Feel free to hit me up if you choose unity. 2D in unity is amazing these days and there is only little bits of coding that is manageable for beginiers.
The best first game engine to try as a beginner
Hello Toby.
As you have little experience of programming and already introduced to Python, I would have this following "game plan" ( no pun intended )...
First, focus your efforts on learning Python and programming in general. It really is the most important skill you can develop, as you can then move onto two things; "PyGame" and a GUI( "Graphical User Interface ) toolkit, of which there are more than one to choose from.
PyGame will be what your game will be using to put graphics on screen, take control of user input( keyboard, gamepads etc. ) and sound/music.
A GUI api( "application programming interface" ) will allow you to develop applications seperate of your game, for which you can develop tools such as sprite editors, level editors or even your own scripting language which can be used in the running game.
For now, I would stick with Python as you are already familiar with it and the community support out there is massive. A 2D platformer is still quite an involved project - even for a beginner. Scale back just a bit, to say Tetris or Space Invaders - something simple that involves just a single screen.
On a final note, I recommend "Python for the absolute beginner" by Michael Dawson, as its audience is beginners, but also does this with example games. These range from text-based applications to an Asteroids clone. Game Maker is another option, but it still requires some coding skill so you might as well go the proper programming route for now. That said, I found it to be a LOT of fun to use, which is probably more important than being a "part of the industry".
Now, go forth Toby, and have fun! 
I started with Craftstuido, which is availale for free. It is a little bit clunky at times, but you can create 2 and 3D games. The cool thing about it is that it has an build in model editor, texture editor, map editor and animation creator. So everything is there for you to use. Although you cannot create AAA games with it, its a great software for learning game development. You can use lua or visual coding (you code with blocks, which makes it easy to learn). Try it out: https://sparklinlabs.itch.io/craftstudio
Hi Toby
Although this is not any quick nor easy answer - my vague response is "It depends", or more specifically in this context it depends on how comfortable you feel with programming or design or whatever your chosen discipline is. Also, I'm not sure what kind of learning+working style suits you.
The best thing is, compared to when I was starting out, there are a number of game engines available for free for educational and hobby purposes. What I would recommend is downloading and experimenting with several, including the suggestions above, following some tutorials and also just playing around with each one and see what feels "right" to you. A year or so down the line I'd recommend experimenting again as your ability grows.
It may be a long process but you will learn a lot, not just about the pluses and minuses of the different engines and tools but also about yourself in respect to what "just works" for you.
Good luck!
Well first off try to learn a coding language like java
Starter Java Guide - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHs2t7c8S6yNTcfZgRkiCA/videos
but another coding language and engine is gml/game maker you will have either buy it for $40 or use an old steam install link (you can find it online just look something up like, steam game maker 1.4 install link) it's new user friendly and has some great games like undertale and could create games/clones like mario, zelda and even pokemon for the advanced(very advanced)
If you would enjoy to start a little more advanced you can use unreal engine 4, you can find youtube tutorials with basic stuff some series have over 50 videos and the creators of the engine have tutorials some good games made in it are some of the nbas i believe, outlast and the escapist.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
