Quote: Original post by Jedimace
My dad is buying me Expressions, and I'll actually have a graphics creation program other than default Flash. And it includes WPF, for creating games, which hopefully will solve my problem here with the bad site design (and I know it was bad), and my problem with creating 3D games. It looks so easy compared to OpenGL or DX10!

WPF is a WinForms replacement; it is not made for, nor is it good for, games. Even when using Silverlight, it's not going to replace actual graphics code. It's "easier", but it is also not a replacement for DirectX or OpenGL. Furthermore, Blend lets you work with WPF, but you still have to code everything; that's why it comes with Visual Studio.

(Side note: using DirectX10 is a great way to limit the people who might play your game to Vista. Given the enormous installed base of XP, I think that DirectX9 will remain in use for a very long time.)

Quote: Plus the fact that it comes with a what you see4 is what you get interface, I can probably do better with the site part,

WYSIWYG tools aren't very good. You're better off learning HTML and CSS directly. I use Dreamweaver mostly because its CSS IntelliSense is very good and I don't have to remember all the attributes, but relying on them to actually generate your working code...probably not a good idea.

Quote: and using Blend partially so I can still have ads and use a program to interact with my site called Expressions Blend.

Silverlight has the exact same problems as Flash. It's still embedded in an HTML page, still can't scroll (while you can code--emphasis on code--scrollable portions, as an embedded chunk your browser won't let you scroll up and down while it has focus), and still has the same problems with presenting a good user interface. Silverlight also has a much, much smaller installed base than Flash. None of these attributes are a win for you. You're better off with HTML/CSS and maybe using Flash or Silverlight to accent your site, with proper fallbacks for people who don't have either installed.

It's also not Google-searchable, which won't be a problem as you don't currently have anything for people to search for, but if you do in the future it will be considerably harder for anyone to find you because your PageRank will be in the toilet. While ads are a bad idea for a "corporate" website, they also won't even get seen on an all-Flash site because nobody will visit, unless you have a ton of other people linking to you to make up for the fact that GoogleBot thinks your page is basically empty.

Quote: And I can make awesome shiny buttons. I love shiny things = )

[rolleyes]

I rarely do this, because most of the time I trust everyone, but I'm gonna use it any way. If it is possible, I'm doing it. And I'm sure it is. I even have the ability to make my own collision detection for 3D, since I get the concept. I can make my own bounding boxes, spheres, and cylinders before, and can do it again. And, that's all I need. After collision detection, they have everything else. And, my dad is actually willing to buy it for me. That's definitely a major contributing factor. And look at IronPython too, that can be used with it. Anyway, I think my problem has been solved with Project Wonderful, so unless someone wants to talk about actually getting their ad up, I think I've pretty much gotten what I want out of this. Thank you all for your responses and time.

And I know HTML, PHP, CSS and all that good stuff. I know I could do it, but I've pretty much given up on what I CAN do, and look for what's EASIEST to do. That's been my recent thinking, and it's turned out well so far, and whenever something goes far, I stick with it until it fails me. I have traveled a long road to find a program, and now, I just stop. I even believe what you say, but, no offense, I really just don't care.

Quote: Original post by Jedimace
And I know HTML, PHP, CSS and all that good stuff. I know I could do it, but I've pretty much given up on what I CAN do, and look for what's EASIEST to do. That's been my recent thinking, and it's turned out well so far, and whenever something goes far, I stick with it until it fails me. I have traveled a long road to find a program, and now, I just stop. I even believe what you say, but, no offense, I really just don't care.

I think you should listen to the man, he knows what he's talking about.

Now, I don't mean to attack you and I hope that you don't take the following personally. But I think that you don't know what you're doing. All of the Flash is unnecessary. If you know HTML and CSS like you say you do, then you should be relying on that for the layout of your page, not Flash. It's not what it's for.

You also shouldn't worry about software until you've got some more experience building websites. Get some practice, read some style guides (which will reiterate what I've said about the Flash), and offer up some ad space when the real estate is actually available.

Yes, I know all of that. Never heard of the design thing though, I'll check it out. I took a class on all that stuff and practice, and your probably right, I don't know what I'm doing, but, as a hobbyist, that isn't my main concern. I keep having fun one of the main things to keep in the back of my mind when searching for what I'm looking for. I know I could, but I just don't. If I wanted to, I could, probably, but I don't. That site, if you read the text, was really just there temporarily, I really didn't care if anyone saw it because I don't have anything to give. For now, I just want people to know it's there and sort of get into the feeling for it. If I really wanted a good 3D game, I could finish learning OpenGL and make a game. I wasn't that far from doing it. And it really is this stuff that keeps my going. My ultimate goal, is, again, to have fun. (And let my friends have time to ease into 3D, this is really a good start, even though you couldn't create a full game, or I guess you could, don't know how it'd turn out, I want to try it). Well, thanks for telling me what's right for when this is all over.

Ok, I guess you guys get a partial win. I'll be using OpenGL and Silverlight to make games. That is good, then, since I can do 2D in Slverlight, maybe a little 3d, and the rest in OpenGL. That sounds good. Also, anyone know where I can find a program to switch a Windows executable to a Linux/Mac executable, and a way to make installers for Linux/Mac. Thanks.