Hello again, After my post a little while ago I went and started looking for books to get. Many say that it is easyist to compile in VC++. I have a free compioler that You write the code in the dos editing screen then in the dos window (after your in the right folder) you type "dmc" then the file name for .cpp. Where can I get a copy of VC++ and how much is it? I know that in visual basic the older the copy the cheaper it is. Like now that VB.net is out, VB 6 is pretty cheap and you can get VB 5 almost for free. I have the VB6 Learning edition and I have had it since I have started Visual Basic. Is it the same type of deal with Visual C++? Also, Whats the Difference between .Net and all the other visual basics or C++. Please reply. Thanks.

Ok... VisC++ can get expensive. I bought a package (some educational package... I dunno) anyway, it had Visual C++ 6.0 ''Introductory Edition''. That was around $150-US. However, it came with three books (two online and one... materialistic) a 3D open source engine, 3d editor a a bit of other stuff you don''t really need.
I think for a retail version of the latest, you may be looking at around $200-$300-US. I''m not sure though. That''s from word-of-mouth and we all know the chinese whispers theory. (Chuckle)

"What''s up with today, today?"
Gotta get off the caffine.
Gotta stop changing the signiture. Damn it!

Try Dev-C++ first if you''re are just learning before you spend money. The Win32 IDE is quite good for a free package, though slightly less polished in some areas than VC++. Dev-C++ can be used for console, ISO standard C++, Win32 and DirectX programming. Also check eBay for used or even new copies of Developer Studio if you really want to get it -- you may find a better price.

The current version, Visual C++ .NET, is available in three forms AFAIK. Form one is Visual C++ .NET Standard, which has about everything you need but does not optimize code. That''s a bummer but shouldn''t kill small learning projects. It costs about US$100.

The second and third forms are part of the full-blown versions of Visual Studio .NET, Professional and Enterprise. VSNET Pro is about US$1000, but you can get it for less if you are a student. It''s frustrating that MS doesn''t have a Visual C++ Pro standalone in the US$300 range. (My conspiracy theory guess is that this is MS trying to nudge folks into using C#, or at least have it installed on their systems.)

Thanks
As another addition to this, Whats the console. I have been just useing the Win32 to make dos bassed word bassed rpgs. I have a knolage of like switch case to global and all other variables, arrays, pointers, and a few other basic concepts that I use in my text bassed RPGs. I dont know how to do any animation or pictures and I know some on custom functions like makeing a multiplication function and stuff simmilar. Do I need to learn more before I learn direct x or can I still get the concept. Also, how would I go about makeing a random function. i''ve tryed a few ways but I cant figure it out. Thanks for replying to my bottomless abyss of questions and Im doing my best to try to answer the questions that I might be able to help out with. Thanks again.

DirectX is VERY easy, you are more than ready to move to it

BTW: the random function:

int RandomFunction( int Min, int Max ){   LARGE_INTEGER Time;   QueryPerformanceCounter( &Time );   srand( (UINT)Time.QuadPart );   return (rand()%(Max-Min))+Min;} 

or you might want a simpler function:

int RandomFunction( int Min, int Max ){   srand( (UINT)timeGetTime() );   return (rand()%(Max-Min))+Min;} 

KaMiKaZe