Remember "Divide and Conquer"! Break your problems into smaller and smaller parts until the solution is trivial. If you want to optimize, you can do that later. It's 10 times easier to optimize existing code than writing optimized code from start.
It truly is that easy when you have a cup of tea and take your time to think rather than rush because of passion. Understanding is the key to success and for coding/programming it helps save a lot of stress.
@@mr.voidroy6869This is rather pointless to understand. You can create anything in minecraft redstone, that doesn't mean it's a good tool for most programming tasks. Visual scripting is cool but it gets really unwieldy very fast. I think the advice should be the opposite, if you can learn to make stuff by connecting boxes in a visual scripting environment, you are more than ready to learn to program by writing code. There is a reason most of development is done in code, it's just so much more productive and lends itself way better for abstractions. It also translates way more to different domains.
What he’s basically saying is that when you feel overwhelmed with something instead of looking at the whole picture, focus on one thing at a time. When your brain says “I can’t possibly fill all this up to create a video game” you tell your brain “but I can create a lamppost”. A big project is really just a bunch of little projects grouped together.
That's exactly right, that's the thought process and workflow that's gotten me through programming up until this point (4th year Comp Sci undergrad). Everything in your project or game or whatever is just a collection of smaller things, so focus on those first.
In software development this is known as Agile working usually in Sprints , delivering small amounts of deliverables which also means feedback from business or customer .
In every project worth doing, it's always going to be too large to do all at once. Doesn't matter if your building a game, a mech suit, or a building, it's always going to be too large to do all at once. But no one said you had to do it all at once. And just like how a building gets built brick by brick and the mech suit gets built bolt by bolt, so too does games get built bit by bit. And after some time, you either have a game, or a lot of experience in trying to make a game. Both are valuable.
Me too! Sadly I gave up on game maker studio when yoyogames bricked gms1 right when gms2 came out. Didn't buy into 2 because I didn't want to reward that kind of behaviour. Life has since happened and I haven't really had much time to get back into casual game dev, but when I do, I want to learn godot.
Gms2 is just too bloated. Like if I wanted that kind of game dev experience, why choose gms2 over Godot or unity or ue5? It used to be an accessible engine for beginners to learn the basics. And the quality of games made with gm8 far outpaces gms2
@@austinwoodall5423because they do different things well, have different costs if you intend to monetize them, and you ultimately can't be an expert in all of them. UE5 is great for pretty 3D graphics, it would be a lot of work to take UE5 and make a pixel-graphics side-scroller. You could do it, but it would be way easier to make in GMS.
Remins me of one of my earliest mentors addressing the same thing. "Just make a cube (or square). Then make it move back and forth. Now make it jump up and down. Congratulations, your formerly blank slate is now officially a game that just needs some more assets and features."
Some times later: ok this class has double pointer referencing class x whose member is referencing y and if I want to change this I need to adjust this function there omg I have to overthink that calculation but that is affecting this. why is this isn't working anymore reee
I've never wanted to, despite enjoying games. I've been having the thought recur in my mind lately though. I'm more of a music guy when it comes to creative outlets, but I also code for a living. I really love the idea of making a game and writing all the music for it. Being able to convey exactly what I want visually and audibly. I've seen a few others who've done the same thing with success and it's really endearing and inspirational, even if the music isn't groundbreaking or amazing. If it fits, it fits & that's what ultimately makes it feel special.
I'm glad this guy is blowing up. Shares so many unique experiences and shares so much applicable knowledge to people. I've understood this shared process for years, but understanding it changed my life. Him sharing this, as basic as it seems, can really change someone's life and create the potential for someone finding their passion.
As someone who has been programming for a really really long time it's so heartening to see pople like this really take the time to understand how intimidating starting out can be and to be that reassuring voice. Guys, you can do it, it's an awesome journey and a world of pain, but you'll love it!
Honestly, to start working on a simple game, you dont need to know that much code, and I think if more people knew that, itd be a lot less intimidating to get started on their project. If you just download Unity, look up what a bool, float and gameObject are, and how to write an if statement, youve basically got the base knowledge to start making prototypes. Everything else, you can google. Your code wont be the cleanest, and theres bound to be prettier ways to do things, but you can now start making games, and youll get better at it as you do it.
Same. I suddenly get a bunch of his shorts and whatnot and I didn't click on anything even remotely close to game development recently ... and that's OK. This time. Anyways. He seems super wholesome and very comforting and relaxing regarding game developing. Someone once called him "the Bob Ross of our generation" and I'm beginning to see why. :)
I really love these shorts where you explain how to take a baby step. It's really so important to just accept that you're not going to take big strides all at once, until you've earned that knowledge and experience. It all starts with non-highlightable, boring, frustrating, patient, and at times FUN, baby steps, in the same direction, consistently.
It almost formalizes it? By demonstrating it as "a step," its a lot easier to get yourself to just do it instead of overwhelming yourself with broader strokes
Game development is seriously an iterative process. Certainly if you watch someone developing their project they've worked on for the past few years it will look intimidating, with tons of cross-references and implementations, but we all started learning how to move a player and create a lamp. The rest comes with time.
It seriously is. You never have a good mechanic, a good system, a good number for some value, a good *game*, from the get go. It takes time, trial, and error. Look at the way Valve does things, for pete's sake. They iterate and playtest and iterate and playtest over and over and over again. Game design is kind of awesome because you get to say "... Okay. That sucked, but have I learned from it?"
