Hello to the Unreal Engine learning and working community. Let me share a little something with you. I’ve spent a few months learning Unreal Engine through tutorials, but looking back, I realize I’ve been learning passively and just following instructions. When I turn off the tutorials, I really don’t know what to do. I love learning and want to turn it into a passion, but how can I break free from this tutorial loop and actually get down to exploring and creating my own game?
Imo study at least the basics of computer science and work towards building something.
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Hello @Ngokhaineee,
I completely understand you, and honestly… this happens to almost all of us when we start stepping out of our comfort zone and setting new challenges for ourselves.
At first, tutorials feel great because everything works. You follow steps, things turn out well, and you feel like you’re progressing fast. But the moment you try to do something on your own, you go blank. Something similar happened to me, and it’s pretty frustrating because you feel like you didn’t really learn anything and that you’ll always depend on them.
But the important thing is this: there’s nothing wrong with you. This is a very common stage. Tutorials teach you how to follow, but not how to think on your own.
What can help you get out of that “tutorial loop” is changing the way you learn and how you set your goals.
First, as a recommendation, don’t try to make “a full game” (Rome wasn’t built in a day haha) right away. Focus on smaller and more concrete goals. Things like: “I want the character to jump properly” “I want an enemy to follow me” “I want a simple menu that opens and closes”
When the goal is small, your mind can actually engage with the problem instead of getting blocked.
Second, start using tutorials in a different way, not just replicating what they do. Instead of following them step by step, you can set yourself challenges and use them as a guide or reference:
You can watch the full video to understand the final result, and once you know what you’re trying to achieve, try to do it on your own. That gives you a mental framework of what you’re aiming for. Then, only go back to the tutorial if you get stuck, but with the intention of understanding why things are done the way they are, not just copying.
That changes everything because it forces you to think, even when you make mistakes, and that’s where it also becomes learning.
Another important aspect is accepting that feeling lost is part of the process. That moment when you don’t know what to do is not a failure, it’s exactly where real learning begins. That’s where you try things, break things, look for solutions, and little by little everything starts to make sense. The first day you might not get anything right, but the second day you’re not starting from zero anymore: you have the experience from the day before.
It also helps a lot to change your mindset: not just thinking about “how it’s done”, but also “what do I want to achieve”. For example, if you’re working with programming or Blueprints, instead of asking “what nodes should I use?”, ask yourself “what should happen in the game?”. Once you’re clear about the result (for example: “I want the enemy to detect me and chase me” or “I want the character to open a door”), you can break it down into smaller steps and only then look for how to implement each part. This helps you think in terms of logic and behavior, not just tools.
Also, something that helps a lot is looking at already made projects and trying to understand how they work internally. Open examples, break them apart, see how they are structured. Don’t just copy, ask yourself “why is this done this way?”. The same goes for games: play and analyze. Try to understand why a mechanic works the way it does, why certain decisions were made, what they are trying to make the player feel. That kind of analysis trains your mind a lot and helps when creating your own game.
The important thing to get out of the “tutorial loop” is not to stop using tutorials or documentation, but to change your “role” and your mindset. You need to move from copying to experimenting and creating.
And one more piece of advice: allow yourself to make imperfect things. Your first attempts without tutorials will be worse, that’s completely normal. But they have much more value because they are yours.
To finish, keep going. The fact that you’re asking this question already means you’re on the right path. All of this is part of the process: it’s not an easy or immediate path, it takes time, practice, and patience, but every attempt, even when it goes wrong, adds up and gets you closer to where you want to be.
And most importantly, enjoy the process: in the end, making games is also a way of transmitting feelings, emotions, and experiences to the player. And that starts from the moment you’re creating it. If you enjoy it, get involved, and feel what you’re doing, that will show in the result. That connection is what reaches the player and makes the experience truly special.
Also, if you need help, don’t hesitate to ask on the forum, someone will have probably gone through the same problem or something similar and will be able to help you with whatever you need!
I wish you a good learning journey!
Hope it helps!