The first full week is over and it was tough, but not for the reason I expected…
This Weeks Wins: Second Video, Re-creating Brackey’s Tutorials, and another Blog Post.
So first things first, how did I fair with my weekly Challenge:
Last Weeks Challenge :
Complete 5 Brackey’s Tutorials In 7 days. – from ‘How to Make a Video Game Playlist’ (+100xp for each Tutorial)
I actually did 8 tutorials! This takes my total tutorials completed to 9. However, this is kind of frustrating because the whole playlist I was working on – entitled ‘Make A Game’ is 10 videos long. It would have been nice to complete the series but all in all it’s a good start. Although, it was probably too easy to reward 100XP per tutorial, so I will adjust the amount earned. I think 10 XP for each tutorial with a bonus of 50XP for completing the challenge. 80 + 50 = 130XP Total. (I will have to work out how this corresponds to leveling up).
What I Learned
It’s ok doing tutorials but that is only one part of the learning process. I can’t say I’ve actually learned anything until I’ve tested myself. So today (Sunday) I tried to recreate the game. I would say I managed to recreate 70% of it without referring to my notes – the bit I was weakest at was creating the UI. Probably because this was only covered in a single video. Whereas, there was a lot of cross-over between the other tutorials: creating scripts, linking variables, coding loops, and boolean flags.
The game was like an endless runner-style, with a cube moving along the ground and the player dodging left and right to avoid obstacles. It introduced me to Unity’s physics engine and collision detection using Rigidbody components. I was really impressed with Unity’s animation capabilities. Using keyframes to animate will feel familiar to anyone who has done some basic animation in something like FCPX or Premiere Pro.
YouTube Channel
I uploaded another video to the channel, sharing my plan for this year. This was by far the toughest task of the week. To be honest, I hadn’t fully finalized my plan before filming. This became apparent when I watched the footage back… it just didn’t make sense. I even forgot to mention what the main goal of the channel/ project was! So I ended up having to reshoot it on Friday. That meant I was editing well into Saturday and it was a stretch to get it published on time.
I probably spent more time working on the YouTube side of things than I did studying game development. I will have to do better next week I will never hit my target.
That’s it for Now! I’m Off To Watch England Beat Italy in the Euros
Sorry, this is so brief but the European Football championship Final is about to begin so I’m off the cheer England on!
Current Focus: Learning Unity Basics
This Weeks Challenge (W/c 12th)
- Complete The Final Brackey’s Tutorial (10XP)
- Recreate 100% without Notes and add something New (100XP)
- 8 More Tutorials – On Building a 2D game ( 10XP + Bonus 50XP)