Ask a game programmer

hahaha, i wrote one of those this just past year. still, that's some hardcore programming you would have done.

For the long term it's more important to know the underlying principals than to know a specific language. That being said C++ is used a lot these days and you should know it cold.

Well, i am currently learning to program with XNA in C#, and started a large-ish project which I hope to enter into the indie games competition in 2 and a half years. Would you say this is a good way to start? Also, where would you recommend to go from there?

I think making a game in XNA is a great idea for starting out. I don't have any experience with their SDK directly though.

My advice would be to break your large project up into smaller pieces which you can tackle separately. White box the gameplay you want in these different areas until you have them working to your satisfaction. "White boxing" is basically where you make the game with white boxes instead of actual graphics. If it's fun as a white box (MNC was) then it'll be fun with real art.

My other advice would probably depend on your goals. Is the idea to work at a game company or do something else?

My goal is to stay indie, and preferable not go work at a big company, so like an XBLA game or something of the type. I plan on probably going to college for game design, and maybe working on indie projects and building up from there. Hmm, I wish I would have known about white boxing, I already have a few models completed....... I was also considering going to The Guild Hall at a later date, it would be great If I could win a scholarship from the IGC I hope to enter the finished game into, but that is highly unlikely, but I might end up going their anyway because I heard they are a great game design school.

If you want to stay indie then you should just keep making games. It's not hard to get into the industry, you already are if you finish something!

Sounds good, thanks for your time, and looking forward to MNC