It’s been a few weeks since my last post, and I am continuing to make progress and a good rate. Over the past few weeks, I have taken two courses online about scripting in Unity. One of the courses focused on more technical aspects of scripting, explaining different concepts such as Vectors, DeltaTime, and Enumerations. I found these topics slightly challenging but very interesting to learn about. The other course that I took was more of hands-on experience. In this course, I downloaded a project file of a game and learned to modify the code to change how things functioned in the game. This was a very enjoyable experience and I got to review concepts that I had already learned, such as functions and variables. I also learned new concepts such as classes and inheritance. Overall, from these courses, I reviewed coding concepts that I already knew and learned about many new concepts that will definitely help my game development.

Leaning scripting from a hands-on course.

Even though Mr. Linburg is very busy right now, I have been staying in touch with him over the past few weeks. We initially tried to communicate via Microsoft Teams, but we discovered that we didn’t have permission to start one-to-one meetings. Since then, we have used email to communicate with each other. Although we couldn’t talk to each other face-to-face, we communicated often and stayed on track. I have updated Mr. Linburg on my progress about once a week and contacted him if I had any questions. Yesterday, we had a discussion and we decided that I would soon be ready to create a larger game using Unity. We decided that I am going to take one more course on scripting in Unity, then I will use all the skills I have learned to create a full game in Unity.

Questions:

1. What kinds of learning opportunities does the mentor provide to expose you to new learning?

Mr. Linburg provides me with many helpful and interesting online resources to help me learn how to use Unity. He has a variety of resources on his website and recommends courses to me when we have discussions.

2. What kinds of learning opportunities exist to reinforce new learning?

Online resources are incredibly useful for me to continue learning. There are so many courses and tutorials on the internet on game design, scripting, 3d modelling, and many other topics related to game development. In addition to the courses that Mr. Linburg has provided to me, I also watch videos on YouTube on various game development tricks, such as using the trail system in Unity.

3. What kinds of opportunities exist that might accelerate learning?

To accelerate my learning, I have made many small video games in Unity. These small games only take about a week at most to complete and use very basic game mechanics. Although these games are simple, I have learned so much from making them. For each new small game that I make, I would need to find resources online to help me add certain features to the game. Through this, I have gained extra knowledge of various features in Unity such as 2d Lighting and practiced my programming skills. Here is one of the small games that I made: Wandering Spirit

4. When you get together what do you talk about?

When Mr. Linburg and I get together, we talk about my progress so far and the steps moving forwards. I would update Mr. Linburg on my progress since the last meeting and ask questions if I was wondering about something. We would then set a goal for the next week and talk about the resources I can use to help my learning. If I have any questions or concerns, I will talk about it with Mr. Linburg.

5. What is going particularly well in your mentoring relationship right now?

During this uncertain and difficult time, Mr. Linburg is doing his best to continue to support my learning. He has been providing me with tons of resources to make sure I can continue to learn about something that I am passionate about. I have been committed, learning more about Unity by looking online for additional resources. Mr. Liburg and I are communicating often so he always is aware of my progress.

6. What are you learning about one another?

I have learned that Mr. Linburg is a mentor who is supportive and caring. Even during this difficult time, when he is busy with work and teaching, he continues to make sure I am equipped properly with resources so that I can continue to learn about something that I am passionate about.

I am continuing to learn more about using Unity and fueling my passion for game development. I am super excited to get started on creating a full-sized game in Unity and to see how the game turns out!

Hope everybody is well,

Mike