A friend of mine told me that to get into game programming I had to learn DOS/16-bit C++. Then he told me I had to learn DirectX. I can already see I''m going to have to learn 2 things in order to get 1 thing done...an isometic game. I have already done the C/C++ basic knowledge part...variables, functions, classes, etc. Now I want to get into DirectX. I need some guidance as to learning DirectX without the need of buying anything. I know most of you think that since I have a computer why shouldn''t I be able to buy a book. That indeed is true but my parents are very conservative about their money and I can only get things of absolute importance. That includes books. I want to learn this stuff now and maybe make a FREE complete tutorial for people like me that really want to learn but just dont have the resources to do it. -Lilfu Gaming is a way of life...a gift given from God to bring joy to the 70s and beyond...

There''s tutorials on this site, look under the programming reference and find a tutorial there. About the book, have you asked your parents? If you consider a job in game development later on, a book like that could be of absolute importance to you. If you do somehow manage to get some money for a book, get one by André LaMothe (Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus is a good one), but if you can''t, find a tutorial on this site. Also check the links section to see if you can find some tutorials somewhere else. Sorry if that wasn''t much help, but a book usually is the best way to go. If your friend knows about game programming, perhaps you could get him/her to help you learn? Or you can ask to borrow one of their books (if they have any).

Skip 16bit programming in DOS, it isn''t worth the effort as it isn''t required any longer. Learn the Win32 API (and/or another OS''s API if you feel like it ). You can learn alot of the basics about the Win32 API at winprog.org. THEN, once you''re done, learn DirectX (see the SDK for examples) or OpenGL (see nehe.gamedev.net/opengl.asp for examples).

[Resist Windows XP''s Invasive Production Activation Technology!]