I'm learning Godot right now and the secret is to take a scary concept like "build a level" and break it down into smaller parts like "build this one tree, add one dirt path, make one squirrel" and it becomes less scary than the sum of the parts.
I'm currently training as a Plumber of all things but making games has always been at the top of my list of things to do in life. I can't do a complete pivot at this stage, but I am going to take your advice and just take one step at a time, in my spare time. Thank you for the kick up the ass lol
The thing about "making games" is that you don't have to start with your final magnum opus game project - and shouldn't. Like he said, just make a character move around. The character can be a literal red square, and it just reacts to pressing WASD (realistically, probably only one of those to start). With that, you can get a feel for if you like it - if you feel like it's an accomplishment, and you'll probably think of what to do next and the momentum will take over pretty quickly. Or, you'll find it's not for you, and that's ok too.
@@te9591 IT's good if you like it, but it's hard. You really need to love it or you're not going to have a good time. I learned that the hard way. If I get back into game dev, it'll probably be as a hobbie I can take at my own pace, because the uni experience with programming was awful for me.
@@BrokeMyCrayonit’s not specific to adhd but it is a thing with adhd. Nearly every adhd person has that issue. Leaving things vague can be overwhelming for us but if someone tells us the steps to do it, we can get it done without immediately overthinking and our brains trying to go down every branch of thought at the same time.
@@BrokeMyCrayonI have ADHD so I'll just say from my experience that thoughts of doing something like this while not being broken down is more overwhelming than someone without ADHD. Our brains like to process things when starting a project as if they're bundles of rope on the floor, that we're grabbing and yanking, creating a knotted mess we eventually give up on fixing the disaster it turned into. You have so many thoughts at once without the capability of processing them. If you cut the rope into small enough pieces where they can't get tangled up, then the task itself isn't as daunting for us to manage. We actually get alot accomplished that way. Hopefully I explained that in a somewhat understandable way. 😅
@@BrokeMyCrayon most of the symptoms to adhd are normal things anyone can experience. Only, for people with ADHD it’s experienced more intensely and frequency- pretty much just a constant every moment of life frequency
This is me with the game Dwarf Fortress, It's a colony simulator that teaches you how to do the first three things and then basically 0 handholding or tutorials after that, the only thing it tells you about after that is the in game menus, you have to figure out literally everything else yourself, I had to watch probably 20 youtube videos explaining what to do before I felt confident enough to play past 10 minutes.
If this guy did a step by step guide on how to start game development with basic instruction like this, I guarantee it would blow up and a lot of people would give it a shot.
Been playing video games basically my whole life, almost 30, and starting to get into programming. It’s funny how playing games to then learning about mods and how they work lead me to the point where I’m learning how to make games.
@@TheSkepticSkwerl Sometimes, though, mods can basically be used as a resume. If I'm not mistaken, the guy who did the Falskaar Skyrim mod got hired on at Bungie, practically out of high school, because it was so impressive. He applied as a joke, not actually expecting to get any response and ended up on the dev team for Destiny.
@@Xeonort Happened with Factorio too! A dev who made a massive mod for Factorio was hired on to the team for it's huge expansion it's currently developing.
I was in the same position 10 years ago! (almost 30, been playing (mainly PC) games all my life, never really programmed) Now 40 and lots of Gamemaker games later I'm still at it (as a hobby) trying to make new experiences, it's an urge.
This is why i create templates. Maybe i won't need half the things on it when starting new project but i can always say i didn't start at blank slate. It's the first steps that's really heavy.
This is pretty much how I learned to code 15 years ago. Set small goals, then research how to do them, then do it, then iterate and improve. You'll become an expert, you just have to start with an interest and create achievable goals
Thank you for making these bro! I always enjoy how positive and supportive you are and it helps me feel better when my depression is kicking my ass. Listening to you explain programming or just being supportive of someone’s comment about something it’s great to listen to ✌️
Your videos are very motivating! 10 years ago I took a class in college "intro to computer programming" and I had a horrible teacher very mean and told me I was wasting my time and to pursue a different career. I took it really hard and gave up but now that I'm older and watching your videos has inspired me to try programming again! Thank you bro!
Your voice is so calming, but that's secondary to your actual advice. I am opening game maker for the first time here flubbering around and am thankful to have come across your content ☺️
Almost zero experience programming, absolutely no experience creating games, and yet from you, it seems so simple and straightforward. Perfect example of a good teacher making a subject easier to learn.
My biggest problem is always that no matter how great I do initially when self taught, I eventually plateau to the point that I NEED someone to personally teach me or evaluate me to give some direction because without it I'll stagnate and run in circles for years. So also don't feel bad if this method stops working for you
After 36 years of programming in a handful of languages, primarily COBOL and SQL, and dabbling in a few others, for business applications, I'm only a handful of years away from retirement. I've had some interest in game dev for years, but never thought I could grasp what it takes to get into game dev...until I came across your YT Shorts. Your messages of encouragement and positivity that anybody can be a game dev are what's taught this old dog that I ~can~ learn new tricks.
After i've seen this. I went on your "make games" site, downloaded gamemaker And few other things. And after 5 Hours of tutorials, reading and experimenting. I've made my own d100 that rolls different number from 1-100 every time Its thrown. I'am proud on myself. Am gonna try and make my own game. Thank you Thor, for your content, inspiration and everything you do for the gaming comunity.
