MCPcomputer Wrote: I want to design and make a game. But I don't know how. What kind program or programming do I need to learn? I just want to make some old school classic 80s games. Maybe to sell or just have online or free on a site.... I've something I want to do in life... I've been making website and blogs for a long time. But it's getting boring. I've been getting back into design again. But I want to make a game.. have any of you ever wrote a game and how is it done?

I don't know if any of the stuff I suggest is available on Linux yet, but anyways:

GameMaker Studio is a great tool for getting a sort of introduction to game creation. In general, I prefer to use it as a tool to test out gameplay concepts, though I've heard that it's becoming the lead platform for creating 2D games. If you're wanting to make an 80's style game, this might be a good place to start. You can also make a GameMaker game without having to do any coding thanks to its point-and-click interface, but if you really do want to do some coding stuff, it has its own coding language known as GML (GameMaker Language) that you can use.

Unity is another great tool that is becoming very popular very fast. It's for 3D games, but you can still make 2D games in it, though it's a bit more difficult than GameMaker. You'll also have to do some coding in Unity, so it's a bit more difficult than using GameMaker's point-and-click interface. However, Unity will let you code in JavaScript, C#, or BooScript, so it's got a pretty diverse range of languages for you to choose from. There is also a free version of Unity with a few limitations. I don't think Linux is supported yet in Unity, but the upcoming Unity 4 has been confirmed to support it.