minibutmany

You need artists and nerds to make video games
unfortunately neither artists nor nerds have the right personality for making entertaining video games ...

Most people don't have one description to their personality. Game programmers usually get interested in game programming because they have an idea(good or bad) for a game that they want to make. Artists tend to be creative people that can be creative not only visually but also in writing, and a project vision. There are also plenty of programmers that are also artists that are also very generally creative people.

You need gamers to buy video games
unfortunately gamers are generally boring people
so the video game industry makes boring games for boring people to buy

Again, most "gamers" are average people that have other hobbies too. Not everybody that plays games does it in their underwear in their Mom's garage sipping coke all day. 

Of course, with anything, there are the people who have become obsessed, but they could still be very interesting people that have been trapped in their virtual worlds.

That is why current video games are so boring

I do think that most of the new triple-A shoot em-up games have been pretty generic and boring, but there is a whole world of great indie developers, made up of programmers and artists, most of which are creative people, almost all of which where at won point "gamers" because that's how they got interested in it in the first place.

Are games art?

This reminds of the argument made in "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud about if comic books are art.

It is in the eye of the beholder. 

But art could also be defined as anything that humans have made which is not systematically created. Something with a creative process.

Making video games is 100x more fun than playing them

Agreed. Games, like watching TV, aren't fulfilling after you turn them off. But accomplishment gives me a great fuzzy feeling for a long time. 

To port to Android, you must use the Android SDK or LibGDX or similar library. LibGDX is specially made for porting to multiple platforms. Trying to port a PC version to the MAC is one thing...they are fairly similar systems...but moving a PC version to Android is completely different because you have to worry about touch screens and lots of other Android "stuff". If you want to port to Android, that is something you need to think about now because then you should use LibGDX. In my opinion, since this is your first project in Java(even though you have some prior experience with games) you probably shouldn't worry about being cross platform and just getting your game out there, in which case I would recommend Slick2D over anything else.

So I guess a library or sdk will do the graphics thing for me or at least make it easier? Also would you know if that could be implemented for android if a library is used or would that be library specific?

Slick2D makes the graphics easier and is less laggy than "vanilla" java graphics because Slick has hardware acceleration. Games made in slick are "state based"...your menu, game, game over screen, high score screen, etc. would be different states that have their own independent update and render loops. Slick has lots of cool lighting effects and fade transitions that can make your game look way more polished. (My one problem with Slick is that it has trouble playing MP3 files so you will have to use a separate library for you audio playback and processing)

When they said the canvas was slow, they weren't talking in seconds, but in milliseconds. HTML5 should be just fine for a point-and-click kind of game like you describe. You could even get away with not even using javascript if you just use a bunch of pictures meshed together and make each one a link, but of course that is kind of limiting.  

With a quick google search, I found this engine for JS: crafty. I haven't used it but it seems fairly well documented.

As a beginner, it is crucial to pick one tool or language to start learning with. I'm not going to tell you the best path, but the following is a quickly compiled list of languages to get started learning with. There are few books about game development in general that will teach you a language. Rather, you need to learn a language in the context of general programming first, and than apply your skills to learning games.

Some languages to get started with:

Java, C#, Python, and C++ are all possible starting places. Syntax is fairly similar between them all, I recommend that you research each one individually and pick the one that you gravitate to the most. I had an awkward beginning to programming as I learned C++ for a few months making console apps, switched to C# for windows desktop development, and than started Java about 2 years ago for making games. Personally I would say to stay away from C++ right away, the other three languages are more beginner friendly but are still professional development tools that will provide for you as learning experiences and good tools.

If you go to Barnes and Noble or similar book store, they should have a book about each of these languages. I personally really like the"Head First" series of books by O'Reilly. They are fun to read and can make you more enthusiastic about development.

As redw0lf said, just start programming. It is the best way to learn. For me, getting good a coding was mainly overcoming my mistakes, which a book can't teach you. Programming, talking about programming, thinking about projects, reading about new technology is all really fun and fascinating to me. Try to gain a similar enthusiasm instead of just thinking of programming as the boring interface to creating your dream game. 

Would this topic be more appropriate in Game Design? 

