Hi Paula,
I’m not sure how useful my advice will be, since I’m working in unpopular / infamous engine called RPG Maker (although I’m using 100% custom assets lol) but when I encounter a bug the first thing I do is type the problem (or the error message) into google window in quotes, either key words or phrases (for example " TypeError" “Cannot read property ‘height’ of undefined”) and I precede it by typing the name of the engine “RPG Maker” (in your case I reckon that would be “Unity”).
The second solution for when I’m stuck is to look for help on the forums dedicated to the engine I’m using. I’ve only frequented two different engine communities, AGS (Adventure Game Studio, that’s the engine for the old type of point and click games) forums and currently I’m on RPG Maker forums. In general people in these kind of engine-dedicated communities are friendly and helpful, so my advice would be to look for the forums or community dedicated to the specific engine you’re using. I’m pretty sure there have to be communities built around Unity, GameMaker and other engines. The general rule of the thumb is, the bigger the community, the better your chance of getting response is. Here there’s only a handful of us, but the engine-related communities have hundreds or thousands of people frequenting them, separate sub-forums are dedicated to engine/problem solving and are frequented by experienced gamedevs who are willing to help. In case nobody answers your question, find active users who look like they know their gamedev kung fu (admins, programmers, etc) and don’t hesitate to send them private messages. There’s also another forum-related option (which was also suggested by Rick in this course), you can team up with someone who is skillful at something that is your Achilles heel - post an announcement in a dedicated subforum (usually called Announcements, Recruitment or something like that)… or just PM people who you’d like to work with.
@solofo said it already, but I think it’s worth repeating (I repeat that to myself all the time, because keep forgetting Rome wasn’t built in a day lol): you get better by practice and systematic work. It’s not glamorous, it’s often dull and nerve-wracking (at least for me) but obviously practice makes you better. And making mistakes, errors, bugs, and learning from them (correcting /squashing them) is inseparable part of the job.
Also, depending on the engine you’re using and what are the biggest issues you’re facing in your gamedev work, I think it might be worth investing in some books on the given subject, so maybe they could broaden your knowledge (but I can’t suggest anything since the engine I’m using is pretty simplistic / uncomplicated and I never was in need of books - only saw others recommending them).
Anyway, take care and good luck with your project!
