Question Is a 2d survival game a good place to start?

Not too for sure if this is the place to ask this question, but to sum things up, I am currently a junior in highschool and in a few graphic design/art classes. I did learn a small amount of C# and Unity (about 6 months in with both so far) already to start off, and I thought for a first actual straight up game of my own creation would be a 2d character in a 3d world survival game about blacksmithing. I don't believe this would be too complicated as a start, however I still would want some oppinions if this would be too complex for someone relatively new to actually creating a full fledged game with the software. Also what videos on YouTube are good for trying to learn the methods to combine the aspects I was trying to go for if there are any?

 

It's too complex, but if that's the game you're excited to make then don't let that stop you. The usual path devs take is to tackle a project that's too complex for their current experience, get to a point where the project has gotten too broken and convoluted to continue, and then retire the project and move on to the next one with more experience under their belt. And that's totally fine. It's like archery. You're probably not going to hit the bullseye with your first shot. But you let that one go, learn what you can from it, and take another shot until you get it right in the center of the target.

As to why it's complex, the inventory system alone is a lot of work. So is the crafting system, combat system, save system, etc. You can search up tutorials for each of those systems on YouTube. Getting all those systems working together is another challenge. And that doesn't even cover art. You're smart to think of 2D character art. Generally speaking, 2D art is probably going to be easier to create than 3D.

Anyway, go for it if that's the game you really want to make, and have fun!

 

you might try to identify just one facet about this game idea you have and see if you can't simplify it so that you can create a complete game just around this one mechanic.

Like if its all about the crafting, maybe simplify so that instead of getting items, managing an inventory, etc, instead the player is just given the supplies and then its just a game of figuring out how to combine them in what order, for example.

Or vice versa, maybe the crafting is automatic and you just want to focus on making beautiful environments to go hunt materials in.

try to find the joy in reducing the idea down and simplifying, and not get carried away thinking of new cool things to add.

Having a strict deadline is a big help too.

 

I would take a few key elements of your game idea, and try to simplify it as much as possible, and just keep narrowing the scope until you get something easier to tackle as a beginner. For a blacksmithing game, you would probably need a combat system, inventory system, NPCs, trading, save system, etc.
If it were me, I would turn it into a game similar to Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator, except instead of potions, the player is forging weapons and tools, trying to please customers. I’m not sure how that work exactly, but basically what I’m saying is that I think its good to start with a big idea, then narrow the scope to turn it into an easier game to build.
Try to think about ways to make it easier on yourself. Also, like BIGTIMEMASTER said, having a deadline is very very very helpful.

Cheers!

 

Calling it a "survival game" and mention of "blacksmithing" makes me think of sprawling areas with various dangers in them, and a variety of resources to collect, a crafting system with a variety of stuff to make, and then a bunch of either complex or subtle (or both) interactions between those systems. I think of that because it's what other "survival" games with a crafting system I've seen are like. For a first timer, that's likely to go exactly as TonyLi described, because managing the complex interactions between systems takes experience.

But that's not what those games have to be like. Can you make a simpler game which gives players a similar feeling without needing those systems to be so fleshed out? Better yet, can you do it without those systems even needing to exist?

For example, instead of an full inventory and crafting system and all of the implications these have for your game's world, can they be emulated with a series of fetch quests? "To forge the shovel, bring 3 Iron Ore and a Sturdy Stick to the Forge."

Can the survival bit just be a hunger meter which constantly ticks up, and is reduced whenever you eat food?

If you can simplify that stuff then you're still going to be left with level design being a bit tricky. To start with, assume that your game has just one path to victory. So each forged thing related to one new area and allows players to collect stuff to forge the next thing. That'd already be pretty impressive as someone's first game, and allows you to do some cool stuff - just because things are completed in a linear order doesn't mean they have to be laid out that way in your world. To make things more complicated you can add in some non-linearity.

Anyway, the point of all of that is that you don't have to make things complicated to make them cool, and you can make things easier by picking some smart design constraints (e.g. "crafting is just collecting a list of items and going to the forge"). Big games do it all the time.