a brief history on how I got to know godot
I am not as long “in the field” as I would like to be. My knowledge of video game programming and coding in general is pretty fresh. I started to learn how to code in 2015 with Java. That was boring. Maybe it was the lecture I was following.
When I got to know Python that was a whole new deal. I learned Python mostly from a book called “coding for kids” or something like that. That was way more fun and kept me motivated in this totally new topic. But for game development there was not too much going on. I only found Pygame which seemed pretty lame and not capable of anything. I could be wrong.
Not so many years later I tried Unity. It somehow failed to get me hooked. I simply wasn’t. And I tried it twice. Also with a coding book for kids. It seemed so overcomplicated and big. Too much for 2d games I thought.
When I tried Game Maker Studio 2 I was stunned how easy it can be to get something playable done! I bought the PC license and tinkered around.
In the meantime I got thrown into the Javascript framework Phaser 2 during my internship. It was cool because it was within the web development realms. With Phaser I created my first video game (play it here) and felt like I had a good flow. But it vanished due to work and other excuses.
and then i met godot
While going through some pixel art tutorials i found this guy Benjamin Anderson (HeartBeast on Youtube). I liked his art and his views. I stumbled upon his Godot tutorial series which made me look into it. After I downloaded it I was yet again: impressed! My dream to code games in Python (sort of) became reality. To dive even deeper into Godot I watched a comprehensive tutorial on Udemy by some hilarious guys.
time to get my feet wet
What I want to show you is a pro and con list. I have not really thought about everything while I was typing these words so let’s see what we’ll get! Please note: I am no game engine veteran at all. I started learning Godot only in 2018. Plus: I focus on solely 2D game development.
pros
cons
- easy set up, fast prototyping
- perfect for "true" pixel art games
- self explanatory and easy to use nodes
- comprehensive built-in functions
- 100% free (open source)
- seems well maintained
- what I don't find on the internet is easy to build by myself
- no export to ps4 or xbox
- the mood in the community seems a little pessimistic about Godot sometimes
- I wish there was more official support regarding "best practices" and performing boosting for 2D games. (Maybe I am too low IQ to find them!)
I am going to end things here. Very anticlimactic, isn’t it? XD See you soon!