I have Visual C++ 5. It is what my cousin gave me and I don''t really have lots of money so I don''t want to waste money on getting a new version if I don''t have to. What I want to know is why does everything say you need VC++6 to compile everything. I just got Game Programming All In One in the mail and it turns out I can''t use VC++ 5 to compile for it ''cause it says the minimum requirement is VC++6. Can someone tell me why and if it really is worth the upgrade because The Nebula Device also says to compile with VC++6. I don''t really have to worry for right now because I have a learning edition of VC++6 that came packaged with this Visual C++ book I bought. But with this version of the compiler I am not legally allowed to distribute my program and I would like to be able to post my first game on my website. Bleu Shift - www.bleushift.tk

The only problem any of those book examples would have is if they include Visual C project or workspace files on CD. Visual C 5 can't read VC6 project files. Otherwise, any code written in VC6 or for VC6 will almost certainly work in VC5. So if you're keying code in from a book, you're all set. If you are trying to use examples from CD, you'll have to make your own VC5 project and add the .c/.cpp files to it manually.

However! Be warned that VC5 is quite buggy. It tends to crash a lot, especially if you're using the GUI builder part of it (so save frequently). It's been known to generate faulty compiled code too, although those cases are pretty rare unless you're an advanced coder and doing advanced things so you shouldn't have to worry about that. Still, I would recommend you get the Service Pack if you have fast internet (it's a big download).

Download the service pack from here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/downloads/updates/sp/vs97/default.asp

- Air
- http://www.hour13.com

[edited by - Air on August 27, 2002 12:04:30 AM]