Hi, I’m a college student from the UK and I’ve been learning to make games on a course on Unreal for two years and quite frankly it’s useless and isn’t actually teaching us what we signed up for.
After two years on unreal I’ve got most of the basics covered but I don’t understand how to make things work and when I watch YouTube tutorials I don’t learn, it goes in one ear and out the other, nothing retained and it doesn’t explain anything to me. I was wondering what is a good way to make progress and how to understand how to create things. I feel like I’m treading water but not progressing. I was thinking using my computer science knowledge and breaking everything down into subtasks, and using flowcharts to get the idea together. Possibly just using trial and error but I’ll be honest I don’t have a clue how to begin understanding and remembering blueprints and what they do etc.
After two years I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere, just going in circles and bashing my head off my keyboard. I wonder if anyone has any advice on how to keep moving forward or just advice in general as I really want to do this but I have no idea how to move forwards. Thanks 
Strangely enough, I would say that a course is probably the slowest way to learn the engine. It’s because they have to cover a fixed load of stuff, and you’re probably more interested in other aspects.
You’re also never going to see a utube tuut that gives you everything you need, you always have to hack and filter from those things, take only what’s useful.
You have to remember the engine is and expansive software suite, and a lot of people could never get anywhere with it, so anything you’ve done so far is good.
My advice would be to just ask you what you really want to have happen on the screen in front of you? What would be really cool? How can you make that? You need to be driven to reach that.
Then start taking steps towards it. You have to realise that these will be very small steps for quite a long time, but they will get bigger. You will find you niche with the engine.
Don’t be put off by coming up with a load of ■■■■ either. Just look at it, figure out what’s wrong and improve or do it again. Just start to get some things working, and build.
Okay, so try little steps then, thanks
Thanks for the response, so like a trial and error approach then and keep trying new ways if it doesn’t work?
Yes, and don’t be disheartened if you game doesn’t immediately look like RDR.
Basically, you have to find your own way through, and during that journey you’ll discover all sorts of usefull stuff, that’s only relevant to you.
Just chip away at one bit at a time. For instance, you could get a great looking level, but nothing does anything. Or you could have a level that’s basically made out of cubes, but has some amazing algorithms running behinds it. Both are part of the way to the whole.
And don’t be afraid a repeatedly re-doing things. You can have a good idea, but it can go through many incarnations before you get the right one…