I had a great idea for a basic 2D game. I already knew how to program in C++. But after 2 painful months, I only managed to CreateSurfaceFromFile (my backgound) and CreateTextureFromFile (my sprite). Ive gone through all the tutorials and pricey books. So im thinking about throwing in the towel. Or should I give OpenGL ago? (easier) - I''m only looking to 2D games

Quitting the whole idea of Game Development of just the game you were working on?

Quitting game development.
If OpenGL is easier to use than Directx 8 and compatible for 2d games, I might give
it one last chance

why don tyou take a look at DirectDraw, easy to learn in 2 weeks if ya work hard

Hang in there, if you want to do 2d game in DX* I''d recommend lookin into the LPD3DXSPRITE class, there''s a few tutorials in the articles section about it. It''s a very easy class to use to quickly load and display 2d images in DX8. Other than that just keep on plugging away, you''ll find that one day it just all kind of clicks together and you can''t believe how hard it used to be.

Try SDL...it''s a really great, easy to start up with and program library. libSDL

--SuperRoy

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OpenGL is the shiznit. But if you really only want 2d for some reason, SDL(www.libsdl.org) is a lot easier than directx IMO. Also, it works with opengl if you ever decide to go 3d. I suggest you look into that before just giving up. OpenGL does work for 2d stuff, though, if you want to do that. (You just use 2 of the 3 dimensions.) And OpenGL is also easier than directx.

That would be an idiot move to quit after just having trouble for the first time. There are plenty of alternatives than DirectX 8 if you're having THAT much trouble. DX8 isn't that hard, it just takes time and a good wrapper. But anyways, if you're doing 2D work check out:

SDL 1 | 2 | 3 - i recommend it highly because it's easy to use for now

DDraw - a lil tougher to learn and use but faster.

Allegro 1 | 2 - never seriously used it but looking from pixelate's articles, there seems to be a fairly large community of it and it looks easy to use also.

OpenGL 1 | 2 - i wouldn't recommend this before you try the others to start out because there isn't much difference between it and DirectX 8.

CDX would be a helpful wrapper. Also (hehe advertizing i know) check you my Simple Multimedia Engine (SME) at my site (see sig). There's a pretty large documentation on how to use it also and hopefully it would be able to get you started. Anyways, at least give them a try.

---
Brent Gunning | My Site

[edited by - RapidStunna on October 14, 2002 5:46:18 PM]

Don''t worry steve, I''m in the same boat with you. But, there is something inside of me that won''t let me quit. I just keep searching the net and reading whatever articles I can find hopeing maybe it will all come together one day. I also have been reading Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus and am still confused, haha. I am really a fast learner when it comes to just about anything, but this has really got me. Maybe thats why I haven''t given up yet, because is a challenge, and I love challenges. I''ll be overjoyed with moving a bitmap around the screen using the arrow keys! TOTWGPG shows so many ways of doing things, I can''t put it all together! Bah!

I don''t think you will find OpenGL to be any easier than DirectX8. I think you are giving up too easy. Maybe take a break or try approaching the project from a different angle.

If all you want is 2D then try straight Windows programming. You can do full screen and just do bitblt and putpixel or something. That''s where I started.