I'd say it's worth it. Although there are there are a good number of advantages to programming in Windows, it's can take awhile to get the hang of. Learning the many nuances of Win32 while making your first game probably won't be a good experienc And besides, you'll probably learn something useful in the process of coding graphics/sound/input stuff instead of having DirectX / OpenGL to the dirty work for you.

The actual Windows code necessary for a game is minimal (a couple of dozen lines). The rest is DirectX/game code. Forget DOS, pick up Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus (contains most of the Dummies book) look at the samples in the DirectX SDK and post any questions. It's not as hard as you think if you can look at things in terms of objects.

DirectX is very easy to learn and it would be well worth the effort to learn it from the beginning. Game Programming For Dummies would be a great book to get, but you may also want a more in-depth one like Inside DirectX (by Microsoft).
Oh, and speaking of Tetris games, I made one (available at the Developers Workshop here) that you can download the source code for if you need some help in getting started in DirectX. It uses DX 6, so it's about as current as you can get.

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- mallen22@concentric.net
- http://members.tripod.com/mxf_entertainment/

ok thank you for the responses.

I think that I'm going to go for it all and get a windows game programming book. If Direct X isn't all that hard to learn than than that's what I'll do. And I'm willing to put A LOT of time in it.

I need some book reccommendations. I'm thinking of "Windows Game Programming for Dummies" as I've mentioned, also "Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus" which i've heard is pretty much the same book. So which one do you guys reccommend. Rember that I will be new to both windows programming and game programming so keep that in mind.

I've also heard "inside Direct X" mentioned.. some more info on that would be appreciated.

Also do any of those books come with a visual c++ 6.0 compiler? Right now I am using a borland 4.52 compiler and I've heard that directx needs a VC 6.0 or better. But i'm not exactly what you would call well informed.

so what do you guys think is best for me?
- Dummies?
- Tricks?
- inside Direct X?
- Others?
- All of them??

Thanks again for the help

[This message has been edited by Brad (edited November 29, 1999).]

IMO, you should definitely go with Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus.
It's the only one I've read, but it's what I learned windows and DirectX from.
The main thing that's hard about windows is the terminology. It's not too bad, really.
That book assumes you know nothing about windows and very little about game programming, and it goes into physics, AI, and all sorts of cool stuff.

The book, Inside DirectX *only* teaches you DirectX. It doesn't go into how to program a game, or even, how to program for windows. You can learn a bit about windows programming from the examples, but a better choice would be tricks of the windows game programming guru's. I hear that it has a lot about programming for windows and how to go about making a game in it.

Directx doesn't require VC++ 6.0, you can write games with it in VBasic if you wanted. But I would suggest you just bite the bullet and purchase a C compiler. Instead of looking for a book that comes with a free one.

Hope this helps, good luck and god speed.

ps. remember... what they show in a book is not nessesarily the best/only/right way to do something, so don't be afraid to go your own way.

I suppose I should've mentioned that Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus comes with an introductory version of VC++ 6.0. The intro version can do most everything that the real version can do, but every program you write pops up a little messagebox saying "This was made with the introductory version" or some annoying thing.
If you can manage to ignore that, then it functions perfectly fine and will compile all examples in the book (so basically anything you'd be worried about for a while).
Then, when you think you've had enough of that messagebox...or when you want tech support, or whatever, you can go buy a full version of VC++ for about $99.
However, when I bought my VC++ it had a rebate of $30 on it (I bought it about 2 weeks ago at CompUSA). So I don't know how long that rebate lasts, but if you get in on it, $70 is great for a compiler. I paid more than that for my DOS Turbo C++ compiler!

"Tricks of the Windows Game Prog. Gurus" is basically an extended version of "Win. Game Prog. for Dummies." It has every thing that the "Dummies" book has plus more. I have "Inside DirectX" but have only opened it a couple of times. "Tricks" explains 2D DirectX pretty well. "Inside DirectX" is a good reference book for DirectX, but not much more.

"Tricks.." comes with an introductory VC++, but you'll want to upgrade to at least the Standard version. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you need VC++ for DirectX. I think you can use a recent version of Borland. Is this right?

Dan

I have never programmed a game before but I am quite proficiant in using C++ and adequate with C in a DOS environment. (that's all i've been taught so far)

Well I've been working like a banshee at learning how to program games I eventually plan to try and make a side scroller (kinda like contra) with 2 of my friends this summer after we make a few simpler games. I am currently going through the old book "Teach YourSelf Game Programming in 21 Days"

My question is this: Is it worth it to go through that book and build up a dos library when it seems like everyone out there is using windows and direct x and making some pretty damn nice games that just blow those "mode 13h" games out of the water?

I don't want to waste my time learning about all of this ancient dos stuff, because I plan on (eventually) moving on to direct x which will allow me to make much better quality games

So should I go out and buy a book such as "Windows Game Programming For Dummies" or something similar that teaches me how to use direct x or will not having used windows before make that book to advanced for me.

Also, is it as easy as it seems to use direct x to make these games cause I have seen some pretty nice games. Even the simple games (like the tetris one I just downloaded) are very impressive to me.

Anyways thanks for reading this... if anyone still is and I appreciate any and all input I get.

You are indeed correct, dlanicek, I used to write DirectX apps in Borland C++ 4.5, with a little fiddling around, so I assume anything better than that can do the same.

Good luck

Starfall