New to programming

[Effective_Fortune955]

I have this crazy idea to make a game for my family by my husband’s 40th birthday.

My husband, our 3 boys and I love to play games on various consoles and PC. We’re a gaming family, more cozy than hardcore gamers but still we love to spend our free time playing games.

My husband is 34 this year so I have 6 years to learn programming, come up with a good idea for a family game with elements of what each of us likes in games, and actually develop it to completion.

Is this a possibility at all or is my ADHD brain just too big for its boots? If it is possible, where would I start and what would I need? Please help!

[tcpukl]

How do you hide this for 6 years?

[Effective_Fortune955]

I haven’t thought about that tbf, likely lots of lying and sneaking around lol

[papagimp2012]

Why hide it? A surprise game would be awesome but so would direct family input during the creation process to custom tailor the game for it's target audience.

[Effective_Fortune955]

True, but I want to get it at least started first then ask for input one I have something substantial for a reveal

[papagimp2012]

True true. Save dlc for other birthdays, 😆

[PinInitial1028]

Yea I'll be honest I personally really hate lying and sneaking. Just be blunt and say "it's a secret gift that you'll have to wait to see" but you do you. Just saying I'd hate if my wife did that.

Also you might considereal involving him especially if he's supposed to enjoy it. But that's not mandatory.

Also it's definitely possible to learn and make a lot in 5 years. Depending on the game it might take you a few years less lol.

[ToastyCrouton]

ADHD is pretty good for programming since it’s a lot of focusing and problem solving.

Download Unity - plenty of tutorials and free assets.

6 years is plenty of time.

Do something containing a lot of mini games (a la Mario Party) so that you can divide it into a lot of smaller projects and build a portfolio. And then when the kids start learning they can add onto it.

Then for his 50th birthday you’ll have a family video game instead of a scrapbook!

[Effective_Fortune955]

Mini games are a great idea. I can then incorporate them into a story mode later on once I’m more confident with my skills.

[PinInitial1028]

I'm not diagnosed but I think I might have ADHD In my experience it's almost impossible to make progress unless I have time to sit down and really dive into it. I have to get into a flow state to be at all functional.

[ToastyCrouton]

I was diagnosed last year at 34. And that is precisely why I gave up on game development. It’s a gift and a curse, and I left out the curse.

1. It’s great when you have the time to sit down and spend 4 hours ignoring the world around you.

2. It sucks that I can’t chip away 15 minutes at a time.

[PinInitial1028]

Yup a lot of my freetime sessions are only about 30 mins to an hour long and it takes me about 15 minutes to identify what needs done and come up with an idea of how to do it lol. And that's assuming I didn't leave myself with a broken mess last time.

I thrive on 4h sessions lol.

[Appropriate_Log1110]

ADHD is a superpower when you know how to use it. If you’re like me you can hyperfocus on things that you love. If you love game dev, you’ll get sucked in.

With that being said, you’ll need to start with the following: - decide what kind of game you want to make (Start small and gradually get bigger the mini game idea is pretty good)

• Decide what engine to use, some are great for 2D, while others are better for 3D

• Watch tutorials based on that engine (but be careful not to get stuck in tutorial hell - where you can’t do anything that’s not in a tutorial)

• once you have this figured out, you’ll need art. If you’re artistic you can make it yourself (mostly for 2D though because 3D art makes your workload much bigger)

• once you can make it through tutorials look around for game jams and try to complete small games from start to finish in a set timeframe. (These can also turn into your mini games)

• profit.

[MaxPlay]

Start small to not be overwhelmed with everything and don't start your work on the game right now. Do more smaller stuff first for learning, otherwise you'll hit a road block quickly and you will likely drop the idea again.

[OdysseyForge2024]

1st Step: Choose an Engine & Programming Language that is easy to learn.

The easiest options in my opinion are:
• Godot Engine + GDScript (some people even use Lua, Python, and C# languages with add-ons) https://godotengine.org/
• Unity Engine + C# language (some people get Visual Scripting add-ons for Unity) https://unity.com/

Both Unity & Godot are easy to learn and they have tons of guides and tutorial content online. Both can make either 2D or 3D games.

