Well, I'm a system developer with my share of knowledge about programming/development (mainly in Java and .NET), yet I have a great desire to learn and start game development. Some years ago, I started learning it, but real life changed the course of things and I had to focus my attention to LOB applications. Now I want to really learn game programming, and I'm confused whether to learn through a engine or API like OpenGL and DirectX. Time is no problem to me, and as an enginner, I have good knowledge on math and physics. So which path should I walk now? Thanks for the attention, Diogenes

Well, I'm a system developer with my share of knowledge about programming/development (mainly in Java and .NET), yet I have a great desire to learn and start game development. Some years ago, I started learning it, but real life changed the course of things and I had to focus my attention to LOB applications. Now I want to really learn game programming, and I'm confused whether to learn through a engine or API like OpenGL and DirectX. Time is no problem to me, and as an enginner, I have good knowledge on math and physics. So which path should I walk now? Thanks for the attention, Diogenes

It depends what you want to do. If you want to be a graphics programmer it's more useful to start learning direct X/OpenGL. Elsewise it might be better to use a system that automates that bit for you so you can focus on what you really want to do.

If you are primarily interested in developing a game, using a graphics engine (i.e. Ogre3D) or something similar is a better route to take imo. If you plan on creating an engine, then you may have to get your hands dirty with OpenGL/DirectX directly. I am not sure what type of engineering field you happen to be in, however, if you are familiar with concepts of OOP, your life will be significantly easier. If you have ever dealt with graphics, it should be even "easier" (relative term) to understand what is going on.

Generally, you can develop a full game by using/integrating engines: Rendering engine (for graphics), Physics engine, Sound engine, etc. There are pros and cons to each, but often times it is not fruitful to create your own engine unless you find that no sufficient one exists to meet your needs. In any case, good luck - there are a lot of great tutorials and things out there to get started as well.

-RageD