If I was to start with no knowledge on how to make games, how hard would it be to make a game similar to castle crashers?

What will I need to learn?

Assuming you have coding knowledge but no gaming knowledge, you need to learn sprites, layers, and other concepts as well as a framework/engine of your choice.

assuming you have no coding knowledge, go learn the fundamentals and come back in a few years.

Can you code?

Nope, don't know anything about coding, but am definitely willing to learn. I've always wanted to do something like this or make a decent looking game, but have never had time.

Now that I have lots of spare time though, I want to learn how to code and all the other stuff. Does anyone know what kind of coding I will need to learn for this, and the best place to start?

Thanks all!

You have to learn a programming language (aka "syntax") which is how that particular language does its things.

While at the same time you need to learn all the underlying programming concepts and designs which are language-independent. These are entirely logic-based and some people never grasp them and just can't become programmers. This part should take you a couple years at minimum to understand at a basic level. A good example of testing this skill would be visting http://projecteuler.net/problems as in most problems you do not necessarily need to know how to program in order to solve them.

This post was edited by soulzek on Sep 27 2012 01:51pm

Programming Language "also known as" syntax?? I don't think so. Syntax is just the rules that you have to follow to write code. Its just like writing in english, you must know how to use verbs, pronouns and etc.

The other part of soulzek is right, you'll need at least a couple years before creating a decent game, you need to understand all the logic behind coding. Coding is nothing more than "writing in a language".

I'm going to recommend that you start off learning how to program. I can't recommend Python enough as a great starting language that you can even move on to creating games with using PyGame or Pyglet. Try this:

http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

Thanks, will probably do this. Do I download the 2.7.3 or the 3.2.3

2.7. in general i'd recommend the latest version, but python is different since there can be compatibility issues. i'd stick with the older version for now

keep in mind your timeline should be measured in a years and not weeks/months to make the game you always wanted to make.

you could also go a different route and try making games without coding (eg Game Maker, RPG Maker, etc) if you want to focus on your creativity.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Sep 27 2012 03:06pm

LPTHW is too functional for my personal taste.

I'd rather start from real fundamentals and learn coding on the side:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/