(Note: this may just emulate what a lot of this generation feels, a desire to create games but no skills or patience to create them.)

I feel like I have a passion for game creation (or, maybe I should say I'm somewhat of a creative person and games happen to be the outlet for that creativity) but I have never been able to bring ideas to fruition, mainly because programming has always put me off. (I speak and think in English, not that way. :P On the other hand, I do know HTML/CSS.) Nevertheless I'd like to press forward trying to at least create a platformer eventually.

Right now I'm focused on internship work and don't really want to spend my evenings wracking my brain some more, but in a few weeks I should have a bit more free time and I'm wondering, as the title says, what you guys believe are the "best websites or books to learn game-focused programming".

I was using Codecademy to learn Javascript and progressing through that relatively well (I hoped to combine that with Unity3D), but I'm wondering if perhaps I would be better off focusing on a different language, or using different resource(s).

I'm still doing this stuff as a hobby. I've got all those Beginning Game Programming books, and I regularly visit Lazy Foo Productions and Sol's Graphics for Beginners. The books are the best start as they give you an introduction into whichever language each one uses, the sites assume you have a background in C/C++.

I've mainly toyed with Flixel, Game Maker, Unity, and Corona, but now I'm putting together my own engine from scratch (when I can find the time) in C++ and SDL. I'm teaching myself by cloning the simplest variants of the kinds of games I want to make, then working my way to incorporating more advanced stuff.

Unfortunately I still think I'm a beginner's beginner, so I'd more or less need to start from scratch. I know the ideas behind variables, if/else and for statements, and a few other things, but I haven't memorized the way they are suppose to be written (especially with all the extra punctuation).

EDIT: I'm not against working with somebody who is very good with programming or interested in learning it, so if there's anybody out there in this circumstance, let me know. Maybe I can provide the art, writing, and other things, and this other person can help me out behind the scenes.

Years ago, I found this http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/studio
There is a huge community behind this project, so you will find many tutorials and stuff. It's both object oriented programming and "clicking", which is quite intuitive. I would definetely give it a try if I were you.

If you are planning on using Unity there are several websites that offer specific tutorials. I can't give you any off the top of my head but there were several I used when I was playing with Unity last year. Most also had basic programming help as well. Running through a few tutorials and making a few playable games that way will teach you quite a bit.

I forgot to thank people for the suggestions. I'm trying to take this a bit more seriously over the summer, as although I'm sure this is a bit of a pipe dream, it would be nice to be able to pay back some student loans by creating a game people would actually want to buy. (I'm actually getting a degree in graphic design - almost done with that - but my interest is still strongly in game design.) I will definitely give this a try, but something like this always makes me think that the game isn't really "mine", or that I'm sort of "cheating" when it comes to creating a game. But I will look at this while still looking into Unity.

Hmm. I also want to learn game programming and make my own game. Nice information.

You leech! ;)

Ahaha. Okay. +1 for you. Is that enough ? :D

You should have a look at https://www.udacity.com/, they have (in my opinion) very well organized and presented courses in different fields, HTML5 Gamedevelopment for example, or a basic course in python.

Game Maker has been used in several commercial products (like Hotline Miami here on GOG), so you don't need to feel like you're cheating. Besides, it's great for prototyping ideas and is an excellent introduction to designing games and game programming. You don't need to release anything you make on it, you can just try experimenting with several ideas.

This may be your best option if learning to program at a professional level (which is what you'd need to develop a game of any substance in most cases) isn't really in your heart. I loved doing it from the very start so I enjoyed the learning and worked at it constantly for years before I was ready to do any real work with it. Learning to engineer software is not a trivial undertaking, there are no shortcuts. It is a long road but a very rewarding one for someone who enjoys it. Like learning anything complex, it is something you learn in small bits and they very gradually come together over a long time. Honestly, a pursuing a college degree in software engineering is the ideal way to go for someone serious about programming. I know there are bright and highly motivated people with a talent for this that can circumvent that but for most mere mortals, it really is the way to go.

I don't want to seem negative but I am just being very honest with you. There is nothing simple about writing complex software. It is difficult until you've put the time in to learn the craft and even then depending on the project it can certainly be challenging still.

So I guess what I am getting at is if your passion is really in designing a game, coming up with the idea for one and seeing it become real you don't have to be the one who writes the code. You can get somebody to do that and you design the game for the most part.

I don't know if you are familiar with someone named Greg Kasavin but he was a talented games reviewer and became an editor at Gamespot. Years ago now, he left there to pursue what had become his dream - to make games. Greg was not and still is not as far as I know, a programmer. But he went on to work at EA and later to be on the team that made the game, Bastion. I'm not sure if he is still with those guys or on to some other place and project now. Anyway, the thing is he is making games but doesn't program them and you can too if that's what you really want to do I would think.

I've noticed over the years lots of mod teams are made of people with various talents and not everyone on the team is coding something. There are people doing story, models, all kinds of stuff I'd imagine.

Lastly though, don't let all that deter you from jumping in and giving programming a continuing try if you really do want to do the coding yourself. Just be aware you are looking at a lot of time to gain the necessary understanding and skill. You need a lot of practice actually writing code and fixing it, over and over and over and only by doing that will things fall into place over time.

There is no such thing as reading something like, "C++ For Dummies" and coming out a competent programmer on the other side of that. Your first book whatever it is will just scratch the tip of the iceberg. You'll need to do plenty more reading and even more practicing before you make any games. By the way, according to a post by a game developer at Feral who ports games all the time from Windows to Mac, most games are written in C++. If you are going to learn something, you might as well learn something useful.

Edit: I did forget one other thing. I am not knowledgeable about simpler tools to create games like RPG Maker or other similar tools. If you are content to live with the constraints of those in exchange for a much easier learning curve I would expect, maybe pursuing one of those options could work for you at least for openers and let you more easily give expression to your design ideas. Hopefully others can give more insight on those or maybe they have. I didn't read the whole thread.

I heard that Udacity's HTML5 Gamedevelopment course is very difficult for beginners. The forum has many complains.
So I don't recommend it for the OP.
Meanwhile Python Introduction course is quite good (I've finished it myself).

I recommend the OP to learning Unity or Game makers.

http://www.apress.com/9781430234227

A good book about workflow when making a small first person adventure game.

Thanks for taking the time to write out all of this. I think I'd like to try working with some people, but I'm not sure where to find anybody who'd be interested in teaming up. I'm even interested in helping people make mods like Cry of Fear, but again, I'm not sure how to get in touch with people working on those style mods (or if I'd even have the talent they're looking for.)

I know programming won't be easy, but for now I think I should try to press forward. It may all be in futility, but this is something that interests me more than most other things. And I'd like to think most of what I will be pursuing won't be extremely complex or difficult programming - I try to know my limitations and realize I certainly won't be able to create something like the next Halo, CoD, WoW, or even many other indie games. But I'd like to think that, if I focus on the idea of simple but fun, I may be able to bring them to fruition in Unity or Game Maker.