How could I create a Cave Story-like game?

Hello.

I am trying to create a game for quite a while, but I had a lot of trouble deciding what kind of game. I decided now to make it like Cave Story, as in, a linear pseudo-Metroidvania, with the weapons and stuff. However, I'm not sure of how to make it. I am trying to look for tutorials right now for the basic gameplay, but I don't know how to make things like the whole maps, make the character status (HP) to remain the same between levels, etc.

So, do you know a tutorial for this kind of games? Or do you have at least a recomendation? I guess that for general gameplay, Platforming tutorials should do the trick, but I'm not sure about the rest.

Thanks for your time.

 

Forgive me, but you're going about it all wrong. You're trying to follow this procedure:

1. Think "I should learn how to make games!"
2. Pick a game to make.
3. Do tutorials that teach you how to make that sort of game.
4. Make it.

Sounds reasonable enough at first glance. But it doesn't work. You'll get frustrated in step 3 because there aren't any tutorials quite like what you need to do, and get totally stuck in step 4 because you don't know what you need to know (and because actually finishing a game is hard, even when you know what you're doing).

A much better procedure is:

1. Think "I should learn how to make games!"
2. Do the simplest tutorial you can find. Don't care what sort of game it's for.
3. Try to take that tutorial a little bit farther — add a new enemy, or a new kind of attack, or a high-score list, or some particle effects, or whatever tickles your fancy.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 for 3-12 months.

You'll know you're making progress when you have a hard drive filled with a few dozen projects, all in various states of workiness. As you level up your skills, you'll also be accumulating ideas for things you want to try. Go ahead and try them! Start from scratch and try out your idea. It probably won't work; or it'll work but it won't be as much fun as you imagined; or it'll work and be fun, but you will be missing other things you need to know to turn it into a real game. That's OK. Go back to step 2, pick another tutorial, and keep building those skills.

Eventually the question won't be "what sort of game should I make, and how can I make it?" It'll be "which of these 20 awesome ideas that I already know how to do should I tackle next?"

 

As someone who has been in your shoes (been learning Unity for 2 years... gave up previous c++ endevours), @TheFerydra, I cannot emphasize enough how the advice of @JoeStrout is THE advice to follow.

By all means, keep your cave-like game mulling around in your head, even on paper, but build the skills that you will need to be able give your awesome game distance. I love The Cave - so please don't give up on your idea as I want to play it, lol.

The learn section is the best place to start. And don't just do a couple of tutorials... do THE LOT - every single one will teach you something new! I found my first steps into unity totally daunting, but these tutorials are simply excellent and helped build my basic skills and confidence.

All the best, look forward to helping you and seeing your posts in the future.