edhalsim said:
For my first effort, I want to do a first-person perspective 3D golf putting game where I'm standing on a putting green putting balls to different holes with undulations.
Doing it all yourself that's an enormous effort.
Using a major game engine, the basic forms of that are almost entirely built in. It won't have the good, realistic variations you'd get in a real life simulation, but basic game physics will be present.
edhalsim said:
Which 3D engine should I use?
Unreal and Unity are both free to download and use. Because you're comfortable with C# I'd recommend Unity. If your background was in C++ Unreal would probably be your choice.
edhalsim said:
Are there instructor lead online courses available?
In general yes, but not specific to what you're trying to make. Download and try them out on your own first before committing to paid courses. There are plenty of free resources, including both engine's official guides and tutorials.
edhalsim said:
How many hours effort to get something up and running?
Mostly this depends on you. It depends on your background, how quickly you figure out how to use the tools, details of what you want, and the quality bar you're trying to achieve. Anywhere from a quick weekend project on the short end, to many years on the long end.
Clicking your name and seeing that you wanted to do this for 8 years, I'd say it will never get done unless you decide to actually start.
For what you've described of yourself here and ignoring the past posts, probably a month or two of nights-and-weekends tinkering for something basic. But really, download the tools yourself and try them out.
