Can some one please help me? Thread

I've just finished all my Gcse's and would like to start designing a game or doing some modelling, the only thing is i dont know where to start can any one help me and give me some pointers or some information maybe even some programs to download to do moddelling. Any information would help becasue eventually i would want to try and join a group in making a mod. cheers for the help

Coding:
Depends which game, here is the first c++ tutorial i found though: Cplusplus.com

Modeling:
Milkshape3d.com <-- Cheap and easy to use. Hasn't got the features other tools do, but I recommend it.
Blender3d.org <-- This is probably the best program. It's free and can do all the things professional tools can do. However, it's harder to use than milkshape and the interface is very confusing at first.
Www4.discreet.com <-- What the professionals use. I assume most modders get it ilegally as it is so expensive.
Alias.com <-- Another professional tool, dunno how good it is.

Mapping:
Depends which game.

Skinning/2d art/texture art:
Requires photoshop/paint shop pro skills. Can't help you much with that.

Hope this was helpful.

For the two modeling programs above, 3dsmax and Maya, there are PLE's (personal learning editions) that are completely free - Gmax and Maya PLE. They don't have as many features as the fully-paid ones, but you can still produce low-polygonal, high-quality models without much headache.

Also, read the stickies at the top of the forum pages. They tend to help.

I looked at the c++ stuff but don't know what program they are using can you tell me what it is and where i can get it from?