So I've had this idea for about a year now, and it's not really something that I'd want to distribute on a large scale--mostly it's just a learning endeavor, and something to satisfy my own amusement.

First I should say that I'm unfamiliar with pretty much all programming languages (save HTML) and I'm more of an artist, but I'd love to have a crash-coarse in whatever I need to learn by making this. Particularly javascript, which will help out with websites as well.

So! My idea.

Basically this "game" I want to make is the 3D interior of a house. The user will be able to navigate a character (which they can possibly choose at the beginning) through this house and examine and explore the rooms to find things, much like a single dungeon area in a Final Fantasy-esque RPG. I might have an animated sprite or I might have a 1st person perspective, still deciding.

Would it be easier to lay it out like the enviornments in the early FF games, with stationary camera? I suppose so, haha.

The goal of the game is to find codes that will unlock the front door, which is a portal to other places. For example, when the user finds the first code, she can use the code on the door and open it into a forest. If the next code is found, the user can step out into a street, etc. There will be popups like thought bubbles when the user examines certain things, and so on and so forth.

This house will have 3 stories and various different rooms.

Basically I was just going to create this 3D enviornment in Maya/Blender to practice using the programs, but then I thought it would be kinda fun to be able to navigate it in a game-like fashion.

I just have no idea where to start! Would GameMaker be able to handle this job? I would create objects in Maya--like tables and books and such--and import them. And then there's the animated sprite...

Just wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone had any suggestions! I really appreciate the time you've taken to read this, and thank you in advance! :)

You could also check Leadwerks (a viable alternative to unity, way cheaper, but not as portable).

or check out the open-source Maratis3D before you marry buy a commercial engine.

Unity3D has a free edition which is pretty functional, especially meant for those wanting to have a hobby project as the OP.

You could also check Leadwerks (a viable alternative to unity, way cheaper, but not as portable).

or check out the open-source Maratis3D before you marry buy a commercial engine.

Not saying those engines are bad or anything, but both use C++ (though I see that Maratis also offers Lua scripting). The OP said that he's an artist and his only experience with programming is HTML. I don't think dunking himself into C++ is what he wants.

BTW, it's off-topic but I'm a little curious: Leadwerks is a "game engine for Linux and PC", so why is there a Visual Studio screenshot in there? Do they mean PC as in Windows PC?