Hi, I want to be a game developer. I want to be one of those people who holes themselves up in their parent's basement with the computer as their only light source/friend and dishes out fully 3D masterpeices to the gaming community. And I want to do all this without being japanese.

But I don't even know the first thing about the field. Where do I begin and where do I go after that? For more complicated sub-areas of game developing what are the things I need to know in order to complete those fields?

Currently my only qualification is that I can read and write in proper english. Butt Um nat evan sur aboot thot...

Here are the languages i started with:
-visual basic 3
-visual basic 6
-JavaScript
-java (with openGL)
-c++(with SDL/OPENGL) <--industry standard
Also you need to learn:
MATH:
linear algebra
vectors
Matrix math
trigonometry
trig identities
Programming CONCEPTS:
sorting algorithms
Multi threading
Object orientation
dynamic memory
blitting
buffers
I recommend learning java then c++.
Or if you want to start with c++,just buy a book on C++ and another on SDL

Here are the languages i started with:
-visual basic 3
-visual basic 6
-JavaScript
-java (with openGL)
-c++(with SDL/OPENGL) <--industry standard
Also you need to learn:
MATH:
linear algebra
vectors
Matrix math
trigonometry
trig identities
Programming CONCEPTS:
sorting algorithms
Multi threading
Object orientation
dynamic memory
blitting
buffers
I recommend learning java then c++.
Or if you want to start with c++,just buy a book on C++ and another on SDL

I need to adjust my email notifications so next time I won't stumble onto a reply by accident anymore...

Thank you! After I posted the original topic I was afraid someone was going to make a stupid reply like, "well first you have to learn the language of the instruction books you'll need to read. Good luck." And overall just kick me for being a noob-da-whoop.

Like I would have.

But this is truly helpful. I couldn't figure out how to phrase and summerize the question in google search so this forum was my best bet. Now that I have my information I will close this account and cut off all contact to this site. Bye!

Wait! Besides Java and C++ which of MATH and PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS do I learn first?

[quote name='Silvervest' timestamp='1303911992' post='4803540']
Hi, I want to be a game developer. I want to be one of those people who holes themselves up in their parent's basement with the computer as their only light source/friend and dishes out fully 3D masterpeices to the gaming community.

You have a strange uninformed view of what a game developer is.
One individual can't work alone and deliver a "fully 3D masterpeice."
Most game developers work in teams, at a company, not in parents' basements.
But if the lone wolf path is what you seek, that's possible too, just not quite what you envision.
Read:
The IGDA career paths page
GameDev's Breaking In FAQs
The Sloperama Game Biz FAQs
My IGDA column, The Games Game
[/quote]

Om nom nom, the information goes into my brain bellay! Thanks for the new links! All this stuff is very helpful, and despite the fact that it's me who's saying this, I assure you all that wasn't sarcasm.

As for the misinformed part, well...yeah. In the case of learning hugely complex things I consider approaching it like this to be a virtue, since I'm fairly certain that if I ever got a glimpse at just how much I have to learn, I will go insane and ragequit this entire thing. That's just the type of person I am. *Sunglasses* Yep. Ain't nothin' wrong with that.

Besides, judging from the first link you gave me (I don't know if this is the ignorant fool talking or how simple the articles made each of the fields seem) all those things look like stuff I could do myself. But I could just be naive.

I'm not sure. What paticularly do you consider to be difficult about being that japanese man--*ahem* person that I stated I was trying to be?

Is it learning all the jobs or is it doing it all by myself?

Hi, I want to be a game developer. I want to be one of those people who holes themselves up in their parent's basement with the computer as their only light source/friend and dishes out fully 3D masterpeices to the gaming community. And I want to do all this without being japanese.

But I don't even know the first thing about the field. Where do I begin and where do I go after that? For more complicated sub-areas of game developing what are the things I need to know in order to complete those fields?

Currently my only qualification is that I can read and write in proper english. Butt Um nat evan sur aboot thot...

My first and most important recommendation is to drop that narrow perspective. Game developers come in all shapes and sizes, often with very close levels of ability (at least in the practical sense).

You will never be able to churn out a 3D masterpiece by yourself, you will need a team, probably of around 10 people, if you want to churn out a 3D game period.
I also wouldn't place too much value on being a visual masterpiece. Games like Minecraft and Angry Birds are excellent modern examples of this. The chances of an individual coming up with a million dollar idea like those is slim, but a possibility that should not be overlooked.

You didn't specify what fields you want to specialize in, so I'm going to assume programming since that's the only place I can really help. So, let's begin:
1) Read online tutorials about C++. If you don't get it at first, promptly give up all dreams of ever making a game. Kidding! C++ is not an easy language to grasp, but it's extremely flexible and countless lines of reference code exist at your fingertips just by having an internet connection.
In the early phases of learning, I most certainly recommend being that guy that hides away in his parents' basement all day programming. When I first started learning programming at 15, I was living in my father's basement; and aside for going to school, I spent all of my time programming. I even brought my laptop to school to show off my first pacman clone, that's how into it I was. It was just something I almost instantly fell in love with. But it's not the same for everybody! Like I said, game developers come in all shapes and sizes!
2) Once you feel you've got a good grasp on C++, smack yourself in the face and tell yourself that you don't know a goddamned thing. Almost every tutorial you find online is written by an amateur who barely knows what they're talking about. Even if the teacher becomes the master in a situation like that, the master is absolutely clueless.
3) Read through posts in the other forums in this category. You'll find a bunch of good information. You might also find some utter idiocy. This happens sometimes, and is pretty hard to weed out or even recognize until you know better. But that's just fine, idiocy works.
4) Pick up a book on game development. I've heard good things about Frank Luna's "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0". Read it one chapter at a time. Practice each chapter for a few hours before moving on. Give yourself time to let things soak on.
5) You've been programming for a few months now and think you're the best programmer on the block. It's time to read one of Michael Abrash's books to fix that.
6) You've been programming for about 3 years now and think you're one of the better programmers in the country. Well, I challenge you to make an asynchronous game server from scratch using only native APIs.
7) Unless you pick things up really quickly, you feel like you've wasted all your time and should give up on game programming. Download, build, and install the newest version of boost and try again.
8) It's a few months later and you're feeling much better now, but your pride is permanently damaged. You're ready to call yourself a programmer.
Yes, that's ripe with sarcasm. But it's good advice if you intend to go the indie route

EDIT: Do not read any books that claim to teach you a programming language in any amount of time less than a year. You cannot possibly learn C++ well enough to write anything of use in 21 days unless you've already been programming for a good amount of time. Even a year is pushing it.

very usefull tips over here!

Thanks for the help guys as i am also looking to start working on this