Hello everyone! I haven't been on BYOND for a few years now, just stop in to check out how the main site has changed every now and then. I started playing BYOND games back in '03 when I was only 11. I was sucked in like many by the plethora of dbz rips overwhelming BYOND.

Eventually I wanted to make my own game so I started with a zeta rip. Modifying the map and a little of the code I called it my own even though it was very clear that it was the same boring game just with a new land to play on.

I eventually started to venture out and check out new demos and sources I found everywhere on the internet. Slowly I learned how to start from scratch and to make my own genuine game. This was very exciting and I can still remember having 15 or so players on my game and thinking this is awesome. I made this game and people are playing it.

I grew apart from BYOND simply because of the lack of originality and the annoyance of younger players like I myself was when I first started playing. It was either someone claiming everything I made was a rip or begging and blowing up my pager for GM/Admin powers which they abused regularly.

I then ran into the problem of not being able to share my game without sharing the BYOND software which many people weren't interested in installing. This troubled me to no end and is what really made me feel like I wasn't really programming but instead using pre-packaged software which rendered everything I made and made it playable (which is true).

Now, ten years later, I'm trying to get back into making my own games and this is where I am looking for some help. I don't want to copy/paste bad code or use it as a learning example. I want to learn everything from the ground up knowing it will take a long time.

I eventually wanna be able to make a world with 3d models and complex coding but I know that day is very far away. So I came to the only place I knew where to go seeking your help.

I believe my best bet is to study C++ and learn all there is to know before I start anything. I plan on making 2d games with my knowledge building up to the very complex world of 3d gaming, I just don't know where to start!

If anyone could point me in the right direction of where to start reading I would be very happy. I don't want to start again with BYOND simply because I want players to be able to play without having to download additional software to load the game.

tl/dr: Is C++ the best language to start learning if I wanna be able to program my own stand alone games? What would you recommend taking a look at to start off?

Thanks
~Nick