I'll bump this up, cause I'm sure people are interested... I was going to major in Computer Science, but I've recently changed because I get no excitement out of coding like I thought I would.
I am a digital development student (not comp sci or specific to game dev in the slightest) and I think I understand the importance of programming for game development.
I am studying Java and Flash AS, flash is considered for light weight games (web) and Java I have yet to grasp the scope of the language entirely but mastering it would also be getting a large foot hold in more 'game-devvy' languages like c++. Boosting the idea and core concepts of programming over all.
I found that the idea of programming is very similar throughout any language. I feel once you have something like c++ or java up your sleeve you can master them all as the ideas are pretty much the same. More importantly if you already know how to program, it is easier to develop games using associated SDKs, modtools even if they are associated specificly to themselves.
What's also interesting is that people who stick to just design still have some level of understanding programming, they may not be programmers but they understand enough princibles to work as a team with some who are.
What I am trying to say that is learning to program is pretty important if you want to develop games big or small, solo or a team. Programming seems very alien to many people, and it felt very alien to me a few months ago. Now however I understand that basic princibles and I am learning myself how to be a programmer rather than someone who just understands the code. Remember learning your first language is always hard. (providing you are not a baby)
Programming is made easier in the following ways:
Like Buckybit said, is to work with someone else, if you are with a tutorer abuse them and ask questions constantly. There are lots of tutorials and places to ask on the web or you could even purchase a book!
I found my greatest learning however came from creating experiments by myself. Making programs which naturally suited what I was interested in. Examples in textbooks always make you do boring stuff. Personalize it and make it fun and for yourself. Even though the programming on my course has nothing to do with games, I learn the coding by creating simple games with it.
Java is nice to start off basic programming with, but if you're more into games, i'd go for C#. Mainly because of XNA. Once you get used to the basics of programming, then you can move onto C/C++ and deal with the memory management stuff that has been pretty much done for you in Java/C#.
Even just breaking apart the sample programs that come with XNA Game Studio should be enough for you to make your own simple game, with collision, simple physics, etc.
I'd recommend not touching OpenGL and that kinda stuff until you're more experienced as well. And avoid 3D like the plague, it'll just confuse the hel out of you.
@buckybit: I noticed some of the gamedev.net is from 1999! can you comment on how relevant it is? It all jives with what I know about the current state of IT, but I'm the student not the teacher.
Thanks, by the way, this is extremely useful to those of us looking at getting into game development.
EDIT: Looking at the way this thread is going, I have another question. I have a spotty, but generally functional understanding of Java (I can code Pong if you give me a few hours). Assuming that I will be taking CS next year (provided I get in), would I do better to improve my skills with Java, or to start learning C/C++?
I did a lot of work in grad school on interactive 3D graphics thingies. Learning to program is only the first step to game development. You need to have a strong math background in order to do anything beyond copy-and-paste programming. In particular, it is important that you study linear algebra. Linear algebra is used everywhere in 3D graphics. I originally tried to get into the game industry but the entry level salaries were quite shitty in Canada.
Gamedev.net is an excellent resource but beware of just copy-and-pasting the tutorials. You really need to understand every detail before you learn more advanced concepts.
You can learn to program in any language but some languages hold the programmer's hand. For example, garbage collected languages like Java and C# hide the complexity of managing memory. In C++, you must manually allocate memory pointers via new/delete. C++ is a large intimidating language for beginners but I believe that learning C++ is harder if you study Java and C# first because of the previously mentioned hand-holding.
Programming is definitely something you should learn if you're interested in getting into this kinda thing. I'm doing C# at the moment, before C# my only real experience in programming was java, so I was a pleased to find that the syntacs in C# is very similar to java, and the visual C# IDE you can download from the microsoft site makes it easy to create GUI programs quicky, which is also good for people learning programming because you can start making interesting programmes relitively quickly.
I think this thread is full of future DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS.
But on a serious note, thanks for all the effort put into the post. Definitely gonna check out some of this stuff in the future, see if any of it interests me.
@buckybit : Yeah that's pretty much what I've heard as well. I got a book on drawing human anatomy and i'm going to be practicing from that. Plus I've joined conecptart.org, where I inspire myself by looking at others work:) Im going for a BFA degree to give me an understanding of traditional art as well. So now i've got to practice, practice and practice. Thanks a lot!
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