What should a beginner game developer learn?

Question

Game development

In fact, the question can be reformulated as follows: Unreal engine or Unity? I understand that most of the indie and mobile projects are on Unity, but there are more vacancies and they also pay more, although going to the Unreal engine, the likelihood of participating in the development of a large project is clearly more.

Answer 1

On Unity it will be easier to start making the first projects that will be your portfolio in the future. Having studied Unity, you will feel in any way that you want more and start learning UE, so for a start I think Unity will do, because for example, after watching 8 video lessons for 10+ minutes, I started making my game. That is, having a small stock of knowledge, you can already do something. The most difficult thing is to start and not quit, but then you will break through.

Answer 2

A programmer has one path, a game designer has another, and each of the dozen roles has its own path. All of them are game developers if they are involved in game development. You can even invite a janitor to the team as a consultant if the game is about sweeping the streets, and he will also become a game developer. The first step is to figure out what roles exist in game development and what are the stages of development.
And if you are inclined to become a programmer, then you should learn programming in the first place. And not a specific language, but programming in general, using the example of a specific language that you like best. Knowing the basics well, it will not be difficult to switch to another language, especially from a strongly typed (compiled) one. As for me, C ++ is more complicated, but the syntax is similar, so take any. Naturally, before that you need to study (or already know) computer science and mathematics - the basics of the basics. And Unity is just the icing on the cake.
Being an indie single player, you have to be able to do everything. I must say right away that this is a dumb path, the chance of success is extremely low, and for a beginner, it is generally zero. For this path, you need to be a genius with a good background, and not just wanting to join the development from scratch.
Well, if you are worried about a good salary (income), then run away from game development. This area is not about money, but about happiness. They go there for pleasure. Money is paid in other areas, for example, in the development of banking software. And don't look at super successful hits, look at failed and unfinished projects. But how do you look at them? Nobody knows about them and never will.)

Answer 3

Good day.
It is still worth deciding which stack you want to work with and which games to develop.
Small introduction:
There are more vacancies on Unity compared to UE, not to mention companies that have custom engines. Yes it is. The market for mobile games dominates in the CIS, they are easier and faster to make, the income is higher, they are made mainly on Unity. The entry threshold, both in C# and in Unity itself, is much simpler. Mobile games are practically not made on UE, because the out-of-the-box engine is not very suitable for such purposes for many reasons. It is advisable to use it only for large projects with cool graphics. It is much more difficult to find a groping plus sign than a sharpist, so the plus signs will be a level higher, so to speak. From this it follows that UE mainly makes AAA games, which are almost non-existent in the Russian Federation, C ++ development is more expensive, and in general the costs for business are disproportionately higher.
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If it is primary for you to enter gamedev as soon as possible and earn your first money - choose Unity.
+ Unity is friendlier and easier for a beginner than Unreal Engine
+ There are more vacancies for entry-level positions
+ C# is used to work with Unity. It is much easier to learn than C++.
- The competition is higher
- Most likely there will be mobile toys / jerking / slots. In a word, you will not develop a new skyrim)
- If later you want to become a "serious" game dev, you will have to learn the pros and everything connected with it.
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As for the materials, these are either books, lessons on YouTube / sites. I don't know about normal courses.
First of all, learn to program and learn the C# language itself, complete tasks after each chapter to consolidate the material.
* If according to the books, then Schildt -> Troelsen -> Richter.
*If you don't like books, then lessons from #SimpleCode on YouTube, or sites like metanit.com.
Next, you can already jump into the engine itself. Here I can only advise only of. Unity documentation and tutorials on YouTube. After that, you yourself will understand in which direction you develop.
If you are interested in the "roadmap" for Unreal Engine, then let me know, but I will briefly say. The entry threshold is much higher, because the engine itself is more complicated, well, you need to learn C ++ at least to the main containers and know how to use them and how they work. There are vacancies only in capital cities, and at the initial stages the salary will be slightly higher than as a junior unity developer. If we're not talking about development in terms of the financial component, then the complexity and steeper learning curve of UE is a price to pay for working with cutting-edge technology on an interesting and big AAA project. Fortunately, there are enough companies / studios in the CIS who can offer such a job, but, of course, there are an order of magnitude fewer of them than Unity vacancies.

Answer 4

My husband had the same problem as you. He chose Unity based on the fact that it's easier and more powerful to get started. It seems like he did not regret it)) For a year now he has been working in his specialty, mastering it in courses. What courses - EasyUM. Take a look, it might work for you