Hey all,

I want to get myself into serious game development, but I'm only a beginner and I wanted to know what knowledge I need to build on? Is computer graphics is enough, or does it also require knowledge of computer vision and AI?

One of the things I wanted to know is whether 3d software (Maya(including MEL scripting),ZBrush,other) or DirectX/openGL(with SDL) is better for making real looking Games with complex features? Is Maya good for games as it's for animation movies? What's the difference between DirectX and openGL in their power excluding the platforms they support?

I'm a programmer. But this time I want to do game programming. Do you think Games need some level of programming for doing animation and texture? What's the role of a programmer in games? If model,animation, lighting and texture... can be done with just engines using the mouse and keyborad, what's the use of DirectX/OpenGL? Why do pple need to do a lot of coding to texture and light?

I heard Maya and AXN are two of the most important tools for developing very complex real-looking games, is that right? Does AXN support multiplayer functionality?
I have a Mac computer right now, what graphics card will I need for better support of shaders?

Thank you

The best way to learn this stuff is to do it.  Each game is different and requires a different balance of graphics/physics/AI/gameplay.  Don't try to start big: just do simple stuff like tic tack toe or pac-man until you get the feel for it. 

As far as what's best Maya/Direct X/etc, it depends on what you are doing.  The right tool for the right job.  I imagine Maya is probably quite good at simple games with flashy graphics (although I am not aware that Maya has any actual game-play support).  If you want advanced AI or physics in your game, you probably want to go with C#/XNA or C++/DirectX.  If any one of these solutions had it all and did it all, no one would be using any of the others.

Your questions are pretty broad, none of them are really beginner-level questions with beginner-level answers.  I know that's not what you want to hear.  It all depends on what you want to do and what skills you have.  And, to be perfectly realistic, if you don't understand the limits of these platforms, you aren't going to be pushing those limits anytime soon.  If it was that easy to make uber-awesome games, we'd all be bazillionaires.  In your case, it probably doesn't matter which platform you use.  I recommend making a few simple games first with whatever tools you have on hand, or whatever you can get for free (XNA is an awesome starter toolset). That will tell you what you are lacking in, which in turn will tell you what kind of tools you need to have.

henok:

I want to get myself into serious game development, but I'm only a beginner and I wanted to know what knowledge I need to build on? Is computer graphics is enough, or does it also require knowledge of computer vision and AI?

Depends on what you want in your game, if you want a singleplayer game, it is very likely you will need some form of AI, it doesn't necessarily have to be that complex though.

henok:

One of the things I wanted to know is whether 3d software (Maya(including MEL scripting),ZBrush,other) or DirectX/openGL(with SDL) is better for making real looking Games with complex features? Is Maya good for games as it's for animation movies? What's the difference between DirectX and openGL in their power excluding the platforms they support?

Maya is a good tool for creating 3d graphics, you do modelling, uv-maping, rigging, skinning and animation, it works wonderfully for games. It does cost quite a penny though. As for the directx and opengl discussion, I can't really say since I haven't work that extensively with either, all I can say is OpenGL is a C api while DirectX is a C++ api. Also You might want to consider using XNA, it's waaaaay easier to use than both.

henok:

I'm a programmer. But this time I want to do game programming. Do you think Games need some level of programming for doing animation and texture? What's the role of a programmer in games? If model,animation, lighting and texture... can be done with just engines using the mouse and keyborad, what's the use of DirectX/OpenGL? Why do pple need to do a lot of coding to texture and light?

If you have an engine already, you don't have to deal with directx/opengl/xna because that is all wrapped inside the engine (if designed properly). As a programmer, besides engine work some of the following will be your responsibility

• Game logic
• Input handling
• Collision
• AI
• Importing art assets
• Writing shaders
• Playing sounds and music
• Saving and loading data
• Networking
• Exposing variables for non-programmers to tweak

henok:

I have a Mac computer right now, what graphics card will I need for better support of shaders?

You will need a graphics card that supports atleast shader model 2.0, you may want one that is compatible with 3.0 or 4.0 (note 4.0 is note available through XNA) for more advanced effects.

Regards

Try googling around a bit. You might find articles like this that might help.
Also read through the education section of places like gamedev.net, that aren't focused on a single technology.

You need three levels of knowledge:

1) General Comp Sci knowledge -- algorithms, complexity, data structures, linear algebra, etc <-- this never gets old
2) Domain knowledge -- numerical methods, lighting math, decision mechanisms, etc <-- this changes slowly
3) Implementation knowledge -- specific languages, APIs, processors, optimization methods, etc <-- this changes quickly

Note that you can "work in games" with a single kind of domain knowledge -- for example, a physics programmer, or a graphics programmer, or an AI programmer, or a tools programmer. It helps, however, if you have at least an understanding of more of the pieces involved, because you usually end up interfacing with other parts of the system, no matter what.

Thank you all.

Gamasutra's post mortem features should be an interesting read. Usually mentions the tools used and often the biggest headaches faced during development.