One would think coming up with the ideas would be the easy part.

Keep in mind, owning a book and reading a book about 3D development...doesn't automatically give you the power of 3D development. You will find bugs that you have never had experience before, and most of your time with development will be fixing those bugs.

Before you make a full on 3D game, make a few practice programs, such as a rotating cube and camera panning demos etc.

Before you jump right into DirectX, try out processing first. The syntax is different but it should help you wrap your head around the concepts and mathematics behind 3D.

Personally, I like Java for making games, but I use C# for anything really UI based because of Visual Studio's great drag and drop environment for building forms. Netbeans has a UI building environment and eclipse has plug-ins, neither of which I have tried, but I can really recommend Visual Studio for lots of professional, clean, well thought out tools that the other two free environments may be lacking.

You can convert your JARs into EXEs using Jarsplice or similar tools, but it is fair to assume most people will either have java or wont have a problem if your installer prompts an installation of the JRE.

c++ is much better for making games than java

People argue that java is a little slower than C++, which may be true in numbers, but honestly it doesn't hinder its ability to make great games.

C++ is more difficult and complex than java and since you have already been learning java, you will prevent many headaches by sticking with java.

I won't tell you to not learn C++, it will certainly prove to be an excellent tool, but don't leave java behind just because someone said c++ was better.

Edit: I take back what I said about slapping in the face, but honestly people that think this are stuck in the days when java wasn't what it is today.

And also I wonder how do people create music for game? Write it? Is it easy?

Before learning to compose music, one must learn the basics of a musical instrument, and that alone can take years of practice.

Find a friend who you can work with to record the kind of music you want in your game. If you would like to make your music on the computer

with little skill, you can use Audiotool, which is a free chrome plugin that has virtual synthesizers and drum machines. It still requires basic knowledge of music theory but the skill to physically play an instrument is not required. You can also make music with sampling. Simply take other recordings and piece them together in a way to make something new.

2.I've been looking around and saw lots of IDE, compilers, APIs, library. Do I need these to make games with a program lang? What do I need to make a website-based game and a game that is software-based.

First of all, you can write your code for any language in notepad or any simple text editor. An IDE makes this process simpler and more enjoyable. After you have written your code, it needs to be compiled. Languages like C++ and VB compile right into an EXE. You can use a command line compiler or the one built into your IDE. Some languages are compiled but not into an EXE, instead they turn into byte code which is emulated by a virtual machine. Java does this. And finally, languages that are not compiled at all but instead are emulated in "real time" by a web browser. Javascript and other web scripting languages do this.

Which tools should you use?

This really depends on which languages you choose to work with. You can find tons of threads on this forum about the pros and cons of each language.

If you choose C++, C#, or VB, please use Visual Studio Express. It's free. It's awesome. This is were you will write all of your code and compile it.

If you choose Java, eclipse is the most powerful, but I found NetBeans to be easier to use. That's just my opinion.

Since you already know JavaScript, go ahead with that. While notepad can get the job done, try notepad++ for free or UltraEdit(which is about 60 bucks).

Or go to a bookstore, I mean physically go, and look at what books are available.

Books are a great resource, you can learn a lot from them but the most important part of learning is doing.

Unless you live in Ithaca NY and they replaced the book store with a sumo wrestling store. I'm really angry.

So if i go with Slick2D everything will be fine?

Yep.

Make sure to read all the documentation and the wiki before you get started.

There are a lot of features that I wish I had known about before I started my project, and I'm sure you will find lots of tools you will want to use as well.

Try Slick2D...it's actually based on LWJGL which uses OpenGL. It is very similar to java's already existing graphics tools so it's no sweat for a first project.

On Zerobeat's note about it not being compiled, you could use Lua to make it easier for others to write "mods" for your games(if your into that). I really like the open source model, and an easy to use and understand scripting language supports that well.

Also why would learning lua scripting be any good?

If you write the "base code" for a game in C++, you can use Lua scripts to write the logic for the game. Lua feels more like VB than C++, so if you are more familiar with VB, you can use Lua to capture that while still holding on to the advantages of C++.

uuuuuh...what just happened here?

Don't care what the world says to you, believe in your heart, dude.