Has anyone heard of Blitz3D, BlitzBasic Game Programming Language
I think most of them are scripting languages that work with specific game engines. What languages do you already know? If you're a .net programmer why not take a look at XNA. It is not a game engine, it is a platform that allows you to deploy games to Windows and XBOX360 platforms. It's not too hard, and if you already know .net you don't need to learn anything (other than XNA classes, etc.).
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I realize this is an old question, but I just stumbled upon it and had to answer.
BlitzBasic is a GREAT way to make programming and game development easier. A lot of people seem to get it right, but I remember how it was as a beginner. While I think Python is a great contender, I would still lean towards Blitz as a first step into game programming.
Most languages these days present a series of obstacles to cross before getting up and running every time. Setting up your IDE / dev network, purchasing and linking to various libraries, and that's before you can even start digging around in your chosen language. Blitz is basically one step, batteries include the type of thing. Sometimes I still use BlitzMax for prototyping or testing quickie ideas.
BlitzBasic is easy to learn. His dialogues are BASIC. The most recent version, BlitzMax is a much better product overall, but a little more difficult if you're a beginner.
None of them will qualify as scripting languages or game engines. They do have a standard game standard library however. I tend to think of blitz as training wheels. You learn and experience there before moving on to more fully featured toolkits, BUT they tend to be capable of polishing, commercial quality products (I mean commercial in the Indie sense, not the most recent big budget AAA titles.)
As already mentioned, Blitz returns to Amiga. The original version of Worms was written in it. Blitz has had a few more recent indie titles (Platypus comes to mind.)
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