Man speaks the truth. 4 years ago I opened a blank project,it was just supposed to be a simple project for a class in college. Now, 4 years later, that "simple college project" is within 1 year of being my first commercial indie game lol. It's intimidating to see all that blank space, and not having anything to base your work on or knowing where to start, but the moment you start putting things down into the project, the easier it gets. We all gotta start somewhere, and it doesn't matter where, just as long as we start at some place, blank project or some framework, and learn and build our way to the top
Best part of gamemaker for me was always the forums. If I couldn't figure something out but knew how to describe it, someone was always there to help me out. Gamemaker community is awesome.
I'm 36 years old by this point, struggling with mental health. I've dreamed of making games since I was in high school working in computer programming courses. I find the process so daunting, but I so appreciate these small clips giving tips to new developers. Maybe one day I'll try it myself, but I haven't written code in 15 years.
As someone starting to try out game dev coming from a Python/SQL data coding background, the GM2 tutorial projects are also great. They fill in a lot of the assets and objects for you, teach you some stuff and then give you lots to tinker and play around with. Doing those for a few weeks got me to where I'm confidently creating my first game! Great advice as always from Thor.
I love him. He knows what he's doing, by telling them how to start he's not just going through the process, he's also breaking down that anxiety step by step until it's gone, all in a calm reassuring tone
@@siddhantlad7422 don’t ask. Just do it. You’ll never learn anything if you get discouraged by a time frame you don’t like. That would be the biggest disappoint of all
There's so many points of intimidation. Honestly it also feels so good to know I'm not crazy for making tons of assets, and random items with 1 use are objects for a reason.
I came back to this video after watching it 3 months ago and starting my journey. I did exactly what you said with 0 coding experience. Here I am every day adding something new and its become my new hobby. I want to thank you for inspiring this drive in me, and also want to encourage anybody thinking they are not capable to keep trying. Its extremely rewarding.
This man is a hero. He’s out here helping inspire other creators and he’s even teaching them. Good man, he deserves to be more popular than this, more people need to see what he has to offer and on top of that knowledge, he is very entertaining
Thor’s shorts are the best because they often super motivating but also realistic . Hes the teacher you need after you think you have the knowledge, the one who helps you get started
little short snippets like this has actually revitalized my interest in making a game. ive had this one idea stuck in my head for the last 2 years and i just struggle past those first couple steps.
This guy makes me feel like I can make a game, and shows me that it is actually achievable from a very low level of effort or expertise. Thanks for making these clips!
I’ve started following your stuff because programming and video game making was always so interesting to me and I’m just glad you’re such a great guy full of wisdom and compassion for other people looking in from the outside or people who aren’t at the same level as you. I’m just glad to know there’s people who make cool stuff like you that want other people to make cool stuff
Thor is the perfect content creator. No fomo. No greed. No shock value content. Just good videos that give actual information and entertainment. We need more people like Thor
Gamemaker was a large part of my childhood. Some fond memories there. I actually used it this month for a small project, but I don't use it that often like I did back then.
i'm on college rn, started my final task making game for thesis about 5 months ago, was scared that my game will not good enough to being one, and now I'm glad it accepted as thesis, and his videos about impostor syndrome and those related was on point, and I could snap out of it because of your videos too, man, glad I found your channel in the first place, now I can laugh at myself's anxiety 5 month ago :D ty man
I just started making a game, and you are a big part of the reason, i already have some experience doing this, but i always gave up when using unity, started using gamemaker and im 100% more invested because it felt more intuitive, thanks for the motivation!
Just recently started dabbling as a hobby and I wanna thank thor for giving solid straight forward advice and never dogging on someone or telling them it might not be for them he’s just casually encouraging and helping us and I’m 100% here fornit
This reminds me of just starting how to learn fl studio. I had no idea how to use anything and I did exactly what Thor said just open a new project and just try things out and I greatly appreciate the encouragement not just for the game dev industry but any industry that has this level of creativity and complexity! Much love 🙏
Game development is a marathon compromised of many small sprints. You don't need to maintain a speed for the entire process, you only need to get it done.
I remember making a platformer game in year 8 for a school informatics project using game maker and was so proud about how I made every character have actual animations for moving and having gravity in my game.
I just discovered you thanks to the algo. I love your content! you have an epic voice, clearly knowledgable and this is easily one of my fave channels on youtube now
Always gotta start with the most fun part of game dev. Easiest part to get you started then you will get the bug and will solve all the harder problems as you get more excited.
I failed at university on my games development course and it really knocked my confidence, you sir are single handedly bringing my spark back, much love bro
When I started making games, I remember my mom's advise on being an artist "Just make the canvas dirty and figure it out from there." And this feels very much like that advise. So great job!
This dude made me remember why I selected the tech field. I wanted to be a game maker when I was a kid. We used to play RPG on Papers and used Pokemon cards as monsters to fight. We basically invented table top D&D on our own without ever knowing what D&D is. Then life happened and I chased for money in things that I don't like doing. Thanks man, you basically revived a child in me who loves making game. I have started making a 2D project based on the game that we used to play. My friends will love its digital adaptation.
:3 bro made me believe anything is possible... Even human decency, patience, and just helping someone out by being encouraging. Need more of this in the world... If people were more like this, my depression wouldn't be slowly killing me.
oh man I wish you were around when I was 8 and I opened game maker for the first time as birthday gift. Keep doing what you are doing you are awesome thanks!
