Well first off, the thing you need to understand from the start is that you wont learn how to program in a week.
It will take time, but slowly you can start to build up your knowlage of how the code works and then start to make some of your own simple programs.
The best was i can think of is this..
first off download the tutorial avalible at the top of this forum page, its got a few simple tutorials but more improtantly, it has got all the COMMAND WORDS with breife explination of what each one dose.
Now read though those tutorials that come with it, if you dont understand it all thast fine, just get it into your head first.
Now gather togeather a few of those demo prograsm that come packaged with Dark Basic, like the raceing game or the Ice game.
Open them up in DB so you can see the code, print out the code onto paper (do this with as many demo prograsm that you have or can find)
Now, start a new blank project. Choose one of the print off's for one of the programs and type it in, line by line, word by word. And at the end of each line, look up each of the COMMAND WORDS in that line, in the tutorial file you downloaded and read what those commands are doing.
I know it sounds pointless typeing in code that is allready been written, but you will never learn anything just stareing at 10 pages of code. you learn better by doding, and you will absorbe more of you are acctually typeing it yourself.
When you have finished, do another one, and another untill you have done them all. (dont have to do them all in the same day, streach it out over time)
By the time you have finished them all, you would have started to get an understanding on how the code works, what the COMMAND WORDS are doing and will be ready to start somhting of your own.
Start a new project, and create a 3D world. Make a matrix, texture it, add spome simple primertive objects like cubes, sphears and plains etc to make up some kind of world with walls and simple cone trees etc. (you would have learned how to do this typeing those programs in)
Now have one of those objects (could be a simple cube) and have that as your main character, now try and make it controlerble by the keyboard (ask help in here if you get stuck) and make it so you canmove that object around the world with the keyboard and the camera will follow it.
Next make that character shoot a missle (could use a simple sphear) you need to place the sphear object beside the character and move it forwards fast when the user presses the fire key. Again, ask for help in here how to do that if you get stuck.
Then add the ability to add to a score if you shoot certain objects
when you have done that, make those objecst that your shooting at move about randomly.
Then make them randomly shoot back at your character.
Always you can fine help on each stage here.
What you are doing is not waisting time makeing special graphics sounds and models, or waisting a month writeing out some complex game idea you may have. You are builing up a simple game (as lame as it will be) and learning new techniques and ways to program all the time.
In the end you will have a controlerble charater that can fire and get points for hitting various things, these things move about on there own and will somtimes shoot back. The basic building blocks for most 3D games.
You can expand on this as much as you like and then finally you will ahve the knowlage and confidance to start again on a proper game idea, will decent modles etc. But becasue you took time out to learn first, you will actually be able to compleat your project.
Programing is never instant to learn, you need a bit of practice and paceints, there is no REAL quick track way to learn. If you try and cut corners, you will ned up with 50 projects that NEVER get finished becasue you just dont know how to and you try to do too much too soon.
Good luck, it is alot of fun when you get to grips with it.
