A mix of both eh? Well since you're young (12 years old), there's plenty of time to learn how to make games and improve to make better ones. (unlike most people who begin at 18+, me included)
There are two ways that I recommend, the first is to rely on youtube for learning what can you do with the game engine (Game Maker, RPG Maker) like fade-in and fade-out (errr.....that thing should exist in every engine.....but you get my point no?), after you think you learned enough tricks you can then begin making your own game and try to mix the tricks you learned so that your game can stand out from the rest of the other ones.
The good thing about this one is that it's fast, easier and safer (it's especially good if you're an artist and can't afford a programmer). But there are special exceptions sometimes, ones that are enough to make people mad. (You can just check what to watch out for by googling it).
Now the second method, is to learn how to program (aka coding), this one is slower (since it's your first time, I guess), harder (depending on your understanding) and risky (to the point where I sometime do some planning on paper or miss with something and see the outcome). But its benefits outweighs its drawbacks (if you know what you are doing, otherwise....god have mercy on your soul), because you LITERALLY have total control on your game. There are so many things to list that I'll need 20+ more paragraph to write.
In case you wanted to program, here's what to do first:
Step 0: Crash course into programming. (skip this if you had taken a programming class or watched a youtube tutorial)
In order to use engines that uses a programming language, you have to first learn that language, but you should pick yourself a programming language that you are most comfortable with. You know......the one that you are less likely to make mistake in, can get the job done faster, and where you can organize things so you know what's going on exactly. Of course, you can learn more than one language, it'll only going to give you more engines to use. (there are plenty of programming languages out there. People seem to prefer C++, C#, Java. As for me, I use VB)
Also, you have to know what to ask for and be specific about it, since you could be doing that a lot. Anyway, I think you should begin your youtube marathan. Here's a quick start:
* Variable
* 'If' statement and 'switch' case (or select case in VB)
* Functions
* Arrays
* 'while' and 'for' loop
* creating additional classes and creating objects
These are just a tip of a planet-sized iceberg in programming, so if you have time to spare....why not learn something new.
We'll continue this conversation in PMs instead, ok?
A mix of both eh? Well since you're young (12 years old), there's plenty of time to learn how to make games and improve to make better ones. (unlike most people who begin at 18+, me included)
There are two ways that I recommend, the first is to rely on youtube for learning what can you do with the game engine (Game Maker, RPG Maker) like fade-in and fade-out (errr.....that thing should exist in every engine.....but you get my point no?), after you think you learned enough tricks you can then begin making your own game and try to mix the tricks you learned so that your game can stand out from the rest of the other ones.
The good thing about this one is that it's fast, easier and safer (it's especially good if you're an artist and can't afford a programmer). But there are special exceptions sometimes, ones that are enough to make people mad. (You can just check what to watch out for by googling it).
Now the second method, is to learn how to program (aka coding), this one is slower (since it's your first time, I guess), harder (depending on your understanding) and risky (to the point where I sometime do some planning on paper or miss with something and see the outcome). But its benefits outweighs its drawbacks (if you know what you are doing, otherwise....god have mercy on your soul), because you LITERALLY have total control on your game. There are so many things to list that I'll need 20+ more paragraph to write.
In case you wanted to program, here's what to do first:
Step 0: Crash course into programming. (skip this if you had taken a programming class or watched a youtube tutorial)
In order to use engines that uses a programming language, you have to first learn that language, but you should pick yourself a programming language that you are most comfortable with. You know......the one that you are less likely to make mistake in, can get the job done faster, and where you can organize things so you know what's going on exactly. Of course, you can learn more than one language, it'll only going to give you more engines to use. (there are plenty of programming languages out there. People seem to prefer C++, C#, Java. As for me, I use VB)
Also, you have to know what to ask for and be specific about it, since you could be doing that a lot. Anyway, I think you should begin your youtube marathan. Here's a quick start:
* Variable
* 'If' statement and 'switch' case (or select case in VB)
* Functions
* Arrays
* 'while' and 'for' loop
* creating additional classes and creating objects
These are just a tip of a planet-sized iceberg in programming, so if you have time to spare....why not learn something new.
We'll continue this conversation in PMs instead, ok?