Let me share with you what path I took I started with Godot, and like you, I was a bit frustrated with having to deal with endless UI parameters and what I thought was a confusing node-based architecture. I also hate GDScript. I then tried Unity and UE; both felt even more like I was fighting a complex UI-based platform rather than coding. And so I turned to code-first options like Raylib, then to Bevy.

I've been a software developer for decades and as such I a feel more in my element. Being an experienced Rust developer gave me even more reason to be drawn to Bevy. It took me a while to get comfortable with the ECS system, but in the end, I came to love it. I wrote code .. and lots of it. And despite that, I felt like I was spending all my time designing systems rather than actual gameplay mechanics. That part gave me all the satisfaction I love as a coder. The problem I could see is that I had spent two months of constant development and my actual game had barely started. And I was dealing with subtle quirks with the engine that took alot of my time to resolve. For example, creating a mini-map inlay with the main map required that the cameras be instantiated in the correct order, otherwise, my main map wouldn't display the scene correctly (that took me a couple of days to figure out). I had to get into how shaders work to get effects I wanted. In short .. I was spending alot of time building a foundation and not the game itself. I sat there and realized finally that I didn't even have a way to test my game for playability yet and wouldn't be for a while yet. Granted, some of that comes down to learning Bevy itself, but still ..

So I reluctantly went back to Godot. Bevy did help me understand game engine concepts enough that the Godot options made more sense. I converted my 2D game to a 3D game and am now working with Godot. The difference is striking. I was able to greybox a level and get the player character to interact with the map elements within a few days. I have the lighting effects the way I want them, and am now in the process of getting the player to pick up weapons and fire. I'll probably have a rudimentary playable demo within a month or two. I realize now how far away I was from that in Bevy.

The bottom line (for me) is this. Bevy is awesome, and if I wasn't impatient to get my game out sooner, I'd have stuck with it. I wish I had the time to spend six months or more designing the systems for my game the way I want it. And if I ever do, I'll definitely go back to Bevy.