How to Start
Also, if you don't have the time to dedicate to something as important as picking what school to attend, simply put, you don't have the time to learn programming and are doomed to failure. If you seriously want to learn how to make games, you are going to need to adjust your time allocation and/or work ethic.
My tips as a beginner in game development, but have an advanced knowledge in programming and reading. My personal opinion is to just start programming, developing the game because otherwise you will not be able to create/learn something. Develop your skills as needed e.g. start with a simple game whac a mole like game start with just one mole than go on and add more moles.
Also I used python and pygame as the language to begin game develop with, which is a lot very easy and gives an programmer a lot of simple tools at hand. But for definite beginner maybe engines like Unity give an easier way to start
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.
