I suggest posting the question with the programmers on http://www.gamedev.org . You can look into the link for Jeff Tunnell on ‘Cool Sierra Links’ above. He has created the torque engine. KQIX has been using that engine and there is a link to them as well.
You can look into ‘Code4fun’ and game developement on the microsoft web page. They have a series using DirectX and I think C# or Visual Basic. It is a 3D tank game.
Maya (expensive), OpenGL, Macromedia Flash…
The above Are NOT suggestions based on experience. I only wish I could get into game developement so I have been looking around. Good luck on your project. Maybe we will see you back to create an old Sierra style game.