Unity vs a beginner

Hi, yes I know you hear this question on a daily basis. but I really want to get into gaming development(2D Maybe 3D later) I have seen really cool things made in unity and really cool things made in gamemaker etc I just don't know what to go with. what i'm asking is i have minimal programming experience(I still really want to learn)and probably will be working on the game myself. I guess I want to know the game engine that i should spend my time in.

Thank you.

 

I haven't used any of the other packages you mentioned, and I've only dabbled a little with Unity, but so far I have found it to be incredibly powerful, very easy to get to grips with and achieve brilliant results with minimal effort. You'll need to know a bit of coding, but that is likely to be true of any decent games engine. Perhaps you could pick up coding as you go by working through the Unity tutorials, or perhaps you might benefit from learning a little Javascript or C# first.

 

heavykittens,

I have had experience with Gamemaker since prior yoyo games taking over. Must have been GM5 or so when I started using it. I had lots of fun and success with GM for 2d games. I dabbled a bit in the "3d" mode for GM but never went far with it.

When I found Unity, I switched over due to developing 3d applications were much easier. I continued to fall back to GM for my 2d needs. Now that the 2d system on unity has been overhauled, I have given up on GM and use unity for both 2d and 3d development. Building sprite rigs in unity is so much eaiser then trying to do the same in GM. (Mind you I haven't used GM since GM8 or so.) That alone has kept me using unity for 2d development, although the GM sprite editor is great for sprite development.

My vote would be Unity!

 

Thank you guys for taking your time answering my question. I have decided to play around in unity. its really amazing.I think ill develop in unity. Is there any good examples of games in unity? Or any good tutorials? I don't even know where to start.

 

I would start here:

http://unity3d.com/learn

Good section on 2d if that is what your after. I am no expert but if you have questions I can try to help you out. Feel free to IM me.

 

I'd go Unity, but it depends on your application.

Unity is much more low level then game maker. This means you will be closer to the code and the guts of your game. You can ultimately do more. But at the same time this means development is slightly harder.

 

Gamemaker is best for 2d games and is far easier to learn than unity. If you just wana go for 2d games then gamemaker is better for 3d games unity is better

 

There's a short video course on my site that takes off from one of Unity's official videos -- it's made specifically for people who are completely new to Unity (which sounds like you).

http://masteringunity2d.com/unity-2d-tutorial-bouncing-and-sliding-step-by-step/

It's free and is aimed at people who want to do 2D stuff in Unity, not 3D.

Jay