This is going to be the first in a super-chilled series of Devlog posts updating readers on progress and setting my intentions for the following week. Super chilled that is unless I’m super-stressed from the project…ha. If your new to the project then read this post first.
Summary (7 min read)
This post will go over what I achieved this week and what ideas I have for improving my game development journey. In the end, I announce next week’s game development challenge. The resources I mention are:
- My Video – Can You learn Game Development in 1 Year
- Tutorial by Brackeys – How to Make a Video Game in Unity – BASICS (E01)
- Shortcuts – UsetheKeyboard.com and the official Unity documentation.
- Organization – Notion
This Weeks Wins: Video, First Unity Tutorial, and a Blog Post.
The first video is live on the YouTube channel, Check it out here.
The audio quality isn’t the best, so I apologize for that – it was 6-am in the morning and our 20-month old daughter was asleep in the next room 🤫. I expect it’s going to be like that a lot this year – I will have to use whatever time is available to me.
Also, this morning I filmed and went through my first Unity tutorial. ☺️
Initially, I started on the Unity Foundations tutorial on the Learn Unity website. But quickly realized it was too complex for me. I wasn’t interested in manipulating parts of an already built mini-game. I wanted to learn the UI and build something very basic- from scratch. That way I would know what all the moving parts were.
So after a quick google and I found this Tutorial from Brackeys. It’s no wonder this guy 1.41M subs. That video alone has nearly 6 million views at the time of writing. The tutorial was perfect. I got to move a block around the screen, and change a few basic settings. Exactly what I needed. People who make tutorials take note. Trying to fit everything in one video scares off people like me. When I see a 1-hr+ tutorial video I immediately get overwhelmed.- Thanks Brackeys. 👍
Realisation. Be Aware of Any Potential Optimisations Early.
At this early stage, I’ve realized it’s important for me to be aware of any possible optimizations for my workflow and study. It’s better I do it now before bad habits set in. Here is a couple I have highlighted.
1: Shortcuts and Hotkeys. – ( Two Resources)
Investing in learning the shortcuts and hotkeys now will save a ton of time when navigating complex tools like Unity. Think of extra milliseconds of time wasted when using a mouse. Okay, so a few milliseconds here and there is nothing right? Well, imagine how much that will accumulate over the year of this project. That’s a lot of time.
Here are two great resources I used to learn the shortcuts: UsetheKeyboard.com and the official Unity documentation.
2: Organisation – (Better Workflow Habits)
Alright, so I’m not the most organized person in the world. Given the scale of the project that doesn’t bode well. I’m not only learning game development but I’m also uploading videos to Youtube, posting to this blog, and being a Dad/Husband. I may not have a job right now but I still don’t have enough hours in the day. Staying organized is a must.
The mistakes I have made in the past are trying to be organized at two less-than-optimal times. Either after a lot of entropy has has built up. Which results in me to spending ages organising weeks or even sometimes months of acculimalted mess – and usually just giving up and sticking my head back in the sand. Or, I waste time setting up elaborate systems before something has even gotten underway. These often end up being useless and/or unnecessarily complex.
So when do I think is the best time to develop an organization system? Well now! In the early stages before complexity sets in. Yes, I had something basic in place before the project started, but I’m adapting it as I go. These early stages will probably see the most changes. But as time goes and as I adjust to the project, it should become more optimized.
I am using Notion to handle all my planning and tracking of what topics I am learning and what videos/blogs I need to work on. It has an amazing feature where you can turn your task databases into a calendar view. Really helpful for planning ahead.
Also, I’m trying to build basic workflow habits, like immediately transferring my footage onto my external hard drive, naming it, and importing it into the Final cut Pro X (my video editing software). That way it’s all ready to go when I have some time to edit.
Again just like the shortcuts/hotkeys a bit of investment now will save a ton of time in the future. One tip is to keep a notepad handy and jot down any repetitive tasks. Then at the end of every session, I think about how I can eliminate or speed these up for next time. Personally, I try to keep in mind James Clear’s ‘Laws of Behaviour Change’ from the book Atomic Habits. How can I ‘Make it Easy’ and how can I Make It Obvious? Sometimes it’s as simple as creating a folder for your screen recordings to stop them from building up on your desktop (#NoteToSelf)
Next Week (w/c – Mon 5th July)
My basic method on this project is to focus on the week and maximize it. Annual thinking will trick me into believing I have plenty of time. SoI will be setting out the challenges in this section.
If you are new to game development then maybe you can also give this challenge a shot and earn some (fictitious) XP….wait isn’t all XP fictitious? Well, you know what I mean.
Current Focus: Learning Unity Basics
Currently, my main focus is learning the tools – in my case that’s Unity. After that, I can worry about getting better at building games.
This Weeks Challenge :
- Complete 5 Brackey’s Tutorials In 7 days. – from ‘How to Make a Video Game Playlist’ (+100xp for each Tutorial)
Thanks For now,
D.