Hey Wasabi,
I can really relate to what you writing. great that you found your way up till here.
Just keep on doing what you do as long as you feel good by doing so. There may be obstacles come in your way or even people that just want to ruin your day. Don't listen to them, with art: It's like a journey. You probably know that already. And I feel if making art is a journey, then doing gamedev is like a jetride through the solar system. ^^
How is game maker? I tried so many engines,... I felt most comfortable with phaser or Löve (you know just code based). But there are things I could not do with that, so I moved on to unity and godot but I probably do enjoy making graphics way more than coding a game.
Your words are profound and speak to me well; Thank you for those!
Gamemaker is one of those engines where if you know universal languages well (unlike me), you'll have quite an easy time picking it up. It's basically just those but simplified so that beginners can learn how to use it; Easy to learn, hard to master. If you want to just make something really fast, without having to worry about advanced engines and languages, Gamemaker is probably the best option. So I'd recommend it!
I had a very hard time with it at first, because I refused to go through the basic tutorials. I didn't want to "start small" like everyone else was saying; I wanted to start making a full-on RPG on day 1, as a complete noob. So I tried. And I struggled. I took a break, then came back. Learned a little more, and things got easier! (that rewarding feeling of solving a problem all on your own, without a Youtube tutorial!)
Tbh, if I wasn't focusing on game development, I'd probably be doing something similar to your work; Making pixel art assets, or freelance art in general. I want to hone my skills, so those options are still very much on the table!
Have you made any games? I'd love to see some with your graphics!
I tried probably every engine out there and even 5-10 that don't exist anymore. Often I search for specific things I want to have my game included and some are very easy in godot but very hard in unity, the other thing is platform export were unity is king.
It's like a back an forth. I still don't know if I will keep using unity, but for now it's the only engine that checks all the boxes for be – But I really don't like to use it. The UX of it is just nuts and godot is so much easier.
Well that might also be taste. I work as a Designer and art director in my fulltime job. I also did quite a few apps and stuff and can code Javascript quite well. So a little background I got. I love Löve because it's using Lua, which I just like a lot. It's not because it's a good or bad programming language, it's just taste.
I am working on my own game for 5 years now. It's not nearly close to get a demo. But it will feature quite unique graphics and (I hope) some familiar game mechanics with unfamiliar ones. There are so many ideas that got into that game and it will take years till I can release something. But slow and steady, some day I will release it ^^
You can see a very outdated screenshot at my twitter: https://twitter.com/s4m_ur4i/status/1528345733358923776, the graphics since then changed and not one of the graphics in that screenshot is left. But well, I keep the minimalistic style.
Hopefully there's an engine out there with a good balance of both Godot's and Unity's pros, and that matches your taste! It's quite resourceful of you to try out as many as you can, instead of dealing with just one that doesn't always work for you.
Take as much time as you need on your game! A game that spends several years being thought out and planned is bound to do better than a rushed one. Your old graphics look really cool by the way; The minimalism works!
I stayed quite minimalistic with the pixel art in my game as well. I didn't want to add much detail at all to solidify the retro look, but maybe I can add more in future releases.
What kind of game is it? Mine is an RPG!
Usually you need years to learn an engine, I just don't wanted to learn one and then being dissatisfied in using it.
Yeah, I don't put pressure on myself with the game. It will take as long as it has to.
Genre, eh it's complicated. Closest would be a metroidvania I guess but it's also not fitting right into that.
I do love "minimalistic", well let's say smaller resolution games. Celeste. boy, did I love it. Also Dandara is great and Loop Hero.