LÖVE

pauljessup wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2023 5:32 pm Glad it's not just me, lol. Godot just confused me

Well, still, Godot great engine to use!
(At least, this one of most Linux friendly engine, which is big plus for me)

GVovkiv wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2023 1:20 pm What learning curve here tho?
Any library/framework, usually, is just bunch of functions that do something when you call them, that's it. There no deep L O R E behind them or something like that. Just function and what this function expects as argument and what will happens once this function will be called.

Love doesn't provide ten ways to draw text, there no 10 ways to play sound, there no 10 ways to load image file into object that needs texture. In Godot you can create resource and load it, you can load image file directly in editor, you can load via code and I think there more, so yeah, in case of engine you might want to have more explaining about all of this.
In love you have https://love2d.org/wiki/love.graphics.newImage. That's it. Everything else is up to you. And to learn about this function you need to open wiki and read it.
So, no, I think reading wiki/cheatsheet for library/framework is absolutely valid way to learn it, unlike engines, where you often need much more documentation and examples.

I'm not saying the wiki isn't a valid way of learning it, I used it and still do use it all the time. My point is just that for an absolute beginner, you'll need something that holds your hand a little more (which sheepolution is very good at). Like, learning to code a game is a lot more than simply memorising all the functions and their arguments (though it would be if you're already familiar with coding).

I personally found "sheepolution" to be a wonderful starting point, as well as rvagamejams "learn to love". It begins with introductory ideas, expands on those, then puts everything together into small examples of specific types of games. Most concepts covered will be used over and over again in just about any project.

For me, learning usually involves making lots of mistakes, hard-coding everything, then gradually refining the whole mess into something useful...and sometimes getting a lot of help from the Love2d community, which has been very responsive. When it comes to coding in lua, I really like creating my own functions/objects, and since lua basically uses "tables" for just about everything, I haven't had to learn a bunch of different types of data structures.

The "learning curve" when it comes to Love2d seems to correlate with the complexity of what one is trying to do. Shaders/visual effects, pathfinding, A.I. 3d rendering and physics, etc. can become very complicated, very quickly. Luckily, Love2d has a wealth of libraries and examples that others have created...unfortuneatly, however, there are no definitive tutorials once you start getting into the deep end of the pool, and you just have to hope others are kind/patient enough to lend you a hand.