I think your first sentence is correct. And that maybe you should have stopped there. Spending ages trying to do things "the right way" instead of just hacking

I think your first sentence is correct. And that maybe you should have stopped there. Spending ages trying to do things "the right way" instead of just hacking it together and actually learning is what makes it hard to get going. Basically making your own framework on top of Unity (as per your tips) is not the best way to start.