Howde-doodlie-day!

Hello, I'm pretty new here, thought I would just introduce myself quickly, wouldn't mind getting to know the team behind some of this ogre stuff!
I'm a C# programmer from Windows, who has been toying with the idea of games programming for a few years now, and am contemplating taking a plunge sometime soon.
I have skills in photo-realistic texture generation, some light 3D-Modeling skills (about enough to make some decent place-holder graphics is about all though), I have composed a few tracks of audio - though only one which I thought was decent (others tell me I have composed a few great tracks - but I am fairly critical of them), I know SQL - but still need to reference some of the commands over the net, and even bought the Ogre book by Gregory Junker.
Anyhow, after investigating the potential of making a commercial game on the indie department, I was left laughing a wry laugh, as I could see competition in that field was pretty steep. I know I could swing together a great game over time, but given time, I feel that the indie scene will have also moved ahead, and have found myself opting for a more open sourced alternative (makes me feel better too to know that my project will no longer be constrained by NDAs and overzealous paranoia in general).
I have been modding games for several years now, and during the course of these few years have learnt a variety of computer programming langauges, from C64 Basic and Assembly Code through to C# and even a smattering of python.
I am taking a big step at the moment, and lurching away from windows completely, I have toyed with Linux for about half as long as I have been modding, and have decided to use it as my platform, the other considerable leap of faith I am making is leaving C# - which I am more fluent with and heading over to Python. I am not really doing this to enhance my final product - far from it, my initial goal is to produce a rough plan of the game I want to make, complete with the aforementioned placeholder graphics, a rich database, and a general set of rules of play, something which I would only describe only as a plan, rather than a final product, and I have chosen Ogre and Python as my medium to do it.
I have no real question to ask which I'm sure haven't been asked before, but would happily listen to advice from people more familiar with the platform (I'd really like to work with Linux, I quite like the architecture of the system), I am prepared for the long and arduous road of getting a project together, and know the there is a lot of solo work to be done before enough interest is generated to establish a team, more I am seeking advice as to what kind of things will be useful on my journey, I am aware of blender and of gimp, both of which I have used in the past (gimp to this present day, the price tag really does blow Photoshop out of the water ). I know of a few tools that I have seen that are great for generating various sounds (best of which are some of my favorite VST plugins) - but the thing is - I am always looking to expand on the tools dept. *me guesses that I am diverging a little off-topic now*
Ogre looks ideal from my viewport, it seems sophisticated enough to do what I am after, though I have only mucked around with it in C#, I am looking forward to the challenges of the Python variant.
I live on a pension which is only about $16500 a year, I am fairly well setup - pay very low rent, and get away with fairly cheap groceries and next to no bills, so the majority of the income I get goes into my hobbies (which at the moment include nothing but this project - and a bit of gaming).
I am from the east coast of Australia, mostly mind my own business, and stay with a small close knit band of friends and family that seems diminish with every passing year, my online life though is full of incredible people who really light the way at times, I have been offered several part-time employment positions but have had to turn most of them down due to an illness I suffer, one which ever seems to be on the improve, but unfortunately not one I think I will recover from in this life time. I have a shade of philosophy most of which is home grown. It is something people might find a little cocky, yet others seem to enjoy it in the light sided aspect I dish it out in, it rarely targets individuals, and more is a play on words that breaks the molds which I find people occasionally slip into when they spend long periods of time concentrating on particular topics with little break for other fairly interesting toys of logic (and oddly enough - at times the illogical, which often seems more logical to people than the blatant logic).
I really love getting down and dirty with people on IRC, but often end up on peoples hate lists, in particular with the more serious never have a joke kind of people - which to be honest scares the hell out of me.
Anyhow - I got a feeling I'm going to be lurking around here for a while - as Ogre is a hot topic for me at the moment, and has been for quite a few months/years now, hence this long intro - looking forward to some replies from other lurkers and even some of the staff here.
Nice to meet you

**EDIT**
Where would I find a good PyOgre project that I could latch onto for the purpose of learning the nuances I wonder?

Hello! Welcome to the community.

