Yes most of the graphic work can be complex. Maya is a 3D program and is pretty advanced. 3DS Max is the most well known but I prefer Cinema 4D. 3D design is really hard and its extremely difficult to make good quality models or even things that resemble what your trying to create. As well as that you need to be proficient in photoshop and several other programs to make textures. After that you put everything together using a programming language. I suggest getting Blitz 3D for that because its the easiest around. Making even a small game will take months if you are learning everything. If you really want to make games be prepared to spend a lot of cash because most of the programs are designed for professionals and cost a lot. If you still think you can pull it off here is a list of programs I suggest to start with:
Blitz 3D
Cinema 4D
Photoshop
Terragen (get the free version unless you need to make huge landscapes)
Some sortof texture uinwrapper (free strubi unwrapper comes to mind.
http://www.elysiun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1197&highlight=&sid=19607fa61a70fd 38691493142e581da2 (google strubi unwrapper if the link is broken))
That should be enough to start you off but to see if you have what it takes/need everything you should download the trial version of blitz 3d and go to
www.turbosquid.com and search for some free pre-textured models to work with.