Hello everyone, as the title implies, I just recently found out about this page and joined. I'm really interested in getting into game development and have a reasonable understanding of C# and Java but I don't know how or where to start. Should I be using Unity to make a game or try to build a game completely from scratch? I know I need to start somewhere simple, like pong, but I don't know where exactly to begin. Any help will be great. thanks

Welcome to the site

Check out the FAQ as it is a good starting point for newcomers on the site. Also utilize the search to see the feedback given to others that have posted similar questions. The replies to those question should help to give you more understanding and options to choose from.

As for whether you 'should' be using a tool or making it from scratch, there is no right or wrong answer. If you are more interested in making games tools will definitely help as most of the grunt work is done already. If you are more interested in learning how those tools function, going your own route will help you better understand how things work under the hood. Regardless of what you choose each choice still requires some time and dedication to see any results.

Once you make a choice don't feel like you can only make games that way. You can always change your mind later on as you see fit

Thank you AnnaMarie and I am more interested in "how those tools function". I feel that will help me in the long run as I try to get into the game development field. I would also like to apologize for the redundant post that I'm sure comes up often in the beginner forums.

No worries at all

Since you said you had a reasonable understanding about C# Monogame should help you get up and running quickly. While not a game engine itself, it provides some decent infrastructure to build games with. There are numerous tutorials lying around on the internet that can be found using your favorite search engine. As Monogame was designed to be a drop in replacement for the now deprecated Xna framework usually tutorials for Xna will work in Monogame with some tweaking.

There are other options for C# which can be found online as well. These vary from full engines to just a simple graphics wrapper - leaving more or less work for you to do on your own. After gaining experience with a few small games you should have a better idea regarding how to best move forward.

Just make sure to keep things simple at first

Thank you Eck. I really want all the help I can get. For too long I've been too afraid to ask for help from others to get me started down this path.

DaveSF noted. I'll let you know. right now I'm tinkering a little bit with Unity :)