YodamanJer

Also, and I say this a lot on these forums, but I think the main thing anyone doing any kind of 2D game art should invest in is a Wacom tablet. Their entry-level Bamboo line is very affordable.

Oh yeah, that's being saved up for right now. I definitely need one, because using the mouse is just ridiculously cumbersome!

I think for now I'll stay with GIMP, because with the modifications in that link Kryzon posted, I can have a great palette to work with, which makes it a LOT easier to switch between colors. However, I will check out Spriter, it looks pretty good!

Thanks for the info, everyone!

Oh, thanks for those links! That helps a lot. I think GIMP is probably my best bet for now. I really don't want to learn other software to make sprites.

Interesting reads there! I have played around with both languages a bit more and have found that C# just feels better for me.  I really don't know why, it just does.  Java is ok, and I can definitely see using it to develop Android apps.  It's not as horrid of a language as people try to make it out to be.

It depends what kind of portability you're looking for.

Well, I'm not really looking into mobile options yet (though I do plan to develop for WP8+ and Android, eventually), I was just talking about desktop platforms.

...language-wise they are similar enough that learning one and you will cover 90-95% of the other.

Yeah, I had heard this previously from other places, and sort of experienced it when I tried out coding in Java after studying C# for a day sometime ago. There were still quite a few differences, but it was just syntax - the basic structure seemed to be completely the same.

Thanks for your input, everyone! Sounds like C# is the way to go for now.

I try to listen to music to drown out the sounds of my current surroundings, but instead of coding along with it, I generally just get absorbed in the music... next thing I know, 20 minutes have passed and I haven't written a single line of code.

I also try to do most of my coding in the morning before work, so I eat breakfast and drink coffee while programming. Interestingly, I can generally pop out more code after only having been awake for 10 minutes, rather than later in the day. It generally works the first time, too!