Well, not quite nothing. I did have to learn how to program first, and the only experience I had prior to college was some MIT course videos on Python and a few late nights reading up on C++. Now I'm starting fresh with a completely new language, Java.
I'm rather pleased with this, actually. You might think that starting off with anything other than a C derivative would be counterproductive to game programming, but we all have to start somewhere! In fact, a significant chunk of the industry, especially with web and phone development, uses Java quite successfully. Plus it's just a fantastic first language to wrap your head around.
Two successful quarters completed top-o-the-class, minus one slight lapse in memory regarding the very last assignment -- I will be kicking myself for years because of it -- and I finally feel confident enough to venture out into the wilderness. I must admit that I floundered at first. It feels like all the beginning game programming tutorials out there assume you know how to create a basic game. That's what I'm trying to figure out! ARGHH!!
Nonetheless, I retreated to the most reliable safe haven around for game developers, gamedev.net. I heavily recommend hanging around this place if you're trying to start yourself off as an indie developer or attempting to wedge into the industry in any way. They're quite a superb resource for everything on the topic.
Eventually I decided to jump right into C# programming using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio 4.0 and the free software pack that they have available here, which includes Visual Studio 2010 Express and all the framework needs. This will probably be outdated soon enough, but that's the way to go right now.
Aaaaaanyway.. that just about catches you up to my slow progress. Winter quarter here was a slam, so not much happened (thus the months of nothingness here). I have a relatively light load here for the spring, including an unfortunate lack of Computer Science classes, so expect more happenings!
