I've looked everywhere you can to find software that I want to use to make my game, Steve even gave me a list that (from what he said) would help me but it didn't, I've looked at all (if not most) of the game development website for some but they didn't seem to have any. Where is a good website to actually find out information on where I could get some software for my game? If you guys want (you don't have to) you can list some software. Btw yes I did read the FAQ...I always do before I post a question.

So you said Steve gave you a list and it didn't help? Then maybe you should give us a better idea of what exactly you are looking for so we can provide you suggestions that will hopefully be helpful.

It really depends on what you want, if you are looking for a good portable API for shareware games that is compatible with older systems i would highly recommend Allegro (Allegro.cc (http://www.allegro.cc) ) Another good option is multimedia fusion (Click Team (http://www.clickteam.com/English/mmfusion.php) ) which has the option of a drag and drop type interface as well as the ability to code from scratch using their display libraries.

If your looking for a 3D package I would recommend an DirectX if your concerned about compatibility, if you are still learning basic 3d principles and you haven't used any other 3d APIs in the past I would recommend OpenGL. There is also an AllegroGL package out there, but I don’t know anything about it. If it's anything like the regular Allegro it's definitely worth looking into.

The bottom line is, there's no easy way to make a game. Games are a lot of work. There are packages out there that ease the process of getting a basic game up and running. Unfortunately you'll find that they often do not do the things you want your game to do, so you end up having to code everything yourself.

For this reason I would recommend finding a good easy to use graphics API and use that as opposed to using some sort of game creation tool. There really isn't a tool out there that will do everything you won’t, the decision you are going to have to make is.. "Do I want to sacrifice some of my game design so that I can make a game using this tool, or do I want to buckle down and do some coding so that I can make my game exactly how I envision it?"

To paraphrase the impossible triangle of software development that states software development can have 3 attributes. Quick Development Cycle, Low Development Costs, and a Rich Set of Features. What makes this triangle impossible is that you can only pick two of the 3 attributes and you will have to accept the opposite of the 3rd attribute.

… and I’m spent. I almost didn’t post this because it sounded a little too patronizing which I feel is one of the baser forms of self-aggrandizement, and a habit I really need to break. If I come across that way I apologize in advance, it is not my intention.