Like the title says. I will probably be sticking to Gameguru for now but I too am looking to learn how to use these engines. Ive always thought about taking a class to learn how to do it but again for those who learned it on their own, how long did it take for you all to start being able to make games comfortably? I know these engines are a great deal more complex but I thought I would ask. Thanks!

What would you like to learn? If its for leveldesign only, you likely got it down within a week or less.

Leveldesign, but also just getting the process down to make a playable fps (which I understand could take all different lengths of time, lol)

(edit: not trying to tell you what you can and can't do (that's not my job!) but reminding you of the rules in case you inadvertently break them and incur the wrath of the banhammer. )

Sorry to say but discussion of competing engines was recently banned: https://forum.game-guru.com/thread/212053

Otherwise, it'd be best to ask on the respective forums.

Unity forums
Unreal forums

Hi Seditious,

Thanks for your concern and sticking to the forum rules.

Directing other forum members to competing products and engines and discouraging users to stop using GameGuru is not allowed.

However, as you can see above you, one of the other MOD's of the forums has commented, so, I would assume that this particular subject is not over stepping the line.

If it were to cross the line, be assured that it would be dealt with properly. Please leave the moderators to moderate the forums.

Cheers

Jay.

Raving on about how fantastic other engines are or directly advertising them is frowned upon while discussions about them are permitted. It depends on the tone and I deemed his question to be completely fine.



-Wolf

Ok that makes sense to me. Maybe someone could edit the rules to make them more clear.

Sorry guys I kinda forgot to read the stickies, my bad. I was just inquiring about other's experiences with different engines... since I was looking to possibly start learning them so I can have some experience with them alongside GG. Not trying to advertise in any way.

redacted.

(Excuse me, I've had some wine.) Okay, as a person that's used Unity, Unreal, NeoAxis, FPSCx9 and GG. I'd happily tell you to stick with GG. If you don't have a programming background then GG will be your best bet.

Why?
With Unity, Unreal Engine and NeoAxis you need to know "hardcore" programming. They each have a supportive community but with GG (and no "hardcore" dev skills) if you're looking at acomplishing something you actually will get it done and you will learn from it. (Taking into account that you don't expect everyone to spoon feed you) but GG really is the friendliest engine out there right now. FPSCx9 is top notch but if you want big outdoor scenes then GG will give you what you want.

Work on your game and have patience. Don't give up on it. You'll see, as time goes on GG will probably be more than capable of what you want. It's going to take time, but it'll all be worth it.

I'm a UI designer and digital artist, I came so close to releasing the next version of my game, Robolegs 2, in NeoAxis but then I took a step back and looked at how GG was developing. Robolegs 2 was going to be exclusively multiplayer, now I can create full on single player campaign with GG. If you have a powerful enough PC the engine can output some really pretty GFX currently. It's only a matter of time when you'll get mid-range PCs putting out pretty GFX with GG.

Over the years I've probably spent-- several months trying to work with other game engines with no results worth mentioning. But I'm not the brightest light bulb in the laundry room.

There are some great level editors I won't mention, that I have used successfully, but they don't make games like GameGuru does. I love GG's license terms, how could you not? And then the ability to wrap it up so easily, is very cool.

With other softwares, When I see the empty terrain grid I lose interest right away. I don't know why. There is just something about this program, from a non-programmers point of view that just works.

And I don't kiss nobody's rearend. So don't think I'm trying to get on GG's good side, because I'm not. They just happen to have what I need, not everything, right now granted, but it works for me.

Don't get me wrong though, there are some really cool people here, and they'll help you a lot. I can't even tell you how much help I've gotten.

A big thanks to everyone. I'm sticking with GG.

Dang! OP Jun 5th. See-- I told ya, not the brightest lightbulb. Flicker flicker.

I think the most important thing with any engine is to not go in with the attitude that you can just open up the editor and make an amazing game without going through some training first. Proper training is everything. Even what appears to be the most daunting game engine can be tamed with a solid foundation in training.

There are 2 sides to my own experience with an engine like Unity. The first side is one where I thought I could just fire it up and make it do my bidding. It seemed intimidating, I didn't understand how the core concepts worked, and I had no clue how to really make it do anything other than the most rudimentary and seemingly useless tasks. But then at some point I was determined to figure out how to use that beast and I turned to a training site for some good video tutorials on just what makes the engine tick and how to do something useful. I was surprised to find out that after just a few hours of training, I was already past the mystifying core concepts and was able to do things useful. A few more hours of training and I was able to venture forth and start experimenting and learning through trial and error.

In the end it took me several months to fully grasp the engine to the point I could utilize it for my purposes. Did I or do I even now know everything? No. And I don't think I ever will. But that's not to my detriment. It's in my favor because that means the engine is well capable of handling my current and future needs.

I also had a similar experience in CryEngine. Opening the editor and attempting anything was even more daunting than Unity. Yet, when I took the time to watch an hour or so of video tutorials, the mystery and complexity melted away and I was making an FPS demo level with hardly any effort at all.

I've also tried Unreal 4 engine and same thing applied there. Just trying to use it without training was impossible. But an hour or so with a Blueprints tutorial and suddenly I had some skills to make things happen.

Bottom line. It's all about proper training. Start with a foundation in a good training program and you'll quickly be doing amazing things in any engine of your choice.

...and frustration

Also, even if you are already experienced with engines and 3d editors...do watch the most basic videos aswell. A few things are always located on another spot than you are used to and have different names than in another engine you might have used. In my arrogance I just watched the advanced tutorials when I was working with the unreal engine and took a long time for things that had an actual hotkey function. Hotkeys are your friend!



Also: concider time. Gamedesign is a lengthy hobby and you might take ages without "getting anywhere". Once you did however "get there" its quite possible that you made something that not only others will enjoy (unlike a stamp collection or model train) and that might actually sell.



-Wolf