I used to make text-based games on my Commodore Vic-20 in the mid '80s. That was my first experience programming. PC Mags had code in them you could type in and run, often it was games. There were some good books about making simple BASIC games, and oh boy was I hooked. Got older, smoked some pot, lost some brain cells, now I'm almost 50 and I work M-F, so there's very little time to do anything substantial. I did, however, just today download Unreal Engine, Godot, Visual Studio, and some other stuff. I guess it's gonna happen. Darn you Thor with your perfect radio voice and your army of ferrets! You've stealthily cattle-prodded me into making games again...this time not in VB with an old Dx9 engine, but with something modern! And I'm not gonna make a massive project either as before...just a simple game and build upon it once the general framework is in place (movement, collision, menus, etc etc). If I fail, I still have 3 card games ready for prototyping aside from art which I can easily do with AI and GIMP. One thing though, it never occurred to me to put a game on Steam. Even a simple game, if it's fun, can generate some serious cash even if it sells for cheap. A FUN game sold for a decent but low price....with so many people on Steam, I can't even imagine. You got me really thinking anyway....GG
I've always wanted to make games. I've spent lots of my time daydreaming on game ideas. But never came around learning programming, because I majored in agrobiology. It felt overwhelming to even consider starting. But dude definitely knocked some sense into me with this. I feel more optimistic, and motivated now to actually take a first step. Gonna do it as my hobby.
I like game makers official tutorial for a 15 minute asteroids game. It really helps you feel like you can make a whole game, because after following that tut, you have.
I'm so happy to hear this. This is exactly what I did when I started developing the game I'm working on. My brain only cares about the information that will get me closer to a completed project, so the first thing I did was find specific instructions on how to do exactly what I wanted with my player object.
Fucking, this right here is how you TEACH someone. From someone with 10 years of teaching experience, this man is worthy of his crown. I had a whole rant but I erased it all and left it like this :)
Used Gamemaker studio in Grade 11 for my IT coop project, spent my free time working on a platformer on a laptop 15 years old, anyone can make a game, it just takes time and patience to get it to be something you are proud of. Thanks for the push to get back into it Thor.
This is such great advice for learning any new thing, for 2 reasons. 1. Break it up piece by piece, don't tackle the whole problem at once. 2. If you really want to learn something, the sooner you stop watching and start doing the better.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
This is honestly super calming for someone learning programming
The music helps
Keep in mind as well as long as u understand the logic of the code u can code whatever using flow logic charts rather than manually coding.
Remember "Divide and Conquer"!
Break your problems into smaller and smaller parts until the solution is trivial.
If you want to optimize, you can do that later. It's 10 times easier to optimize existing code than writing optimized code from start.
It truly is that easy when you have a cup of tea and take your time to think rather than rush because of passion. Understanding is the key to success and for coding/programming it helps save a lot of stress.
@@mr.voidroy6869This is rather pointless to understand. You can create anything in minecraft redstone, that doesn't mean it's a good tool for most programming tasks. Visual scripting is cool but it gets really unwieldy very fast.
I think the advice should be the opposite, if you can learn to make stuff by connecting boxes in a visual scripting environment, you are more than ready to learn to program by writing code. There is a reason most of development is done in code, it's just so much more productive and lends itself way better for abstractions. It also translates way more to different domains.
This man is going to convince me to develop a game and I ain't even wanted to
Like bro fr😂😂😂
The first impulse comes in many forms.
Same. But I am waiting for an idea. I only like story driven games so I can't make that
@@arpitkumar4525 stay ready and an epiphany will come
Me too 😂 it might be the right outlet for all the stories I wanna make!
What he’s basically saying is that when you feel overwhelmed with something instead of looking at the whole picture, focus on one thing at a time. When your brain says “I can’t possibly fill all this up to create a video game” you tell your brain “but I can create a lamppost”. A big project is really just a bunch of little projects grouped together.
That's exactly right, that's the thought process and workflow that's gotten me through programming up until this point (4th year Comp Sci undergrad). Everything in your project or game or whatever is just a collection of smaller things, so focus on those first.
In software development this is known as Agile working usually in Sprints , delivering small amounts of deliverables which also means feedback from business or customer .
In every project worth doing, it's always going to be too large to do all at once. Doesn't matter if your building a game, a mech suit, or a building, it's always going to be too large to do all at once.
But no one said you had to do it all at once. And just like how a building gets built brick by brick and the mech suit gets built bolt by bolt, so too does games get built bit by bit.
And after some time, you either have a game, or a lot of experience in trying to make a game. Both are valuable.
Was this an AI generator response
@@grandmarnier3746 well said
I made my first game when I was 12 using game maker 8. It was my first real entrance to programming.
That's rad!
Me too! Sadly I gave up on game maker studio when yoyogames bricked gms1 right when gms2 came out.
Didn't buy into 2 because I didn't want to reward that kind of behaviour.
Life has since happened and I haven't really had much time to get back into casual game dev, but when I do, I want to learn godot.
Same. keyboard right position += 2 type of stuff. I must’ve found it by googling how to make video games
Gms2 is just too bloated. Like if I wanted that kind of game dev experience, why choose gms2 over Godot or unity or ue5? It used to be an accessible engine for beginners to learn the basics. And the quality of games made with gm8 far outpaces gms2
@@austinwoodall5423because they do different things well, have different costs if you intend to monetize them, and you ultimately can't be an expert in all of them. UE5 is great for pretty 3D graphics, it would be a lot of work to take UE5 and make a pixel-graphics side-scroller. You could do it, but it would be way easier to make in GMS.
