My Game Development Journey: Finding My Path

As an aspiring game developer who wants to improve every day, I’ve decided to document my learning process and share it with others who have similar interests. Since this is my first post, I’d like to talk about how my coding journey began. How It All Started During my time as an economics student in college, I realized it wasn’t my true passion. While searching for what truly excited me, I discovered that I’ve always loved games and dreamed of creating my own — bringing my ideas to life. Though I haven’t achieved that goal yet, this passion led me to discover coding. My First Steps Into Programming I started exploring bootcamps and tried web development first, just to see if I could grasp and enjoy coding. I made the decision to stop pursuing economics and enrolled in a computer programming course at Istanbul University. Around the same time, I joined a free backend bootcamp where I learned: Node.js Working with databases such as SQL and MongoDB Basic backend development principles While web development wasn’t my ultimate goal, I used this opportunity to enter the tech and programming world. After feeling lost for some time, I wanted to take every learning opportunity I could find. Transitioning to Game Development After completing college and the bootcamp, I felt more confident with tech and ready to pursue what I really wanted: game development. I joined online courses and started watching tutorials — but quickly found myself trapped in tutorial hell. I wasn’t sure what to do or how to apply what I’d learned. Game dev felt overwhelming. It’s such a broad field, and I thought I needed to learn everything: 3D modeling and asset creation Music and sound design Unity development Programming and scripting While I know I don’t have to master every area, part of me wanted to try. Unfortunately, diving into everything at once left me feeling overwhelmed and burned out — more than once. Finding a Better Approach After a lot of frustration, I finally took a step back to figure out what I was doing wrong. Mistake #1: Relying Too Much on Tutorials Tutorials gave me a quick sense of progress, but I realized I wasn’t really learning. When I tried to start my own project or write code from scratch, I was stuck. That sent me right back into watching more tutorials — creating a frustrating loop. Realization #2: I Learn Best by Doing So, I changed my strategies. I started using Unity Learn, reading official documentation, and building small things on my own. That hands-on experience helped me gain a deeper understanding of Unity and C# — bit by bit, day by day. Insight #3: Documenting Helps Me Stay on Track To stay focused and avoid distractions, I’ve started documenting everything I learn. It keeps me accountable, helps me track my progress, and makes the whole journey feel more meaningful. My Current Focus Right now, I’m focusing solely on: Unity development C# programming Math for game development I plan to learn physics later, but I’m taking things one step at a time instead of trying to learn everything all at once. I’ve realized that focus is key. Looking Forward I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I may have lost some time jumping between topics — but none of it was wasted. Each experience taught me something valuable. I’m finally starting to feel grounded in my path. By sharing my journey here, I hope to stay consistent, learn more effectively, and maybe even help others who are on a similar journey. If you’re a fellow dev or learner, I’d love to hear your thoughts and advice in the comments. Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to keep documenting this adventure!

May 3, 2025 - 16:24

My Game Development Journey: Finding My Path

As an aspiring game developer who wants to improve every day, I’ve decided to document my learning process and share it with others who have similar interests. Since this is my first post, I’d like to talk about how my coding journey began.

How It All Started

During my time as an economics student in college, I realized it wasn’t my true passion. While searching for what truly excited me, I discovered that I’ve always loved games and dreamed of creating my own — bringing my ideas to life.

Though I haven’t achieved that goal yet, this passion led me to discover coding.

My First Steps Into Programming

I started exploring bootcamps and tried web development first, just to see if I could grasp and enjoy coding. I made the decision to stop pursuing economics and enrolled in a computer programming course at Istanbul University.

Around the same time, I joined a free backend bootcamp where I learned:

Node.js
Working with databases such as SQL and MongoDB
Basic backend development principles

While web development wasn’t my ultimate goal, I used this opportunity to enter the tech and programming world. After feeling lost for some time, I wanted to take every learning opportunity I could find.

Transitioning to Game Development

After completing college and the bootcamp, I felt more confident with tech and ready to pursue what I really wanted: game development.

I joined online courses and started watching tutorials — but quickly found myself trapped in tutorial hell. I wasn’t sure what to do or how to apply what I’d learned. Game dev felt overwhelming.

It’s such a broad field, and I thought I needed to learn everything:

3D modeling and asset creation
Music and sound design
Unity development
Programming and scripting

While I know I don’t have to master every area, part of me wanted to try. Unfortunately, diving into everything at once left me feeling overwhelmed and burned out — more than once.

Finding a Better Approach

After a lot of frustration, I finally took a step back to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Mistake #1: Relying Too Much on Tutorials

Tutorials gave me a quick sense of progress, but I realized I wasn’t really learning. When I tried to start my own project or write code from scratch, I was stuck. That sent me right back into watching more tutorials — creating a frustrating loop.

Realization #2: I Learn Best by Doing

So, I changed my strategies. I started using Unity Learn, reading official documentation, and building small things on my own. That hands-on experience helped me gain a deeper understanding of Unity and C# — bit by bit, day by day.

Insight #3: Documenting Helps Me Stay on Track

To stay focused and avoid distractions, I’ve started documenting everything I learn. It keeps me accountable, helps me track my progress, and makes the whole journey feel more meaningful.

My Current Focus

Right now, I’m focusing solely on:

Unity development
C# programming
Math for game development

I plan to learn physics later, but I’m taking things one step at a time instead of trying to learn everything all at once. I’ve realized that focus is key.

Looking Forward

I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I may have lost some time jumping between topics — but none of it was wasted. Each experience taught me something valuable. I’m finally starting to feel grounded in my path.

By sharing my journey here, I hope to stay consistent, learn more effectively, and maybe even help others who are on a similar journey.

If you’re a fellow dev or learner, I’d love to hear your thoughts and advice in the comments.

Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to keep documenting this adventure!