16 years old developer

Hi, guys.
From the beginning, I want to apologize for my english. If you spot any mistake, tell me ), English is not my first language, but I F***ing love it.
OK, so I am 16 years old. I am into developing, I started to learn it by myself. I have already publish a game on google play. However, I want to be a perfectionist. So, because I have so much time and I already know what I want to do with my life .... where to start ?)
What would you recomand me to read, watch and so on? I think that the best thing it would be to upgrade my scripting skills, because I have a lot of problems with my lastest game.
Any tips or advice, anything that you find useful when you were in the beginning of this thing... I am waiting for them.

With love from Romania, Vlad.

 

That's great to see such young blood going for their dreams!
When I was your age, modding was the way to go, now you have the power to develop anything you can conceive for free!


Scripting is hard at first, I still run into problems, but I only run into problems if i've just never done something I'm going for before.

Most things I remember like I was told 5 minutes ago lol.

Patience and dedication and you will get what your dream(s) desire!

BTW, my family is from Romania.
I don't know any of them though, but they migrated to America, but that's where they are from.

 

Hahaha, it is a little world or what ?

 

Maybe not curse on the forums too?

 

If you want to have a secure future become a good coder.

For a start learn C# (better Java but since this is a Unity forum), Python, C++ and SQL. The internet should have good information on how to start with these.

If possible have good grades in maths and physics and then get a MSc in CS from the best University you can get in.

If you are really good at these you can work for a Western European or American company while living in your home country.
I know many guys from Hungary that work for swiss companies, with their cost of living and swiss pay they live like kings.

Edit: And switch to Linux to see under the hood of a good OS.

 

Thank you, man.
I think that java would be the best to learn, right ?

 

Already done.

 

I'm in my teen years too!

I can't recommend the Unity Learn section enough. It's what taught me, when it was quite crappy(Lerpz anyone?) and now it's absolutely amazing. I wish it was this way when I started.

I heavily recommend C# and checking out the MSDN documents for general help.

UnityCookie has some tutorials to help with getting into the programming logic side.

Just start making little prototypes and see what you can do.

 

Could you please be more specific ? What makes you recommend c#? I found them being pretty the same thing, but a lot of people told me to learn java.
Anyway, i already have a game published on google play, and i am working at a 3d one, more premium. Just want to hear some good advice here, so thank you all, guys.

 

Unityscript just sucks, only noobs use Unityscript.

Go C# man, just go C#.

It's more forgiving once you get used to it.

 

(For USA anyway), if you're still fairly young, I highly recommend brushing up your skills in your free time and start building a portfolio. Many companies find more value in proven skills than in degrees. i.e. Developer bootcamps are more valuable to many companies than a 4 year degree. Save your money and follow your passion now, don't waste your time and money on college unless you have a very specified reason to do so.

Chances are at age 16, if you truly put your time into learning programming/game design, you will find yourself making a living doing what you love before you get sucked into the work world.

College lovers feel free to bash this post, but as a recent grad and someone who already enjoyed coding in their free time. I can honestly say college was a complete waste of time beyond the social side of things. Similar or better social circumstances can be attained for far less the cost.

Industrial revolution needs to die, knowledge is practically free right now for those with the drive to attain it.

In summary: If you are already passionate about learning, you do not need to pay someone else to teach you. If you don't have the drive to teach yourself, well then go to college or something I guess.

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to devil's advocate the people suggesting degrees in CS. (Not that a CS degree is a bad idea, it may be the perfect solution especially where you live, I wouldn't know) Too many people go to college with a dream then end up in the rat race.

 

Yeah it's like they say, it's what you know and who you know.
A degree is great, nothing wrong with it, but a degree is a piece of paper, if you can prove your self and make
AAA looking stuff, or even just design an entire game of your own that people love to play, chances are you can get hired
without having a degree, just because you've proven your self.

Yeah a degree is excellent to have, but don't be one of them people that expect to spend 200 grand on an education and expect a job when you get it, yeah chances are you'll be reviewed quicker than the average joe self teaching him/herself.

But if you don't have the proof of a portfolio of completed games (to the masses) you'll most likely have your application slipped by to the side.

 

Not sure about Python or Java first, maybe 1-2 months Python then Java and Python. Then if you feel good add SQL. And much later add C++.

