Getting started with Unity, suggestions isometric builder game please?

So I've been having a play with Unity, I've gone through a few of the tutorials etc.

I've been thinking about making from scratch, and I was thinking I'd try create an isometric style builder game (similar to Theme hospital) in Unity.

What would be the best way to do this? 3D with a fixed camera angle? 2D with sprites etc?

Does anyone know of any good tutorials for this?

Any help would be much appreciated.

P.S. I'm actually a web developer and this is my first experience with game dev and it is hella fun. I think I picked the wrong industry.

 

Welcome to the forums!

I will offer up my token advice that I and others have already typed out hundreds of times: your game idea is probably a bit too ambitious at the stage you're currently at. Which is fine! You can start working on it, but realize you may have to take quite a few detours to go acquire additional skills you'll need. Which may mean your game doesn't really get started for another few years, potentially.

With that out of the way, I'd definitely recommend 3D for doing an isometric building game. You won't be fighting against the way Unity naturally wants to work, and it'll offer you more options. Let's say, for example, that half way through development you want it to be a fully 3D, free camera game like Cities: Skylines (made with Unity, by the way). If you started using 3D, you're just looking at rebuilding the camera and potentially some interface. But if you were using sprites, you'd be starting over from scratch.

Also, as a non-artist, I find making things using Blender much easier than creating 2D art -- as long as you're willing to make some concessions and go a bit more... lo-fi.

I'm not familiar with any tutorials specifically about city-building games, but you don't need that right now. Try to break down the project into all the different components you'll need (save/load system, terrain generation, building placement/interaction, traffic simulation, time scaling) and build those one at a time in their own projects. Learn new development design patterns and implement them where appropriate. Then try piecing those systems into your master game project and see what needs improved.

As a full-time web developer myself, I'd say you absolutely picked the right industry! It's next to impossible to crack your way into the game dev business without any experience, unlike our field. Being a web developer was not only a great boost to my game dev hobby skill set, but working on games on the side has actually made me better at my job, too.

Good luck!

 

Totally agree with Schneider here, but I would also like to answer one of your questions more directly.

If you really want an isometric style to your game you could try using a camera with the orthographic setting turned on. Using this with a fixed camera angle would probably be the way to get the feel I think your looking for. This also would not limit you down the road.

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-Camera.html

Also wanted to mention I'm a web dev too! We're in good company today

 

Hey cheers guys, I really appreciate both your inputs.

After I posted that, I started writing down all the elements needed for the game and realised pretty quickly what a big job it would be. So I think at this stage I wont focus on it, but carry on with tutorials and things I think will be useful, and each time I find something useful, I'll incorporate it into my project.

I guess the one good thing about being a web dev is that everyone needs a website these days, but not everyone needs a game

 

just came here to thank this guy for his respectful, mature and informative reply. Im so tired of toxic communities where people cant simply focs on the topics...

As for the topic itself yes it is such an ambitious project. But like this guy kindly said - "so what?". By trying something you really want to do you'll have to learn a bunch of stuff, which will help you in other projects.