"This is your world. You can do anything you want here."
-Bob Ross (rough paraphrase)
No mistakes, just happy little accidents...
@@stoic-leoric no bugs, just happy little features
wonderful man.
Remins me of one of my earliest mentors addressing the same thing.
"Just make a cube (or square). Then make it move back and forth. Now make it jump up and down. Congratulations, your formerly blank slate is now officially a game that just needs some more assets and features."
You had one hell of a mentor.
Dude that's actually really inspiring.
Some times later: ok this class has double pointer referencing class x whose member is referencing y and if I want to change this I need to adjust this function there omg I have to overthink that calculation but that is affecting this. why is this isn't working anymore reee
@@Tobias-t3k deleting always works
As someone who has never made a game and doesent want too i somehow find myself loving every video of this man
I've never wanted to, despite enjoying games. I've been having the thought recur in my mind lately though. I'm more of a music guy when it comes to creative outlets, but I also code for a living. I really love the idea of making a game and writing all the music for it. Being able to convey exactly what I want visually and audibly. I've seen a few others who've done the same thing with success and it's really endearing and inspirational, even if the music isn't groundbreaking or amazing. If it fits, it fits & that's what ultimately makes it feel special.
I came here to comment the same thing 😂
It’s his voice.
@@bbbbbbb51 I’m down to help lol
to*
I'm glad this guy is blowing up. Shares so many unique experiences and shares so much applicable knowledge to people.
I've understood this shared process for years, but understanding it changed my life. Him sharing this, as basic as it seems, can really change someone's life and create the potential for someone finding their passion.
As someone who has been programming for a really really long time it's so heartening to see pople like this really take the time to understand how intimidating starting out can be and to be that reassuring voice. Guys, you can do it, it's an awesome journey and a world of pain, but you'll love it!
Honestly, to start working on a simple game, you dont need to know that much code, and I think if more people knew that, itd be a lot less intimidating to get started on their project.
If you just download Unity, look up what a bool, float and gameObject are, and how to write an if statement, youve basically got the base knowledge to start making prototypes. Everything else, you can google.
Your code wont be the cleanest, and theres bound to be prettier ways to do things, but you can now start making games, and youll get better at it as you do it.
RUclips is pushing your content out to me like no other, your doing something right.
Same.
I suddenly get a bunch of his shorts and whatnot and I didn't click on anything even remotely close to game development recently ... and that's OK. This time.
Anyways. He seems super wholesome and very comforting and relaxing regarding game developing.
Someone once called him "the Bob Ross of our generation" and I'm beginning to see why. :)
Probably because he DIDN'T chech that "share with subscribers" button
I started learning GameMaker last night!
@@MartinLjosdal we have seen that one as well huh?? 😂😂
Reason being, he made a video explaining if you dont check notify subs. The new clip only gets sent to live feeds.
I really love these shorts where you explain how to take a baby step. It's really so important to just accept that you're not going to take big strides all at once, until you've earned that knowledge and experience. It all starts with non-highlightable, boring, frustrating, patient, and at times FUN, baby steps, in the same direction, consistently.
It almost formalizes it? By demonstrating it as "a step," its a lot easier to get yourself to just do it instead of overwhelming yourself with broader strokes
God i lover this Dev, he is supportive as hell to his fanbase and looks out for other Devs. Much mad respect forever
Game development is seriously an iterative process. Certainly if you watch someone developing their project they've worked on for the past few years it will look intimidating, with tons of cross-references and implementations, but we all started learning how to move a player and create a lamp. The rest comes with time.
It seriously is. You never have a good mechanic, a good system, a good number for some value, a good *game*, from the get go.
It takes time, trial, and error. Look at the way Valve does things, for pete's sake. They iterate and playtest and iterate and playtest over and over and over again.
Game design is kind of awesome because you get to say "... Okay. That sucked, but have I learned from it?"
I'm learning Godot right now and the secret is to take a scary concept like "build a level" and break it down into smaller parts like "build this one tree, add one dirt path, make one squirrel" and it becomes less scary than the sum of the parts.
Why is it so hard to find people like this guy in life?
because its not easy to be a good person, to be good you also have to be competent and strong.
@@missionpupa Be the person that other people claim to be, that's true freedom
it's... not. If you can't find them though, try being one!
Be the change you want to see in this world :)
Because people like Thor are 1 in a billion.
I'm currently training as a Plumber of all things but making games has always been at the top of my list of things to do in life. I can't do a complete pivot at this stage, but I am going to take your advice and just take one step at a time, in my spare time.
Thank you for the kick up the ass lol
how’s the progress??
never give up!!!
I believe in you
do the thing!
The thing about "making games" is that you don't have to start with your final magnum opus game project - and shouldn't.
Like he said, just make a character move around. The character can be a literal red square, and it just reacts to pressing WASD (realistically, probably only one of those to start).
With that, you can get a feel for if you like it - if you feel like it's an accomplishment, and you'll probably think of what to do next and the momentum will take over pretty quickly. Or, you'll find it's not for you, and that's ok too.
Mans is single handedly inspiring me to get back into Game Deving after losing so much confidence with it
Same
Same. Went to school for it but just never went anywhere with it. Went into IT. IT sucks man.
Do it.
@SutasSjet really IT is not good?