[Don't want a language war, but Java is more used than C#, is cross platform, and many high paying jobs at banks and other large companies. C# is MS, you will never see it on the 128 core servers that some companies have. For Unity: C#, for a good future proof (non-gaming/non-Unity) job: Java.]

Europe is different. You can get a MIT grade CS degree for free (as said if you are good in maths and physics). If you don't take such a deal you will regret it.
So if you are in Europe and are really smart, go to the ETH Zürich for a CS degree.

 

Welcome Aboard!

The learn site can be found here:
http://unity3d.com/learn

We have recorded "modules" to teach most parts of Unity:
http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules

We also do "Live" training sections which we save in an archive:
http://unity3d.com/learn/live-training

The languages Unity supports are C#, UnityScript (aka: Unity's version of JavaScript), and a python-like language called Boo.

When it comes to other languages, like Java or C++, these will help you with your computer and programming skills in general, but won't be of much use in Unity. If you end up with Unity Pro, you will be able to access C++ code as a plugin.

My best suggestion is just to start doing tutorials and making *small* games.

Don't bite off more than you can chew, swallow and digest. Make a bunch of small, fun game projects before tackling anything large.

 

thanks, man. Take it into consideration.

 

I am a very young Unity Developer too, younger than you, but I have not posted anything on google play. As you said, you should learn more scripting because that will help you build some interesting games. Get some good audio for your games, that spices the game up.

 

My advise to you is to try learn programming using c# in general and some time try to learn programming using c# specially for unity.
This some Reference for c#
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/67ef8sbd.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/618ayhy6.aspx

 

but for my future in programming , wouldn't be java a much more suitable choice ?

 

It all depends what your path is, I mean yeah there are more jobs for Java, because it's more widely used for various reasons, but obviously if you're wanting a career in game design than C# and C++ are the main things to learn, as Unreal Engine, Cryengine, etc I am sure use a form of C++ or C#.

C++ and C# looks way better on a resume for a game design job than Java, Java sucks, it's easy to crack into, but it's likewise better for Internet stuff.

 

What do you want to say with game design ?
I want to be a scripter, love to write codes, make my mind blowing ... love the feeling ).
But I am not sure what to chose. I want to be able to use this in the future and everything that I found was that "Java s the best". Is there any developer who use c sharp ? Could you provide some imformation about how simple was to get a job and etc ?
Anywaym looking at unity tutorials, i can t find so many differences between the languages that there are used. Is it simple to move from C sharp to Java ?
At my higschool we are learning C++. At a much much "noob" level, anyway... we now learn how to use the matrix... anyway, I already know how to do it. At the college that i am going to do, we will do 1 year of c or c sharp, not so sure, and then just java. And it will helps me a lot if I start learning java now, i think.
Soo ... the question is: How hard is to move from c sharp to java ?
I read a lot of topics about that subject on the internet.... they said that java is more academic, well known and requested by a lot of companyes... but to chose C sharp... so i don't understand anything )

 

Your future in programming will not depend on one single language but rather your general knowledge of programming concepts and theory. These are usually universal even if their implementation is not. Once you have a firm grasp on the concepts, and knowledge of one language, you can typically pick up another language very quickly.

Learning C#, for example, took me a matter of days because I already had some experience with Java. Many programmers will be similar to this example.

 

This topic has been discussed here couple of times.
I agree with @Ryiah 100%, after you have mastered programming as general, it's just matter of days to switch to another language.

 

So try Lisp, Scheme, Haskell or Prolog for some surprises ;-)

Yes I agree with you. But there are also different programming methodologies with different languages, and getting them the first time will take some time. And knowing about functional and logical programming is not bad, at least knowing their advantages.

 

Almost all game engines are implemented in C++ (Unity too). And gameplay programming is done in C++ or some scripting language. Sometimes Lua, sometimes Python or other ones. C# is actually not that common if you ignore Unity.

 

I have used Haskell and Prolog, and if we want we can find even more suprises , but from my experience good programmers were much better at Haskell and Prolog also. But in general here we are talking about OO languages. Thanks for pointing that out

 

[OT]

I hope you mean Oberon or Eiffel or something and that this is not a hint at the other thread, because yes I know I should not engage in such troll fests.
[OT]

 

How often will those be used in commercial settings? I've known some people, from the Dwarf Fortress community, who used but I've never really heard of jobs asking for it.

 

The vast amount of resources and tutorials on C# and it's an amazing language.

UnityScript will require tutorials tailored for Unity, whereas C# is a universal language.

