newbie looking for help Thread

Hey I am completely new to all of this and am looking for some direction. I know nothing about programming etc...I am however a graphic designer and work with computers all the time. I am curious, do I need to learn a programming language? If so which one is recommended? I have read about compilers and what appear to be 3D modeling programs etc... what ones are best and user friendly. Any help would be awsome. I think this looks like a really fun hobby and Im impressed by some of the stuff in the user made mod areas and would like to try my hand at it.

Of course, QuakeC and python are great "starter" languages, and mods for more popular games (HL2) happen to use C++ (ew) or their own scripting language (Farcry's lua, ut2004's unrealscript, etc). As for 3d programs, it depends on preference, however if you don't want to spend money, go for Blender. There's also Wings3D, but it's very limited

When it comes to 3d modelling programs, I've found that Gmax is a lot more user-friendly than people make it out to be, and it supports a great deal of different formats with the right plugins, unlike Blender, which tends to be limited to what game formats can be exported to as far as I'm aware.
For early coding practice, I recommend starting with soft architecture such as ini based modding or Bf2 text file tweaking, then moving on to lower-difficulty coded games such as the Quake series.