structured, thats why i want to create a learning plan. Thanks in advance for every helpful comment!

[Kylotan 10349]

If you already have some Java knowledge, you'll want to leverage that.
 
Read through this once - The C# Programming Language for Java Developers - and refer back to it later.

 

Beyond that, I'd recommend digging straight into the Unity tutorials, rather than getting deep into C# details that you will probably never need.

 

I don't recommend laying down a huge 'runway' of preparatory tasks before doing the thing you actually want to do. You've obviously already got a mind for programming, so you can get started now without needing to go over all of the absolute basics.

[jpetrie 13212]

The most important thing you can do is actually make games. I will echo Kylotan in saying you don't need a complicated roadmap and learning process before you start actually attempting to build a simple game, and the sooner you can start that the better.

[Eulagrief 309]

If you were wanting to leverage your java skills, you could keep an eye out for this FREE online course run by the University of Reading when it starts again: Begin Programming: Build Your First Mobile Game, Learn basic Java programming by developing a simple mobile game that you can run on your computer, Android phone, or tablet.  https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/begin-programming

 

 

 

[Hexmind 871]

One thing worth of mentioning is to bite at something you can actually chew. Newcomers often see big and tackle projects way bigger than they can actually handle. Pick a small and simple game to start. This will introduce you to the basic concepts all games are made of such as the game loop, input processing, menus, video drawing, savings, etc. Not to mention assets creation. That should give you a good idea what is involved in actually making a game and gain experience for your next one. 

 

Good luck!

[Kirlim 207]

In my opinion, programming is like playing Go... after a while without playing, it takes only a few matches to get close to the skills where you left.

 

If your objective is more about learning than to develop a game (yes, this should make a huge difference over time), I'd advise to start developing games asap based on KISS (keep it simple and stupid), with special focus on code architecture. Review your own code, and whenever something starts bothering you, look around for ways to solve it. It'll also help you here as it forces you into constant refactor, and you'll end up naturally trying to make code that it's easier to change - and making code easy to change is a valuable skill.

 

Deep knowledge of language, patterns and architecture are better learned when you actually feel that you need something to solve a problem which until then seemed tricky. Not much to be earned studying then deeply in advance, without even knowing where they'll be applied.

[Buster2000 4310]

You could give this a try:

https://www.codingame.com/start