 

Don't get hung up on language. Once you've learned one a second is easier. Once you've learned three or four you'll be picking new one sup on the fly. Most of what you learn will be transferable.

 

Check Wikipedia: e.g.
- scheme is used for scripting in GIMP, Final Fantasy The Spirits Within, Google App Inventor,....
- Erlang is used by T-Mobile, Nortel, Facebook, Électricité de France and WhatsApp,....
- Scala is widely used

Functional programming has a comeback because of parallel computing that is needed nowadays for everything. And with functional you get it for free (everything is automatically fully parallelizable because you have no state changes).
So many companies use the base techniques, e.g. in C++ (like just using pure functions). So they look for people that understand those concepts, not necessarily for people that are good in Haskell.
You can apply some functional techniques in many imperative languages, but often not all (e.g. no currying in C++).

Prolog is a beast of its own. If you have never seen it it is fascinating. You declare the problem and it finds the solution. E.g. you state a Einstein/Zebra Puzzle and it will find the solution (basically you define logical formulas that will be automatically solved by unification).
It is very niche, e.g. in IBM Watson (for pattern matching over natural language parse trees), or for the software for the Buran spacecraft.

It is about the concepts, so you look at these languages to get the concepts. Such that if you ever have a strange problem, you recognize that there maybe is a much smarter solution if you think outside the box of imperative programming.

Edit: also if I look for someone with a MSc in CS I assume he knows about functional programming, no need to state it explicitly.

 

Actual Romanian advice: go to the "Politehnica" university, faculty of automatics and computers. Brush up your math and physics for the next couple of years to get past the admittance exam (if they still do it like they did back when I went there, do read up on it). It will be hard as F*** but you will learn a ton of useful things, and everything will be a breeze later on in life. Also, as a romanian, it will open many doors for you, pretty much all tech companies look for graduates from there, even games companies, and although I've left the country for years, I still get job offers from that.

The university will start you off with C, then C++, and then tons of Java. You will learn how to make a game engine from scratch, how graphics work, all the good stuff. Then you can learn C# and Unity on your own (I took a masters in Game Technology in another country), and it will be extremely easy. You'll also learn a ton of math, physics, electronics, networking, all useful skills to have. This will secure your future.

Oh, and stay away from private universities in Romania. That is, unless you want to pay for a useless degree you don't learn anything from...

 

I'm also 16 and oh my god those are my words!! I'm also so passionate about game development and I wanna become a professional as soon as possible. I'm learning C# and I find it very interesting I'm already working on a Survival Horror 3rd Person shooter project "Resident Evil - Salvage Hunting" , it will be Free to Play game , you can check official game page :
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Resident-Evil-Salvage-Hunting/1470996659827196?ref=br_tf

My advice would be to stay sticked to your dreams, keep up the hard work and one day they will turn into reality
Another advice I would like to make , never go for JavaScript unless you've already learned a lot about it. That language just sucks , trust me. I also started with JavaScripy then ended up learning C#. JavaScript is also known as Unity Script so as the name suggests , it is only fully functional to unity. Out of unity , you will not be able to use it , again you'll hae to move towards C#.
So a wise person would go with C# since it can do more and it's not only limited to Unity.

 

thanks, guys.

I am working at a horror game too ). Let me know when you finish it. I enjoy having writing friends )

Because you are a romanian, I am going to say it in our language ). I have been waiting for it, ha ha ha "
Sunt mandru ca sunt roman, sincer, am dat de mai multi romani aici decat as fii crezut. Iti urez succes in continuare. Pastram legatura, Oana.
Edit: am uitat sa precizez. Sora mea este si ea programatoare si este tot la politehnica. Si eu tot acolo vreau sa merg, in fact ... eu am fost cel ce a venit cu visul asta, iar ea a ales sa ma urmeze si a zis ca o sa faca aceasta facultate daca eu o consider importanta. Are probleme multe, ma suna si imi spune cat de greu ii este sa invete si cat de grele sunt problemele, dar in final ... e pasiunea de a face ce iti place

 

Hey Yo guys, let's bring it back to life.)
I have just posted my second app on Google play.
Here's a link https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=DVSA, (sorry if i am not allowed to post it here)
Some advice about what I am doing wrong ? On my first game (Catch The Alien) I have something like 20 reviews (all with 5 stars) and 60 downloads. I was expected for much more )