   How'd you start learning game development.
  Alright previous topic was a dud..... I'd rather know how you guys started? Maybe I can see if there's something that can work for me....   
  After learning input/output, flow control and random number generation it was pretty straightforward to make a little game where you rolled up a character.And then added on enemies to beat on.And then added levelling up.And then added loot for them to drop.And then added a basic save/load feature.A good way to kill time in pascal class.   ;  I studied computer science first, and had a minor in mathematics. Games are just software too, so it wasn't that hard of a "transition" if you can call it that.   ;  I started by learning how to program homebrew games for the PSP in lua and C, not the way  i would recommend, but what ever works for you. Just know, you really have to want it, and brush up on  your google fu.   ;  when I was 13 I was rummaging through the coat closest and came across this book that weight 20 pounds. it turned out to be a complete "dictionary" on QBasic, I immediately for the QB compiler/ide which used to come standard with every windows until ME or XP and started copying what I saw in the book. This was also around the time that those ti-86 calculators were popular in school and even that had basic scripting abilities so I made little text games for it. That was along time ago and coding was alot simpler in those does... i think word of the first psx was just coming out back then.   ;  Got a book on QBasic back in '93, ran through it, and started expanding on the text adventure game until it was a little roguelike game.Moved on to C++ in college and make games for a living now.Start small. A text game has as much detail and complexity as a graphical game, without all the layers of indirection that keep you from seeing your game logic in action.A good engine ( Like GameMaker, Flash, Unity ) can also get you right to the point of seeing your code in action.Too many times people on this board come here excited to make games, but think they have to re-invent the wheel all over the place to get anywhere professional. That isn't the case.   ;  Generally we stumble into it and love it, it seems.I happened to be convinced by a friend in high school to take AP Computer Science; where I spent a year learning Java. Although I hate Java as a programming language (its standard APIs are pretty nice though), I fell in love with programming instantly. My fingers are uncoordinated and I'm tone deaf, so I personally had never been able to do anything creative until I learned how to program. When I write a few hundred lines, press the compile button, and my code immediately builds fine and executes nearly as I expected (or even when it's the complete opposite); it's like an up-and-coming musician finding out that someone just bought a copy of his first single off of iTunes. Really. It's very rewarding....until you're stuck doing something you don't want to do. Then it's about the most miserable shit ever. ;  I started back in 1998-ish when I was still in high school. Our school sucked and we had no computer lab, and no computer classes so I was on my own. I used to bring my C books to class and went through those, then got a book called "Windows Game Programming in C" (or something to that effect). That got me started in graphics.I then went to my first college for programming, we learned VB, I dropped out of that school after finding out it lied about its accredidation, joined the army, and did that for awhile.I then got back and went to Penn State for 2 years and dropped out when A. I got a job overseas and B. Realized their programming classes sucked (16 weeks and we never even made it to learning classes???)I then started online school and went overseas to work for 3 years doing IT work. I continued school the whole time I was over there, came back, and now I almost finally have my degree (9 classes away). I've made tons of little games on the side. I also caught the interest of a local company that wants to hire an iPhone developer for their team and will be meeting with them once this semester is over. (Online school is a LOT more work then people think it is so working this semester is out of the question). That little story took place over 13 years. The entire time I would learn to program on the side on and off. My programming really took off though when I started online school and had to "sink or swim" so to speak. We coded a lot with different languages and graphics APIs. I've used C, C++, VB, x86 Assembler, and Objective-C and am pretty proficient in all of them except x86. I only used it to write a data compression program and draw some images to the screen. I also got very familiar with game engines and have worked in Unity and UDK for many different projects. (Unity for personal use, UDK for school use). I've also learned a ton of math, and physics along the way, as well as 3D modeling. One of the most important things I learned however is to not wait for someone else to teach you to make games. All of the information is out there, you just need to find it and start learning. You definitely get out what you put in to it. Anyway I hope that made sense. I'm borderline delirious after working 16 straight hours on school work with much more still to go. I have to make a solar system in OpenGL and DirectX with rotating planets and lighting and such by Sunday but now its time for sleep. Off to bed I go Oh, and one more thing, don't let people get you down when you start learning this stuff. People on these forums used to dog me all the time for which online school I chose but as you can see above I have plenty of experience now and am doing quite well for myself ;  I started when I was around 10 by rewriting code from some computer magazines (really simple code) and playing with it to display some different values, text etc.Next I learned basics of Basic and was able to create simple text programs like what's your name, if name is A display Hello A, else display I don't like you, B, etc.After that I begun to play with GFX (drawing simple images using lines) and was implementing my first game - text based adventure game.All above was on Atari Basic, but gave me overall idea of how to think when programming, how to use variables etc.When I moved to PC i started playing with assembler - direct calls to GFX card, understanding how core of the PC is working, etc.Next I discovered C and was writing simple text based programs like cypher / decypher files and many more similar that I don't remember right now.After that I discovered WinAPI and started to create simple GUI applications, rather to find out how to work with it than to create something specific (except for simple puzzle game using WinAPI - no animations etc. just simple state changes).In the meantime I went to university (IT) so I had occasion to understand algorithms, data structures, object programming (C++) and had opportunity to learn many new things and use my knowledge to solve specific problems. In that period of time I created first complete game (2D puzzle using DirectDraw with animations, save games and all needed stuff) and several prototypes using OpenGL (3D) or DirectDraw (2D). After studies I begun to work as regular programmer under Linux and had a chance to work on really big projects, I found out about project management, source control and bug tracking tools, etc. And of course I had a chance to develop my programming skills.In the meantime I was still playing with GFX at home, switched to Direct3D and of course had plans of creating my next gen AAA hit game After 3 years of developing (lazy development) my own GFX engine I decided it is stupid and I will go nowhere this way, so I decided to use what I've got till now to create some simple casual game that can be completed in less than a year. That was around 1.5 year ago and I still haven't done it yet, but It's almost done, just one minor functionality to add, several optimizations of my engine to do, some not fixed bugs to solve, and it will be ready to sell. If you are interested, you can find informations about it under following link: PC Jigsaw PuzzleThat's very brief description of my path... I suppose nowadays it could be a lot easier, but generally speaking, it is wise to use time you have at university, colledge or other school wise, as after you begin working, have any other obligations (like family and kids) it is extremely difficult to find even an hour daily to move your projects further. If I know this before, I would probably try harder when I've got more time Hope this helps   ;  These are some great stories, thanks for sharing everyone! 