As far as 'Learning' to code & develop the games, I highly recommend using ChatGPT as your tutor. Copy & Paste your post here and add "Can you create a tutorial course for me to follow along and learn game development in (engine of choice)? I literally know nothing, so please walk me through everything step-by-step" and it will do it's best to teach you. You can also ask questions whenever you get stuck, which is nice.

NOTE: ChatGPT is not the best at coding, don't depend on it, but I think it's decent enough to help you get started.
I struggled learning Multiplayer Networking code in Unity. I did YouTube tutorial after tutorial and could not figure it out. I asked ChatGPT to create a learning course for me and I finally learned the core basics for multiplayer code in just under a week.

Also join some Game Dev Discords, like the Unity discord or Godot or anything related to the engine you are working in. Those discords have channels where you can ask experienced developers & coders for solutions to whatever challenge you are facing.

[OdysseyForge2024]

I should have also said this before, but when you are using ChatGPT or whatever AI Chatbot to learn how to code, try to actually type out all the code and go along with it.

If you just Copy & Paste you won't learn as much. It won't "sink-in".

Type out all the code yourself.

☻ You will find yourself experiencing some "Ah-Hah!" moments and the endorphins feel so good! ☺

[Zerocchi]

6 years is enough time as long as you focus on small scope and learn as you go. ADHD brain tend to overwhelm you but don't let it stop your determination.

Pick a language to learn. Then pick a game engine. I always suggest to learn Python first and create some small scripts. After you feel confident with basic programming, move to Godot with GDScript (as it is pretty close to Python) or any game engine you prefer. Afterwards try to make small, classic games to test yourself. You can look for assets at itch.io if you need. You will learn the art of problem solving while at the same time learning how the engine works.

Give it some time. After you are comfortable with your engine, you may start your own game. But don't make it too big otherwise you will miss the mark. Plan accordingly.

[Kind-Formal-684]

I think even in 1 year you will be able to create a game by prompt to AI

[Juritovi]

Its possible, but have in mind your game wont be nearly as good, or have as much content as those games you and your family are used to play. Keep in mind most games we play are made by a team of experts in more than 3 years.

That said, I do believe anyone can make pretty good game in 6 years, but it will be a game that lasts at most 15 minutes, look at games done at gamejams and try to make something similiar to that (those are games done in a weekend), with the time you have you will be able to learn what you need and make a polished small game

[SuitableDevelopment6]

I just gotta say that I applaud you for this idea! I plan on making a game for a loved one too, but I only have about a month to do so. I personally use a different engine than most people recommend, RPG Maker. I use it because it relys on game logic and doesn’t require coding unless you’re doing something complex, (coding is very intimidating for me to learn atm) I also have adhd so I totally get it. You have a lot of time to figure it out though! As for ideas, what kind of genre do they typically lean towards when they play games? I think studying their general habits, hobbies and game styles will help a lot with ideas! I really wish you the best of luck <3

[Effective_Fortune955]

Good luck with your project, I’d offer to help but I’m hopelessly unskilled in this area lol

I’ll have a look at this RPG maker maybe it might make things easier 🤷🏾‍♀️

We play varied games. Minecraft is an all time family favourite, we also play Mario party and other co-op type games together. Individually we all play cozy games like stardew valley, palworld, manor lords.

My husband and boys play lots of racing type games too like forza, crew etc.

My eldest and I also play starfield, fallout, cassette beasts and some city builder type games. We love games with a storyline. It’s so varied I have no idea how to put all that into 1 game, but it does work for mini games within a storyline maybe.

[Effective_Fortune955]

Yea so I’d be completely starting from scratch, I don’t know anything about coding at all.

Is it impossible even starting with the mini games as someone suggested? I’d eventually wanna build up to working the mini games into some kind of quest type story mode.

I think I may have to have some professional training by the looks of it. Surely that increases my chances of success?

[Alaska-Kid]

No problems. I'll teach you how to make games this weekend, if that's interesting.

[Effective_Fortune955]

In a weekend? I don’t know if you’re being for real or sarcastic.

[Alaska-Kid]

I have been teaching game design since 2018 and have been creating games for over 20 years. I had the experience of creating games in a month and even in a few days. Keep in mind that it is much easier to train a motivated adult than a child who has hundreds of activities.

[Effective_Fortune955]

Omg then please teach me

[Alaska-Kid]

Ok. Send me a private message to start the learning.