I've been having a go at these. My only other experience with making games was a few years ago when I tried Game Maker and was able to grasp a little bit of the in-built scripting language, but I still wasn't able to make much more than an incomplete working concept for a 2D platformer.
I'm no career student looking to become the next big AAA developer, just a hobbyist. So Unity seemed like a good direction to go in, as it has so many learning resources for a beginner like me but still looks highly versatile if I want to get into more advanced stuff later. The tutorials so far have included use of C#, so I found some great tutorials for that too that explain it really well.
I've never been good at self-directed learning. I was always a low energy, low mood child, you know those creepy kids that always look sick, withdrawn and never talk or make any friends, but there isn't actually anything diagnosed wrong with them. I could go on and on about it but I won't. I've worked hard to undo much of the damage this caused me growing up. I feel at least functional now and capable of reflecting on things more clearly.
Now it feels like I'm learning how to learn, not just learning how to make games. Seems that learning is a skill in itself, and it's something you have to learn how to manage as paradoxical as that sounds. I feel like I really missed the boat on that one, but it's never too late to start. So I've been discovering through trail and error a lot of the things that are healthy and conductive of learning, and what things aren't. Cramming and obsession? Bad. Organising learning into discrete blocks, and taking breaks/naps in-between? Good. Filling down-time with taxing, brain-frying hobbies? Bad. Filling down-time with activities that give the brain a rest? Good. Having things to look forward to is vital also, not having things to look forward to used to put me in a really bad place. I can't emphasize enough getting the right amount of sleep, too! And good food, I've found salty snacks are the worst offender. Foods like vegetables, fish, eggs and wild or brown rice seem to be the most energizing (anyone tried Thai black rice? That stuff is TASTY, sadly not that cheap so it's a rare treat). And against all advice, I've found I do NOT benefit from an early breakfast! Throws me energy off for the rest of the day and gives me day-long nausea. But if I wait an hour after waking up before eating, it's fine.
So it's also a little bit about finding what works for you as an individual. Many forms of advice work for a majority, but may not necessarily work for a smaller minority. Like the breakfast thing.
Currently on the Space Shooter tutorial, finished the Roll a Ball tutorial and added a few personal tweaks to it to solidify my understanding. It's been quite smooth so far, could easily be lulled into a false sense of security. I know it's going to get difficult eventually, but that's part of the fun.
I'm going to be a long way off developing my game idea, it's just too early for that. But I'm continuously coming up with ideas for it. Anyone remember EVO: Search for Eden? I would love to see a game like this, but in 3D, open-world (possible procedurally generated) with a multitude of biomes to adapt to, in a world that is constantly changing. I'm not interested in a Spore clone, though. This game would take a more open-world survival direction, focused on the creature's evolution to sentience and early civilization. The transition to sentience would be smooth - evolve more brain power and manipulators to unlock crafting and building, for example, in a way that's based on what came before. It's a big undertaking, I can't see myself even attempting it for a few years yet. But I'll try and work on some smaller projects that incorporate elements of such a game.