My thirteen year old son is talking about getting into game designing.
Are you knowledgeable about this? Any tips for the kid? :)
I am not a gaming author, nor do I write for any graphics applications. My stuff goes into microprocessor based controllers and instrumentation.
There are good books on gaming software. If you can't find any at the local bookstore, try "bookpool.com". Gaming involves use of a lot of artwork that must be moved according to progress of the game. Certain software packages assist with this, like perhaps the upper versions of Pagemaker. Trigonometry would be needed to place objects spatially. Programming in multiple threads of execution is needed to time the multiple events which interact.
I suppose this wasn't much help. The books are key.
Here is one: http://www.rudyrucker.com/computergames/
A gaming editor: http://game-editor.com/
A community: http://www.garagegames.com/
Writing software is just as addictive as gaming. Although the industry has been destroyed by outsourcing, I still love to write software. I wish you kid good luck and happy learning.