Hey!
Whilst I obviously intend to dutifully complete all of the courses in time, I’m wondering how far to progress in the Unity course with my current aim of producing a straightforward 2D puzzle game.
I’m currently halfway through the Glitch Garden section which wraps up the 2D stuff - but would I miss anything critical (or useful) in regards to 2D games if I pause there without continuing on to Bowlmaster etc.?
Thoughts would be very much appreciated!
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Personally I got really mixed up with the glitch garden videos where it speeds up the animation stuff… I need to really get back on that project and probably just restart it completely and work through it. I have a few games i have made but i think that it would have helped me do so alot quicker if i had finished the glitch garden lesson first as far as all the various animation lessons that are in the course. I of course will go back and finish all of it as well soon here. Just some thoughts and ideas from someone who has gotten about as far as you. I did pretty well but had some things i had to spend alot of time looking up that I am pretty sure would have been covered if i had just finished up the glitch garden game. If you have an idea for a game though make sure to write it down or to get it prototyped a bit so that you dont lose the idea. I have had a few ideas i thought were just great ideas that i wanted to write down but i waited until too late and i forgot the idea. anyways, just some tidbits and thoughts from me. hope that they were a bit helpful 
Definitely helpful. I know what you mean about that section - it was probably the absolute worst one to take a few months break in the middle of! I’m having to replay and skim through various bits just to remind myself what I was even doing.
I do already have a notebook with game thoughts scribbled in and couldn’t agree moron terms of ideas falling out of your head as easily as they fell in.
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What kinds of games or projects are you most interested in creating in the future? Do you have a preferred genera or anything?
The sections after Garden Glitch are not complete games. You’ll find info about using different inputs like a game controller, how to improve your UI, version control while using Github and others. Yes, it’s presented in the context of 3D or 2.5D games, but there’s stuff that’s useful for 2D gamers.
While I cant testify to the sections after glitch garden, as I just started that section, reading over the video titles for the following sections, it seems that there is all kinds of useful information in those videos that you could apply to a 2d game.
Different control schemes, AI, network capability, replays, etc.
Thanks Dave and Chris - I may have to watch some of the videos and see first.
Ryan - honestly I want to see what I alone can realistically achieve. I’m not going to sit here and say an amazing RPG like I see a lot of people doing (not necessarily here but “novice” game dev in general - because that isn’t going to happen. Yet! Also there are just toooo many out there.
I’m more interested in catchy 2D games - the 5-10 minute pick up and get hooked sort that I have time to play in my life. Those kind of puzzle/physics/reflex games. I figure if I can actually design, code and publish one or two of those (you guys will buy them right?!) I’d be happy for starters. Then maybe I’d get more adventurous.
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My progress got interrupted in the middle of the Glitch Garden section as well, and that was the stuff that I had the hardest time with! (Bone based animation is not my strong suit, and I really don’t want to deal with it in actual development!) It’s because of that that I want to go back and start over at the beginning when I do get back to learning Unity development, although maybe I can just start that section over and it’ll be enough to refresh my memory of the previous sections.
I’ve only just started the Laser Defender segment but am a long time software engineer. I Unity and Game Development in general is like any other technical experience. You’ll want to keep it up slow and steady for awhile so you’ll go through this, probably some other sources, some books, youtube vids and the whole bit.