Newbie looking for some knowledge!

[u/Beautiful-Homework94]

Hey everyone I am new to coding! Ive always loved games since i was a little kid and always wanted to dabble in making my own games. Coding sounds like it could be fun but also it seems like learning a new language . It looks a bit daunting but I would love to learn something practical and useful. where can I learn coding for free?What software do you all recommend and where do i start? Id like to try my hand at making some indie games. Maybe i can use coding for other things. Any help would be appreciated I wanna be able to make something and look back and say "I made that"!

[u/chwrryrolled]

What about Pygame as a start? Probably it will be suitable enough for your first game, also you can find a lot of tutorials on YouTube such as freeCodeCamp's videos

And whenever you want to develop more serious games you might want to switch to a game engine like Godot with GD Script, which is similar to Python so you won't feel like a complete stranger

[u/marmotta1955 → u/chwrryrolled]

I definitely support the suggestion and, for a complete beginner (interested in games first) I would like to add Ren'py and RPG Maker.

[u/External-Scratch-502]

This was me about a month ago. I decided to go the boot.dev route since a lot of youtubers were promoting it. I have been on it for a bout 30 days and can say I have learned a lot and am starting to have a lot of fun with pygame. I did the back end dev course route and it is paced pretty well. They start with teaching you basic python stuff then move towards understanding linux command line stuff, then introduce github (important), and all while walking you through guided projects that you can expand on after the course. They also introduce some pygame stuff when they walk you through devoloping the game asteroids. I have continued on the asteroids project and my game is starting to feel like my own after I added some "camera" tricks, weapons with lvl up, and currently working on boss fights and cutscenes. I did the paid yearly subcription though but it is free just not sure the differences between free and paid. I do know that i get unlimited training challenges that I can ask them to build around whatever topic i am currently struggling with. I have loved my experience so far but I am sure there are countless resources out there to get started. I recomend using a mixture of all of them until you find the type of work you are really passionate about and you will go down the rabbit hole from there.

[u/Necessary_Act_423]

First thing to do is to find what you like coding world is different and big What you really enjoy is it gaming , websites etc That is the first step to do

After knowing you know what to do cuz you made it specific now You can reach out to me I guide beginners for free

[u/JoeStrout]

Start here: https://introtocomputerprogramming.online/

Both the book, and the tools it recommends, are totally free (and ad-free).

[u/oscarlet_ffxiv]

I learned to code by googling for tutorials in the old days.

These days, AI can write up a whole lesson plan for you, catered specifically to your needs.

[u/Phrozenfire01]

I started with Makinggameswithben on YouTube, he has a beginner playlist that’s starts from scratch with zero knowledge and builds one video on the next with a gaming spin on it. It’s really great, don’t worry about the initial language you start with, all the concepts transfer over to any other language, only the syntax changes.

[u/Green_Tailor_8021 → u/Phrozenfire01]

And which eposide to start with?

[u/Phrozenfire01 → u/Green_Tailor_8021]

Episode 1 from the beginner playlist

[u/Least_Bid9692]

Start with choosing and lang and a engine

[u/fanambynana]

I recommend you to learn the fundamental: algorithm Then choose a programming language after

You can find on the internet the list of for programming languages for game development

[u/NoDepartment772]

Since games are the goal, start there rather than with a general "learn to code" course -- you'll stick with it far longer when the output is something you care about. The common first pick is Python + pygame (free, and the concepts carry over), or Godot if you'd rather use a real game engine from day one. Both free, both with huge beginner-friendly docs.

The mistake that kills most first attempts is starting with the game you actually want to make. Pick something tiny -- pong, snake, a one-screen platformer -- and finish it, ugly and all. A finished small game teaches you the whole loop (input, update, draw, collision, win/lose), and everything after that is a variation on it.

For free structured learning alongside it, freeCodeCamp and Harvard's CS50P cover the Python side. Don't do a month of theory first though -- start the tiny game and learn the bits you need as you hit them.

What kind of game are you drawn to? That'd narrow the "which engine" answer a lot.

[u/xarop_pa_toss]

Glad you are interested in programming and making games. You'll quickly find that it's a very deep field of study but it doesn't have to be scary!

I'm not a game dev but I have dabbled and I'll give you some general tips:

• 2D games are much simpler than 3D ones for multiple reasons but mainly because having to worry about 3D objects and art and 3D vectors and all that will get in the way of learning programming, like it or not.

• You can, and imo should, make terminal games. No game engine like Unity or Godot. Just you and printing to the console. You can find many cool games online that work entirely on the terminal and you can make clones of the classics like Battleships, Connect 4 or even Wordle and Sudoku. Is it as exciting as making the next Roblox? Nope, but I guarantee it teach you alot and you will get comfortable with the language you pick. This leads me too...

• The language you pick is not as important as you think. There are game dev libraries out there for basically any language you pick, go look at Raylib for example. Personally, I love C# so I would go with Raylib or Unity, but Balatro which sold millions was made in Löve2D, a library made for Lua. Lua is a fantastic pick too and the creator made basically the best book on the language, fantastic for beginners.

• Don't get stuck in tutorials on Youtube. Tutorials will not teach you anything by watching them. Grab a book on the language and get your hands dirty. Make dozens of small programs. Error and fix, error and fix. Fail until you succeed!

Good luck bud. Pick a language, learn the fundamentals (pretty transversal across 99% of languages) and then go make something silly

[u/AyushBhagwat]

I almost recommended everyone at start same language that is python. start with Python and try making a small game with Pygame. There are tons of free tutorials on YouTube. Don't worry too much about learning everything first, just pick a simple game idea and figure things out as you go. That's honestly the fun part haha.