I'd liek to learn C++

I'm planning to get sufficient knowledge regarding c++ so I can get into the video game industry. Problem is, I'm finishing university at a very different field which is not even remotely connected to anything vidja. I'm looking for books to learn from, and I'd like to ask people's aid in my quest.

Why C++? I do not want to spend years studying others for basics. I have a good understanding and I'm pretty logical in mind. I figured I'd have to change to C++ anyways, so why not starting with it? Any recommendations?

Also, do you think there are possibilities for programmers without highschool and university degrees? I'd finish some quck half-year power courses, but I'd work it out from books and with the help of friends, mainly.

REALITY CHECK

What makes you think you want to be in the industry, programming games in Sepples? Let me see if I have this right. You have: no expertise in computer graphics, no expertise in physics simulation, no expertise in audio programming, no AI expertise, and no general programming experience? What in the world leads you to believe you would enjoy doing any of these things, much less makes you want to delve into the astoundingly painful world of Sepples before learning about what you'd actually be doing?

REALITY CHECK

Let's approach this from another angle. What part of the game making process are you most interested in? If it's the creative aspects, grunt programmers don't do that. If you want to be a game artist or a mapper, do that, and don't get side-tracked into programming.

If you want to be a game designer, then you'll have to program your own games to get experience and prove your skills, but you certainly don't have to lower yourself to working in Sepples on a personal project.

Only if you want to write the graphics, physics, sound, or AI code* for a commercial game will you have to dirty your mind with Sepples. And even then you've got a lot of studying to do to actually be useful in the field. You can get started with anything other than Sepples.

You said, "I figured I'd have to change to C++ anyways, so why not starting with it?" This is because you don't know Sepples yet. If you did, you'd understand why you want to avoid it as much as possible. A wise person would pick a language like Lisp and use it to find out if they even like writing graphics/ai/whatever code. If they do, then they can begin the Sepples grind. Your average smartish person would pick a generally good language like Python and do the same. You'll have to pick up Sepples eventually if it turns out you do enjoy programming game guts, but using Sepples to find that out is like using a drill press to find out if you like anal stimulation.

_{* Not an exhaustive list.}