Making proper tutorials for game engines and frameworks
After doing some Raylib tutorials, I realized why I wasn't able to progress with MonoGame and Godot. With all the hard work their communities put into their documentation and so on, Raylib did one thing perfectly.
To learn Raylib, you browse through micro examples and study them in a way that suits you.
The word that is crucial in understanding this is MICRO.
Grouped by difficulty, every example shows you an easy-to-implement feature or use one of the framework abilities. They show you the ropes - using fonts, sprites, shapes, and collision detection.
Next to the examples, you get a list of all Raylib methods with a brief description (and properly named functions).
It is a very simple approach.
Yet, it works. Why?
If, like me, you know little about game development - you learn the basics by doing. No unnecessary intros, not many descriptions. Play around in the web browser's version of the compiled code, or write it on your machine. Since you get to do code the whole time, it's very easy to get from copy-paste to experimenting with changing values. And that gives you more than knowledge, it gives you experience. Not to mention you get to refactor the entire thing to suit your esthetic needs.
The size of the example is proof that the entire collection is a to-do list - broken down into sizable chunks of learning material. Sure, I had to spend an evening making myself a Todoist list of all the examples, but that is a minor problem in my opinion.
Why I had this problem with MonoGame?
MonoGame pretends to be a complex system, that shows you a simple example and then throws you into the documentation. It plays the role of a monolith. If you follow the MonoGame YouTube channel, you might've seen that they have introduced an example platformer game.
Why not introduce people to each feature of their framework?
An entire game, no matter how basic, can still be overwhelming.
Why I had this problem with Godot?
The Godot Engine is an impressive piece of art, but getting started may be tough for blokes like me.
I guess I would jumpstart my game-making with it if I understood game intestines better. Godot documentation is very exhaustive, but also very overwhelming.
My point is, that Godot seems to be aimed at seasoned game developers, who know what they're looking for. If, like me, you're a gamedev noob you will feel lost. Given enough time, you will find independent resources to teach you, but the learning curve might feel steep at first if you're a total noob.
Final thoughts
If you learn game engines or game frameworks, you must break down your learning goals into short lessons. Lessons you can finish fast, that teach you about the engine’s possibilities. But also lessons that push you forward. I'd start with making simple transitions from screen to screen (logo to menu to gameplay to menu to ending credits) and basic 2D movements and player inputs.
If you are a game engine or framework maker, consider taking the route Raylib makers took. Short, code-driven examples, showing everything in small steps will make your developers more productive and more eager to learn. Not to mention you will also care about the noobs.
Please, think about the noobs!
A friend and I are trying some development. But we're using Gamemaker with loads of help from ChatGPT :)
Speaking as a complete noob I fooled around with Godot a little last year following along with YouTuber tutorials. It was fun but as soon as I moved away from those tutorials it was like running into a brick wall. Like you, I admired Godot but quickly felt lost.