For some reason, reading your introduction got me to think of how we, as a group of developers, let our pride get in the way of a lot of things, including the decision to not open up our personal issues to the community-- under the guise of professionalism.

Although I have absolutely no problem with that, I guess it's refreshing to learn that some people have just as many issues in life as I do. I have a feeling that being an open source developer can be difficult at times; I know that at least one relationship I tried turned sour because that particular individual wanted just as much time from me as I spent at my keyboard... And considering that all I do these days is programming, I can seriously say that a relationship was lost due to code. I don't think there's a shader for love.

Developing is addictive, though, it's like wielding power; you're always wanting more. I used to play games a fair bit, but gradually, over the years, I transitioned over from playing games to making games. I honestly get more fun out of coding than I ever did out of games.

Also, a note about my activities here on Python-Ogre... I've gradually-- after several false starts and grand ambitions-- come to the realization that I really should avoid anything I can't do by myself. It's an important decision to make, and it's worth noting that it's working out so far. My confidence as a programmer has improved, and it turns out my documentation has gotten much better as I've put my head and hands into the code. This doesn't mean I shun the community... It's just nice knowing I don't need to rely on someone else in order to implement my vision.

Thus, for the time being, I'm going to steer clear of 3D graphics for now, and focus on a project that is more sensible.

So, in short, buddy, you're not alone, and in some ways you're better off this way. Even though it's obvious you've had difficulties with relationships in the past, it's pretty clear you've made your choice. I made mine; for now, I will focus on what I love to do, rather than leaving my love in someone else's hands.

-- after several false starts and grand ambitions-- it is so annoying - but this is why I say that I am preparing for the plunge soon, to be honest - at the moment I am a long way from being ready to undertake a full long-term project in a foreign OS, combined with a language I am not overly familiar with.

I have made some great tools using C# on windows - I'm not overly certain why I want to come to linux - I mentioned in my previous post I think the architecture is great - I think it more conducive to open source - and there is just some element about the profit making ethics of windows versus the it was nothing attitude of linux that turns my head. Over the past 20 odd years which I have spent mostly infront of computers - there have been ups and downs in my learning - sometimes I have run into logger heads with myself - been unable to grasp simple concepts like OOP - that took me forever (about 3 years) just to realize it was something so damn simple - and I always look at it as time wasted playing games rather than being constructive - something that I too find much more entertaining than actually playing the finished product.

I also know about the sticking to a solo project - I have tried to muster up teams in the past - I even got a few people who really tried to help - but in the end - without a clear goal in place - the project quickly went hay-wired. I differ slightly from your very noble desire to work on your own steam through-out the entire process - in as much that I will desire other people to join in at some point in the future - but I know that is not the answer in itself. Starting a project like what I intend to do will require lots of solo effort - till I have something like a solid framework that can't get smashed to the ground when other ideas hit it - I agree with you though - and am aiming for something I can do alone - especially if I find difficulties in gathering that interest at a later time - I refuse to let that crush a project I have been working on for months/years.

Thanks for the reply, and looking forward to seeing you about

I also know about the sticking to a solo project - I have tried to muster up teams in the past - I even got a few people who really tried to help - but in the end - without a clear goal in place - the project quickly went hay-wired. I differ slightly from your very noble desire to work on your own steam through-out the entire process - in as much that I will desire other people to join in at some point in the future - but I know that is not the answer in itself. Starting a project like what I intend to do will require lots of solo effort - till I have something like a solid framework that can't get smashed to the ground when other ideas hit it - I agree with you though - and am aiming for something I can do alone - especially if I find difficulties in gathering that interest at a later time - I refuse to let that crush a project I have been working on for months/years.

That's actually my exact thinking-- If I do enough work on this project, it will pay off in many ways; I know what I'm doing, I build my confidence, but also, as I work, I'll gradually gain the attention of the community and hopefully things will snowball from there. I would never refuse outside help, it's just that I wouldn't ask people to do things that I cannot.

Also, if you want, you mentioned you liked to tear it up in IRC. We have an IRC channel on FreeNode; #python-ogre. Hit me up there, if you like.