@@te9591 IT's good if you like it, but it's hard. You really need to love it or you're not going to have a good time. I learned that the hard way. If I get back into game dev, it'll probably be as a hobbie I can take at my own pace, because the uni experience with programming was awful for me.
As someone with ADHD, this is good to hear. Even if I know how to start, spelling it out makes it easier to break it into manageable chunks.
Not being rude, just curious, but why do you think that is specific to Adhd?
@@BrokeMyCrayonit’s not specific to adhd but it is a thing with adhd. Nearly every adhd person has that issue. Leaving things vague can be overwhelming for us but if someone tells us the steps to do it, we can get it done without immediately overthinking and our brains trying to go down every branch of thought at the same time.
@@BrokeMyCrayonI have ADHD so I'll just say from my experience that thoughts of doing something like this while not being broken down is more overwhelming than someone without ADHD. Our brains like to process things when starting a project as if they're bundles of rope on the floor, that we're grabbing and yanking, creating a knotted mess we eventually give up on fixing the disaster it turned into. You have so many thoughts at once without the capability of processing them. If you cut the rope into small enough pieces where they can't get tangled up, then the task itself isn't as daunting for us to manage. We actually get alot accomplished that way. Hopefully I explained that in a somewhat understandable way. 😅
@@BrokeMyCrayon most of the symptoms to adhd are normal things anyone can experience. Only, for people with ADHD it’s experienced more intensely and frequency- pretty much just a constant every moment of life frequency
This is me with the game Dwarf Fortress, It's a colony simulator that teaches you how to do the first three things and then basically 0 handholding or tutorials after that, the only thing it tells you about after that is the in game menus, you have to figure out literally everything else yourself, I had to watch probably 20 youtube videos explaining what to do before I felt confident enough to play past 10 minutes.
If this guy did a step by step guide on how to start game development with basic instruction like this, I guarantee it would blow up and a lot of people would give it a shot.
Made a pretty mid game on steam
@@hangmanjangojames8146made a pretty mid reply on youtube
and the market will become even more saturated by game developers for Nintendo to sue with after-the-fact patents
Been playing video games basically my whole life, almost 30, and starting to get into programming. It’s funny how playing games to then learning about mods and how they work lead me to the point where I’m learning how to make games.
Whats worse is these games make money because people love mods the community made. League made 100s of millions because some guy msde dota for fun.
@@TheSkepticSkwerlDidnt Riot hired one of the devs for Dota? I think his name was Guinsoo back then.
@@TheSkepticSkwerl Sometimes, though, mods can basically be used as a resume.
If I'm not mistaken, the guy who did the Falskaar Skyrim mod got hired on at Bungie, practically out of high school, because it was so impressive. He applied as a joke, not actually expecting to get any response and ended up on the dev team for Destiny.
@@Xeonort Happened with Factorio too! A dev who made a massive mod for Factorio was hired on to the team for it's huge expansion it's currently developing.
I was in the same position 10 years ago! (almost 30, been playing (mainly PC) games all my life, never really programmed) Now 40 and lots of Gamemaker games later I'm still at it (as a hobby) trying to make new experiences, it's an urge.
This is why i create templates. Maybe i won't need half the things on it when starting new project but i can always say i didn't start at blank slate. It's the first steps that's really heavy.
This is pretty much how I learned to code 15 years ago. Set small goals, then research how to do them, then do it, then iterate and improve. You'll become an expert, you just have to start with an interest and create achievable goals
god bless you unc 🔥
Thank you for making these bro! I always enjoy how positive and supportive you are and it helps me feel better when my depression is kicking my ass. Listening to you explain programming or just being supportive of someone’s comment about something it’s great to listen to ✌️
Your videos are very motivating! 10 years ago I took a class in college "intro to computer programming" and I had a horrible teacher very mean and told me I was wasting my time and to pursue a different career. I took it really hard and gave up but now that I'm older and watching your videos has inspired me to try programming again! Thank you bro!
Your voice is so calming, but that's secondary to your actual advice. I am opening game maker for the first time here flubbering around and am thankful to have come across your content ☺️
These were my exact first steps I took on my dad's old laptop just under 15 years ago that set me on a career path I had no idea I'd be going down.
Almost zero experience programming, absolutely no experience creating games, and yet from you, it seems so simple and straightforward. Perfect example of a good teacher making a subject easier to learn.
My biggest problem is always that no matter how great I do initially when self taught, I eventually plateau to the point that I NEED someone to personally teach me or evaluate me to give some direction because without it I'll stagnate and run in circles for years. So also don't feel bad if this method stops working for you
After 36 years of programming in a handful of languages, primarily COBOL and SQL, and dabbling in a few others, for business applications, I'm only a handful of years away from retirement. I've had some interest in game dev for years, but never thought I could grasp what it takes to get into game dev...until I came across your YT Shorts. Your messages of encouragement and positivity that anybody can be a game dev are what's taught this old dog that I ~can~ learn new tricks.
Find the easiest and smallest step, and take it. That's how we learned to walk, and we'll eventually learn how to run. Trust the process.
I love this. Stealing it
Thank you for showing people stuff like this, you're awesome for helping to make this stuff more accessible.
Cut off at "create a blank project" for me and I thought that was the entire video
After i've seen this. I went on your "make games" site, downloaded gamemaker And few other things. And after 5 Hours of tutorials, reading and experimenting. I've made my own d100 that rolls different number from 1-100 every time Its thrown. I'am proud on myself. Am gonna try and make my own game. Thank you Thor, for your content, inspiration and everything you do for the gaming comunity.
subbed, the wisdom this mans giving.
