Hi there, I thought I would try my hand at putting a few ideas online. These are ideas that I really want to talk about but don't seem to find the time to talk about. They might also be concepts that I do get to talk about from time to time, but don't get to go into as much depth as I would like. I imagine this will often look at game design, but I might go into other topics too.
digital game design tools
A lot of people ask how they can start making game, and this largely depends on what area of game design you want to get into. But I generally suggest looking at Unreal or Unity. For designers I also suggest making some board games, and artists check out Blender/Maya. Learning to code is a good practice for anyone, but if you want to be an engineer at a major studio than C++ is going to be the language to learn, but can be overwhelming if you don't already have programming experience. But what engine do you choose?
Designers
For designers I suggest starting with paper and making a board game. It's easier and cheaper than making something digital, it also keeps the focus on the systems he is building rather than any art, effects, etc that while important aren't systems design. I'm a systems designer so things like combat systems, enemy types, controls, economies, that sort of thing.
If you want to go digital than I suggest either trying out Unity or Unreal 4. Generally, small developers or indie games will use Unity as it has more on its asset store (free and paid) and is more user-friendly. Unreal is often for larger games that really want the best graphics. Unity also uses C# that is more user friendly and also more common if you are looking to get a job creating software.
Designers and Engineers
Unity
Unity uses C# so you need to learn some programming (worth learning anyway and what better way than making a game?) They have some good tutorials on their website (https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials). These teach the engine, the basics of C# and you gets to make a fun game out of it. For a class I taught I took the space shooter tutorial and expanding on it (you can read more here). There are also some great classes on Udemy that I highly suggest for anyone wanting to learn Unity this one guides you through everything and really teaches you how to make games while also teaching how to program. https://www.udemy.com/unitycourse/learn/v4/overview There are also a lot of resources online if you have questions and plenty of free tutorials on YouTube.
Unreal Engine 4
Unreal can be really fun to work with, but I wouldn't suggest it for getting started. If you want to make games for a major studio it is definitely worth learning. I just haven't found as great of resources online for Unreal as I have for Unity. That said visual scripting is still fun to use and the basics are the same as Unity and if you are working with some great 3D artists who really want high end graphics this might be the way to go.
While Unreal as an engine uses C++ it also can use blueprint a visual scripting language, that helps teach the basics of programming and lets anyone build something functional without bothering with syntactic and other programming overhead. If you don't know how to program this can be an easy way to quickly build something by just plugging together nodes. I haven't found great supporting resources for Unreal, this one is likely the best (https://www.udemy.com/unreale4/learn/v4/overview) it teaching blueprinting while you make some fun little games. Or (https://www.udemy.com/unrealcourse/learn/v4/overview) if you also want to learn C++ while learning the Unreal Engine.
Artists
Modeling
I'm far less familiar in this area, but if you want to get into 3D modeling and animation than Blender is a free option you can check out. I haven't used it myself as I am more familiar with Maya that is more industry standard, that said learning one will help you with the other. I learned how to use Maya during a production class at the University of Utah, but you can find resources on line through the same sites I have listed above. For 2D artists Photoshop or similar programs will be just fine, and the animation can be done inside the engine.
Textures
A game textures is basically an objects paint or skin for the 3D game, generally you have a model that is grey and you apply textures you have created to it. This can control how shinny it is along with slight bumps or a glow effect. I personally use a combination of Substance Designer and Photoshop/Illustrator. Substance Designer is similar to visual scripting but focuses on pre-built effects that you can apply to images, its fun to play around with just to see how it changes an image.
Effects
Generally effects will be done in engine, Unity and Unreal both have different ways of making effects but at its core both engines spawn an object with a bunch of smaller objects. You control their lifetime, color, and movement. I personally like Unity's approach, but I know Unreal will be changing theirs soon so we will see. Again you can find good videos on both online, and this will be decided by what engine you are using for your project.
Audio
Wwise is a commonly used middleware for integrating game audio into engine. Wwise is a tool that manages your audio assets that will be used in a game and integrates them with the game build. Wwise has many cool capabilities such as an interactive music system and complex sound layering depending on gameplay events. The best thing about Wwise might be the ability to create complex systems in accordance to gameplay without the need for large amounts of coding.
F-Mod is the other industry standard middleware. Most features present in Wwise are similar to those in Wwise, the main difference being that F-Mod is structured far more like a DAW than Wwise
Ableton, Reaper, Audition etc.: DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) are an essential tool for anyone looking to get into game audio. DAWs can be used to make music through MIDI and/or record music. DAWs can be a good place to make sound assets by layering sounds and applying the audio effects (reverb, compression, delay etc.) as well. If you are a Mac user Garageband can be a good place to start given its minimal interface. Additionally, if you are in a university you might have free access to Adobe Audition as well which is a DAW made especially for Sound Mixing.
Splice.com: Aside from the effects that come with your chosen DAW, Splice.com is a great source of audio plug-ins. Plug-ins can provide additional audio tools, such as synthesizers, as well audio effects and filters often with simple to use interfaces. Splice.com has a huge collection of free plug-ins as well.
Source control
You shouldn't really be worried about this on your first few projects. If you are working with other people or on a bigger project its good to have but when you are starting out its just more places something could go wrong. But what is this, at its core it's a way for you to have your progress and revert back to a previous built if you break something. This does also let you have several people working on the same project at the same time, but this runs the risk of people overwriting another's work and can be a pain to fix if you don't just want to revert to the last working built. That said if you are ready for source control Github works great and is free. You can use Github for Unity, or Perforce for Unreal. Both do essentially the same thing and there are other source control programs like Tortoise SVN that I have used too. It's also worth noting that Unity has Unity cloud that works great, but you do need to pay for Unity to use it. While Unreal can integrate directly with Perforce if you set it up.
Schools
If your looking to go to school to make games the University of Utah's program is where I went and you work with great people. But even then I HIGHLY suggest doing this stuff beforehand to get a leg up and to make sure it is the route you want to go. It's a competitive field and depending on what you want to do the pay can vary a lot. Programmers get paid the most and have the easiest time finding jobs, they also have an easier time taking their skills to other industries if they want more money. That said you don't need school to develop these skills though it is a great place to practice them with other people who will push you and be great connections down the road.
TLDR
I suggest starting with Unity, after getting the basics down you'll feel like you can make anything and if your friends want to get involved they can make something cool together. If you want to continue and make this a professional career at a major studio learning Unreal will be great to pick up next.
I'm happy to answer any other questions or go into more detail, feel free to reach out.