I just got into Creating Video games ive been wanting to to get into it for a while now. Ive been doing research and i keep hearing about C++ and scripting they say i need to learn it. it can someone explain to me what it is. And also some good software to use.

C++ and scripting are 2 very different things!

C++ is a programming language that is compiled (you use a compiler to make an executable file out of your source code). If you have never programmed before, learning this is going to take a couple years minimum before you are going to be very useful with it in any real way.

Scripting languages are simpler to learn languages that are interpreted instead of compiled which means you dont need a compiler to use them.

Some examples of scripting languages are... Lua (lua is awesome), python, unreal script and kismet (another unreal engine scripting language).

If you have no clue what the terms "c++" or "scripting" is you are going to have a heck of a time learning all you need to know to start making games!

What is your goal? What kind of games do you want to make? Do you want to do it just for fun or as a career?

Answering those questions we might be able to give you some better direction to get onto the right course (:

If you have absolutely no familiarity with the nature of programing languages but want to dive into game design, I would suggest starting with something like Mark Overmar's GameMaker or something of the like. If you try to learn C++, or even a simple scripting language like Lua, you will be spending months and months learning syntax and the like without ever coming near to creating anything that resembles what most newcomers to the industry would consider a game. Game Maker is actually very easy to use, very powerful and can create anything from arcade games to puzzlers and the like without ever touching a single line of code. It can further be extended through GML (Game Maker Language) which is a good way to learn the very basics of coding, and then even further with DLLs. Actually, some have argued that you never need to go any further (and there are commercial examples) than game maker. I say it's a good starting point.

I will say, though, that the above only applies if this is a hobbyist interest of yours. If your interest is professional, however, you have dozens and dozens of books to read on C++ or your compiled language of choice and a few scripting languages (unless you're the sort of masochist who enjoys hard coding things). If you'll look at the "resources" tab near the top of this page, there are a lot of suggestions under "books" and articles to help you on your way under "Articles and Resources"

Thanks for the replies. I wanna write ideas for games and design them. I think I got things mixed up. I'm not interested in being a programmer. I wanna write and design, have alot of ideas. I'm stuck between the career and hobbie thing( it depends how good I get). I Just like to design and create things. I use Photoshop creating logos,flyers, cover ex.. But I really want to get into the video game industry. I heard of a few softwares like 3d max and Maya. I'm gonna try out gamemaker. Do you think going to school for it is a must ? And I'm open to working with a team. my goal is to write an design for major gamng companies

I'm not a professional, or anything, so I'm not claiming that everything I say is 100% accurate. Still, this is what I've gathered after going through dozens of these posts, reading a lot of the aforementioned links, and getting information about the industry in a few other places.

"Game design" isn't really the best route to go if you ever want to see your games actually come into existence. A lot of those aforementioned links (not to mention dozens of earlier threads) will tell you that there isn't a large demand for "fresh of the street" game designers - you have to get a lot of industry experience and/or produce fully developed samples of your work for software companies to even listen to your ideas. Remember that ideas are a dime a dozen, and anyone can feasibly "think up" the most brilliant game ever. If you can present someone with a cohesive means of producing that idea, then you're much better off.

Take, for example, the idea of a game that reacts not to inputs from some kind of control device (mouse, keyboard, joypad) but reads your mind directly! This is a ground breaking idea of course, but as I have no means to implement it, it's fairly asinine. If, however, I presented you a technical document or schematics on a mind reading device, you'd be more inclined to listen. What this translates to is if you don't know code and don't have experience coding games, you wont understand the limitations of what can and cannot feasibly be done with today's technology and by today's programmers. You'll have all these ideas that simply can't be put into practice, or worse, you'll be trying to offload the real work of implementation onto someone else. Who would hire you to give them work to do for your profit (think of me coming to you and saying "okay, so there's the idea, now go invent a mind reading device. Oh yeah, and pay me for it after you've invented it!")?

You're better off learning how to make games (literally, not just design them) and finding a few like minded individuals whom you can get along with and who can share the work with you and bring your ideas to fruition. This is why you keep hearing about C++ and scripting languages - I'm betting they're telling you to learn implementation methods, rather than just abstract ideas. Just knowing about games and what is fun about them isn't likely to be enough. There's always the chance that you'll hop right in, but why not take the safe route? It's more work, but more likely to pay off.

Thanks for the advice . Do you have any advice on how to get into writing for games coming up with ideas. How do I submit ideas, who do I contact and would I have to copywrite my ideas before I send it.

Also I just downloaded 3d max and Unity software. Are they good to use just to mess around with ?

As this is a website where a lot of software developers hang out, it's probably not a good idea to broadcast about software downloads. You'll probably turn off a lot of individuals who might otherwise have wanted to help you. That said, I would suggest learning Blender if you're interested in 3D art. 3DSMax is proprietary, expensive, and will become a serious problem if you ever want to use anything you make out of it (you'll need a license, which is $3,500+). Blender's free and also has the capacity for creating games, though I've never used it for such (there are plenty of youtube tech demos, though). If you aren't very serious in your desire for game design, then that may well be the best option for you (though, as I understand it's Python based like everything else in blender, so you'll be learning a scripting language anyway).

If you are serious, than it's just as was said: read the gamedev articles (and the aforementioned links), read as many books on scripting, game design philosophy, and level design as you can get a hold of, and start making games. Gamasutra is also a good place to look (and many articles from there are featured here), though I find it hard to find specific articles there. Google is also your friend. Post mortems are virtual gold mines of information.