Man speaks the truth. 4 years ago I opened a blank project,it was just supposed to be a simple project for a class in college. Now, 4 years later, that "simple college project" is within 1 year of being my first commercial indie game lol. It's intimidating to see all that blank space, and not having anything to base your work on or knowing where to start, but the moment you start putting things down into the project, the easier it gets. We all gotta start somewhere, and it doesn't matter where, just as long as we start at some place, blank project or some framework, and learn and build our way to the top
People like you and Dr.K are what the internet need the most right now
Best part of gamemaker for me was always the forums. If I couldn't figure something out but knew how to describe it, someone was always there to help me out. Gamemaker community is awesome.
I'm 36 years old by this point, struggling with mental health. I've dreamed of making games since I was in high school working in computer programming courses. I find the process so daunting, but I so appreciate these small clips giving tips to new developers. Maybe one day I'll try it myself, but I haven't written code in 15 years.
I'm pretty much in the same spot. I'm a game composer but I've always wanted to create a simple game "on the side" bc I love games etc.
As someone starting to try out game dev coming from a Python/SQL data coding background, the GM2 tutorial projects are also great. They fill in a lot of the assets and objects for you, teach you some stuff and then give you lots to tinker and play around with. Doing those for a few weeks got me to where I'm confidently creating my first game! Great advice as always from Thor.
Been wanting to get into game development recently.
You sound like a very helpful resource.
What’s the difference between game maker and godot?
I love him. He knows what he's doing, by telling them how to start he's not just going through the process, he's also breaking down that anxiety step by step until it's gone, all in a calm reassuring tone
Do you think one could use game maker studio without knowing programming
that would be a no. _but_, you can always learn programming.
@@itsexpla how long does it take, if did it bit by bit daily
@@siddhantlad7422 don’t ask. Just do it. You’ll never learn anything if you get discouraged by a time frame you don’t like. That would be the biggest disappoint of all
@@iLikeRawmen I'll take that to heart, thank you very much
@@iLikeRawmen hey man I made my first game already, its just a tiny ship ship shooting big rocks and making into smaller rocks but it was fun
There's so many points of intimidation. Honestly it also feels so good to know I'm not crazy for making tons of assets, and random items with 1 use are objects for a reason.
I came back to this video after watching it 3 months ago and starting my journey. I did exactly what you said with 0 coding experience. Here I am every day adding something new and its become my new hobby. I want to thank you for inspiring this drive in me, and also want to encourage anybody thinking they are not capable to keep trying. Its extremely rewarding.
This man is a hero. He’s out here helping inspire other creators and he’s even teaching them. Good man, he deserves to be more popular than this, more people need to see what he has to offer and on top of that knowledge, he is very entertaining
Thor’s shorts are the best because they often super motivating but also realistic . Hes the teacher you need after you think you have the knowledge, the one who helps you get started
little short snippets like this has actually revitalized my interest in making a game. ive had this one idea stuck in my head for the last 2 years and i just struggle past those first couple steps.
Exactly the push we all need! Starting is the hardest part, but who knows what epic games are waiting to be made? Let's go, future devs! 🚀🎮
This guy makes me feel like I can make a game, and shows me that it is actually achievable from a very low level of effort or expertise. Thanks for making these clips!
Dude i love just the sheer parental vibes you give off when youre giving advice.
I have been transitioning to coding. I enjoy it but struggle to motivate myself. Your content has been my biggest motivator and I really appreciate it
Day one is better than one day, finally started my game dev journey this week! Thank you for the inspiration and keep doing your thing
the fact that this showed up when i was debating if i should try making a visual novel i have planned.. It feels like a sign
I’ve started following your stuff because programming and video game making was always so interesting to me and I’m just glad you’re such a great guy full of wisdom and compassion for other people looking in from the outside or people who aren’t at the same level as you. I’m just glad to know there’s people who make cool stuff like you that want other people to make cool stuff
Thor is the perfect content creator. No fomo. No greed. No shock value content. Just good videos that give actual information and entertainment. We need more people like Thor
Been thinking of making a game recently, needed this, thankss
Gamemaker was a large part of my childhood. Some fond memories there. I actually used it this month for a small project, but I don't use it that often like I did back then.
i'm on college rn, started my final task making game for thesis about 5 months ago, was scared that my game will not good enough to being one, and now I'm glad it accepted as thesis, and his videos about impostor syndrome and those related was on point, and I could snap out of it because of your videos too, man, glad I found your channel in the first place, now I can laugh at myself's anxiety 5 month ago :D ty man
You are a fucking hero dude. Easiest sub for me on here since 2009!
I just started making a game, and you are a big part of the reason, i already have some experience doing this, but i always gave up when using unity, started using gamemaker and im 100% more invested because it felt more intuitive, thanks for the motivation!
thank you for this. Gamemaker is so easy and straightforward and yet you can create quality stuff there
Just recently started dabbling as a hobby and I wanna thank thor for giving solid straight forward advice and never dogging on someone or telling them it might not be for them he’s just casually encouraging and helping us and I’m 100% here fornit
This reminds me of just starting how to learn fl studio. I had no idea how to use anything and I did exactly what Thor said just open a new project and just try things out and I greatly appreciate the encouragement not just for the game dev industry but any industry that has this level of creativity and complexity! Much love 🙏
i started at 7 years old and to this day , its still intimidating when u see it blank , but little by little it will be something nice. never give up
More game consumers need to see this kind of thing. Might bring a little perspective and appreciation for what goes into making a game.
