This is for you:

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/start_here/

[edited by - White Crow on August 18, 2003 4:36:59 PM]

I borrow books from the library first, then if it is good, I''ll get it.

First I would definately get a book on the language you want to learn, since learning from the internet without any previous knowledge will be difficult. Once you feel competent with the language you can start learning a graphics api or library (something like SDL maybe that handles ugly stuff for you). I would recommend SDL actually... I never used it but what I hear it''s pretty good. You could also try using a 3d engine like OGRE when you are up for jumping into 3d. However, after you learn the basic structure of a game and how a graphics engine works, your best bet would be to write your own specialized library. It isn''t necessary, some commercial games license other graphics libraries (Tribes 2 (?) comes to mind - uses the Torque engine), but if done right it should let you get a speed boost and help things go smoother along the way (assuming you don''t get caught up writing the engine).

The for beginners place is a good start to look at books, but it depends on what language you want to use, what kind of learner you are, etc.. I would suggest online tutorials, since they usually are free, perhaps the cplusplus.com tutorial I know it isn''t standard C++, but it should teach you the basic concepts. And maybe a reference, and then once you get C++, I would worry about game specific stuff.