Hey, folks! My son (currently 15) is interested in getting into game development. He’s taken a class in Python in school and enjoyed it, but I know Python won’t be enough. I don’t think he’s interested in ever making big, AAA games, but more along the lines of Undertale (which was made in Game Maker Studio) or Bug Fables (Unity).
There are just so many choices and so much content out there that I don’t know where to start. Do you have any suggestions for which language(s) to learn or software (like Game Maker Studio) that you’ve found helpful? Thanks!
I can help a bit with software. I tried Godot a while ago, didn’t personally like it, though I do recommend your son tries it, as it does work with Python and won’t require learning a new language. Also heard it’s beginner friendly. That’s how I started at least.
Unity is my recommended game engine - it’s more versatile and has quite a community, so it’s easy to find answers to almost any questions your son might have (and trust me, he will have a lot). It does require learning C# though.
For big AAA games the answer is Unreal. It works on C++. Can say much about it, I haven’t tried it myself, but I did hear it’s has a bit of a steep learning curve. Would recommend this one only if your son becomes very invested and will have made a few games already.
Minor heads-up that Godot actually uses a proprietary language based on Python, called GDScript.
Yeah, I’d read that about C++. But Godot and Unity seem to be the favored recommendations here, so we’ll give those a go!
Good luck to your son! :)