I needed this sincerely, idk how you always show up on my feed saying the right things every time
Game development is a marathon compromised of many small sprints. You don't need to maintain a speed for the entire process, you only need to get it done.
I remember making a platformer game in year 8 for a school informatics project using game maker and was so proud about how I made every character have actual animations for moving and having gravity in my game.
I just discovered you thanks to the algo. I love your content! you have an epic voice, clearly knowledgable and this is easily one of my fave channels on youtube now
Always gotta start with the most fun part of game dev. Easiest part to get you started then you will get the bug and will solve all the harder problems as you get more excited.
I failed at university on my games development course and it really knocked my confidence, you sir are single handedly bringing my spark back, much love bro
When I started making games, I remember my mom's advise on being an artist "Just make the canvas dirty and figure it out from there." And this feels very much like that advise. So great job!
This guy is blowing up lately and has convinced me to make games. There is a lot to learn but I'm enjoying the experience so far
This dude made me remember why I selected the tech field.
I wanted to be a game maker when I was a kid. We used to play RPG on Papers and used Pokemon cards as monsters to fight. We basically invented table top D&D on our own without ever knowing what D&D is. Then life happened and I chased for money in things that I don't like doing.
Thanks man, you basically revived a child in me who loves making game.
I have started making a 2D project based on the game that we used to play. My friends will love its digital adaptation.
I absolutely. ABSOLUTELY. Love your videos/shorts
:3 bro made me believe anything is possible... Even human decency, patience, and just helping someone out by being encouraging. Need more of this in the world... If people were more like this, my depression wouldn't be slowly killing me.
oh man I wish you were around when I was 8 and I opened game maker for the first time as birthday gift. Keep doing what you are doing you are awesome thanks!
Because of you I’ve started working on a rng based dungeon crawler. So far it’s come along very well.
No matter what kind of programming you want to, making a game is one of the best ways to start. I learned the very basics in RPGMaker 20 years ago.
I used to make text-based games on my Commodore Vic-20 in the mid '80s. That was my first experience programming. PC Mags had code in them you could type in and run, often it was games. There were some good books about making simple BASIC games, and oh boy was I hooked. Got older, smoked some pot, lost some brain cells, now I'm almost 50 and I work M-F, so there's very little time to do anything substantial. I did, however, just today download Unreal Engine, Godot, Visual Studio, and some other stuff. I guess it's gonna happen. Darn you Thor with your perfect radio voice and your army of ferrets! You've stealthily cattle-prodded me into making games again...this time not in VB with an old Dx9 engine, but with something modern! And I'm not gonna make a massive project either as before...just a simple game and build upon it once the general framework is in place (movement, collision, menus, etc etc). If I fail, I still have 3 card games ready for prototyping aside from art which I can easily do with AI and GIMP. One thing though, it never occurred to me to put a game on Steam. Even a simple game, if it's fun, can generate some serious cash even if it sells for cheap. A FUN game sold for a decent but low price....with so many people on Steam, I can't even imagine. You got me really thinking anyway....GG
I've made a number of tutorial games now, and I still get that feeling when starting a new project.
Its good that he doesn't just say "start making things!" He tells you what to start with!
hey thor. a year ago i was wishing i was making games, today im making games. this channel is in part to blame. thank you
damn. this man has a voice that can convince you of almost anything.
I've always wanted to make games. I've spent lots of my time daydreaming on game ideas. But never came around learning programming, because I majored in agrobiology. It felt overwhelming to even consider starting. But dude definitely knocked some sense into me with this. I feel more optimistic, and motivated now to actually take a first step. Gonna do it as my hobby.
You are very inspirational. Keep up the great work. RUclips just started to show your shorts on my feed and I am so grateful.
Such a great voice! Like a calming radio voice!
And the feel when your character is moving for the first time is priceless.
Making a character move with your own code is one of the best feelings you can have as a gamedev
I like game makers official tutorial for a 15 minute asteroids game. It really helps you feel like you can make a whole game, because after following that tut, you have.
Thank you for making this video man. You started my coding journey, props to you dude.
My recommendation: Make it the player. Make the first object always be the player, if you do not know what to make first.
I'm so happy to hear this. This is exactly what I did when I started developing the game I'm working on. My brain only cares about the information that will get me closer to a completed project, so the first thing I did was find specific instructions on how to do exactly what I wanted with my player object.
Fucking, this right here is how you TEACH someone. From someone with 10 years of teaching experience, this man is worthy of his crown. I had a whole rant but I erased it all and left it like this :)
this guy has the patience of what every person should have.
Used Gamemaker studio in Grade 11 for my IT coop project, spent my free time working on a platformer on a laptop 15 years old, anyone can make a game, it just takes time and patience to get it to be something you are proud of. Thanks for the push to get back into it Thor.
This man is giving me the fuel to try my hand at making a game. I don't expect a masterpiece but I think I could make something.
Every masterpiece begins with a blank canvas.
This is such great advice for learning any new thing, for 2 reasons.
1. Break it up piece by piece, don't tackle the whole problem at once.
2. If you really want to learn something, the sooner you stop watching and start doing the better.
I love when good streamers that deserve it make it big.
I wish I had better time management to actually apply this to my life.