These are all the things I am currently doing over the Summer, thing is, I am overreaching myself so I am cutting down on things and focusing on others.

So what should I focus on learning/doing.

So some context:

I am starting college in Fall for Computer Information Systems and I am focusing on C++, C#, and Assembly.

I want to be a Game Developer/Designer/Programmer when I graduate

Also, this is important to me so please no bogus suggestions like "go outside" and the like. Thank you.

A pure game developer Builderboy wants to be like that too. I suggest you go ahead and learn LÔVE Engine, to learn more about game making.

I suggest you go ahead and learn LÔVE Engine, to learn more about game making.

There's also XNA, which is already on his list .
Edit: The LÔVE Engine is Lua, isn't it? If he wants to try that engine specifically, he'd also have to learn Lua, which is a bit of a drawback...

I am trying to make a choice but I am taking other opinions into account. I'm trying to figure out which of these options should I focus more on than the others and it's can be hard to make a final decision.

A pure game developer  Builderboy wants to be like that too. I suggest you go ahead and learn LÔVE Engine, to learn more about game making.

I'll look into that. I should've put Lua in the poll as well along with C#, Z80, and Java.

"What should I focus on for the remainder of the Summer and onward"
when does summer end for you.  School starts tomorrow for me.

Or, just go straight for C/C++ with SDL or OpenGL. It's really the industry choice (C++, not SDL ) since it's extremely cross-platform, as well as being far more powerful than other languages.

Yeah I forgot to mention 3DS Max/Blender and the like will lead to 3D Game programming using C++ and OpenGL (hopefully I found a ton of great books to help)

Summer ends in September. And college will be every other day for me plus HW/Job if I get one.

Don't forget to focus on losing the game.
All the programming options seem good, I really don't know which one to recommend to you.

Or, just go straight for C/C++ with SDL or OpenGL. It's really the industry choice (C++, not SDL ) since it's extremely cross-platform, as well as being far more powerful than other languages.

OpenGL is a horrible way to handle graphics if you're not a seasoned programmer.  SDL is still low level, but at least it's much better with 2D (OpenGL works much better with 3D).  Though, many game developers won't ever even touch face with these, they use higher-level entry points to handle graphics, based on OpenGL and/or SDL.

C++ is used primary for it's speed.  Most games aren't cross platform for this reason, the code usually needs to be 50% rewritten anyways to fit other platforms due to different libraries supported and different graphics features.  And by powerful, it's very powerful *with low level stuff*, when it comes to OO programming, it's rather on the weaker side than most other OO languages, including Java.

Edit: in fact, besides maybe C#+XNA, C++ is pretty much the least portable.  If you want portable, use Python, Ruby, Java, etc.

All of the programming options sound pretty good, although I can't really imagine a whole lot of direct use for Assembly in the vast majority of games. However, games programming brings together a lot of separate programming disciplines, so I'd suggest taking a lot of time to read about algorithms to solve problems; Sorting algorithms, Linked lists, Complexity theory, the Marching Cubes algorithm, etc... Knowing how other people have solved these problems before is pretty important.

Seconded and forwarded to Richard Stallman, first class mail.  Before you start with game programming head-on, try working with the language of choice you'll be primarily developing in, and do your best to get used to it's features.  Also try to study different types of algorithms, tricks, etc. To get a better knowledge of how you can topple obstacles you find when developing the source for your game(s).

Quote from: ephan on August 09, 2011, 03:49:13 pm

I suggest you go ahead and learn LÔVE Engine, to learn more about game making.

There's also XNA, which is already on his list .
Edit: The LÔVE Engine is Lua, isn't it? If he wants to try that engine specifically, he'd also have to learn Lua, which is a bit of a drawback...

MMAAJJOORR drawback.  Don't learn a new language just to use a certain utility based on it; and, LOVE really isn't that special; it really contains little more than other basic game libraries do (like PyGame).  XNA (if you're willing to program in C#) is very very good for game development (in fact, it's *the* primary library toolkit used in game development for the XB360 and first party Windows PC games these days).  If you use C/C++, Allegro is a very good option to go with (though I admit I have some bias towards it).  If you use Ruby, a mix of Gosu and RubyGame should be sufficient.  Python, PyGame I hear is decent.  x86 ASM, a gun loaded with mercury-filled cracked lead bullets to kill you so you'll think harder next time about not using it in game development (some exceptions, I might say, though.  Though these exceptions are usually in cases of graphics, sound, and other types of low-to-high level interfacing libraries)

Might I also suggest that you also consider non-game programming development?  While it isn't as appealing at first to not make games, working with making GUI-based utilities, educational programs, and even cooler stuff like interpreters or compilers is really cool stuff once you start working with those types of things.  I especially find the development of interpreted/compilers fascinating, and that's what I've been researching on/ learning tricks about / making things for lately, and I find it utmostly fascinating.  Remember not to count this type of software development out as well

Whatever you choose, good luck!