Free Game Designer

Search, whatever it is your about to do or want to do, search around. Thats something that should be done for just about anything, don't sign up to sites or offers that require money but seem suspicious without searching for example, and it should apply to joining a new community or learning a new coding language as well.

If your just getting into some of these free tools and teaching yourself how to use them off the web, you will probably have alot of questions and want to join the forums to ask them. Always make sure to read, then read some more. If the sites have a wiki, go through it. Always read and search the forums to get a feel for how things are done there before asking questions that people will just tell you to search for after you wait sometimes hours or days for that answer. Go through the forums and just read, look at what other people have asked, check out their examples if they have posted them, search for things that you want to make or understand a bit better, just spend some time getting used to how things work so you can get going faster and know what to expect when your ready.

If your really ready to post, a question or just showing off for some feedback, make sure to pay attention to the site rules. When posting images, don't make them huge. They shouldn't be stretching out the forums or comments sections, big single color backgrounds with tiny objects just waste space, etc, just use your heads here and use your photo editor of choice to make them look a bit nicer. Keep that same thing in mind when making your forum avatar or signatures, try to update and keep your images nice, there are plenty of free tools to make them look cool so use them.

Search for video tutorials, getting into some of the art programs learning 3d or level design, if you can find some good videos it can help alot. Not only are most of them tutorials for something, but just seeing someones work flow can help if your learning alone. With the rise of video hosting sites like YouTube, making new videos and hosting them is easier than ever, so there are usually atleast a few videos around to help you understand whatever it is your getting into.

There are also alot of tutorials for making things, using tools that you may not have or use, that will also help you while using whatever tool you do choose. Just because its a Photoshop tutorial, doesn't mean you cant learn some new techniques for another tool like GiMP. Some of the 3d art tutorials can be used but alot of times they have specific ways of making things so you will probably just end up watching how someone makes things, which can still help beginners understand basic game design.

Once you begin getting into some coding, whatever type of engine you use, there is usually a search function on your text editor that is a great way to learn how things work. You may understand the basic layout of how code works, and how to use variables, functions, whatever the code or script type your using is, but there will almost always be some functions and things set up already that you don't understand, and by searching through the source you can figure out how its used in other files or what it inherits from them faster.

Searching can be the best tool for almost anything you want to do on the net, and even within many of the tools you will or do use everyday. Just try to look around a bit before asking questions, leave a good impression on the first try whenever possible and don't forget to be specific when searching or asking questions.