   Hey im new, and lost......
  HeyI need some big help.Im 14 and ive loved games ever since i picked up my first gameboy when i was 6. I want to be a game designer, but i dont know what i need, where to start, what to do and what programs i need. Remember im in australia, its hard to get game related stuff. Please help by either replying or contacting me on ICQ and my number is 83526283. Thanx.  
  Australia is a great place to be... The Australian Game Developer Conference is on on November 10-12 in Melbourne (again this year), and we have many opportunities for game related developments in this big brown land.What I recommend any aspiring game developer learn is how to program in C/C++. It is the language that is predominantly used in game development.Programming is not the only way to go, you can learn to design games and write stories/ plots etc. You can also learn to be an artist.Most people who want to make games learn to program, because it is the most conventional way to do it, and you are more likely to get a job with such skills (but not necessarily).When you know how to program, you can then begin learning off really old games like Tetris, Pong, Pacman etc... From there, you will learn how games work internally.If I were to recommend a book to you on beginning game programming, I would have to say Andrè Lamothès "Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus" covers a lot of ground. It expects that you know C/C++ and therefore you will need to start with something like SAMS "teach yourself C/C++ in xx hours/days". Buying books can be expensive, but it is always beneficial in the long run. For compilers, if you want Windows game development (and you wouldn''t get Andrè Lamothès book if you didn''t) then you are probably better off getting Microsoft Visual C++. This compiler comes free with the book mentioned above (by Andrè) but is only a freeware minor version.Anyway... What else do you want to know?   -Chris Bennett of Dwarfsoft - The future of RPGs  Thanks to all the goblins in the GDCorner niche