I have completed my very first Unreal and C++ tutorial! I am very pleased with this simple game as it is a significant milestone for me and is the first fully functioning project that I have been able to put together. Now before anyone shouts ‘but it was just a tutorial, anyone with eyes and fingers could have done that!’. That’s true. They could have. But here’s the good part (for me at least). I understand it.
Im not scared of you, no, Im not.
Not much more than a little while ago, there would have been no way that I would have looked at something like this and thought, yeah, I see whats going on there. I didn’t know basic C++ so following Unreal ‘version’ of it was painful and not really possible. This problem came about mainly due to the learning curve that I would have had to experience while on the BA Top Up course. I could not learn about the Unreal editor, Blueprint (which even when using C++ needs to be understood and used) and then a mighty language like C++ over the top of all that. I just would not have been able to produce anything worth showing.
Since graduating from the course, I still felt that learning the code in C++ would be too much of a challenge and so I resigned myself to working in Blueprint only while carrying on the development of Serial Link. It was not really until I was experiencing the reality of thinking about what would happen if Serial Link did not work that I thought, oh dear, I still cant code in anything but a very specific tool for a very specific engine.
So, shortly before taking on this MA, I grabbed a course on Udemy that I have already covered here, and started the climb to coding stardom. Ok, that’s a touch over the top, but you know what I mean. I thought about Unreal and C++ together and thought that I would save myself a ton of headache’s if first, I got used to the C++ language on its own and then stepped into the fray with Epic, the makers of Unreal. I expected that I would be able to break into coding for Unreal once I understood a little bit more about the language itself and for the most part I’ve been right. I think that I am ready to start a C++ project in Unreal or, and this may be a better move, refactor some of the logic in Serial Link into C++ one small feature at a time. I would rather have something to show for it at the end that I could use professionally.
Hello, my name is Mike. I am an aspiring game developer enjoying a second chance at life. Sounds deep right? I know, but its true. I am from London and from 2007 I owned a clothing business selling Barbour, Hunter, Joules and so on. I didn't like it. I kind of fell into it and by the time I knew I didn't like it I was committed and needed to follow through. In 2009 I met Natalie, my Cornish maid and once our little girl came along in 2015, we decided that Cornwall would be a better life for her than London. In the meantime, the business had suffered tremendous difficulty having been burgled twice. Insurance? What can I say. I ended up suing (and winning) the broker for selling me an incomplete policy. It was hard. When I arrived in Cornwall having shut the business down and generally being in pretty poor health, stressed and disappointed, my Wife (whom I would need exist without) tried to talk me into having 3 months off! Ha, I said, I would go crazy. Well the question was 'what are you going to do then'?
Turned out that I had a HND (most of a Degree) that qualified me for the course Games Design For Industry BA Top Up. I had always wanted to make video games for a living and so I applied, got on the course, worked like my life depended on it and came out with a 1st. If you're thinking 'why d'you have to say it like that and tell us the grade you loser'? Here's the thing, that HND was supposed to be a Degree in Computer Graphics and Games but, in my youthful wisdom, I played games more than studied them and failed. Then I went back to do the last year again and just couldn't hit my stride, so failed again. Imagine getting another chance to sort that mistake out... That was not going to happen again.
Having completed that course I and a friend I met there, Ethan, have set up Sofa Ninja Studios and are working on a game that was born on the course called Serial Link. I am very proud of where we are and I cannot believe that I have the chance to do this for real. We have a playable demo and will hopefully run a kickstarter early this year. Its a mature (code for violence and swearing) shooter where the player gets to shoot and use powers gifted to him.
Have a look at one of the latest videos although there has already been more development. I did warn you about the content...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv9R5ktCiA0&t=46sLinks to an external site.
I took to the game design and logic (cant call it coding, its Unreal blueprinting right now...) very well and feel that this is where I am meant to be. I am learning C++ and would like to make the transition to 'proper coder' this year if I can. Being in business for myself taught me the value of self discipline and being intrinsically motivated and so I carry those lessons with me into my new career. With my beautiful family behind me, Im ready.
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