hi, unlike most of the guys here i am a complete beginner and would like to be a game programmer (like everyone else here)!! this is where the problem starts :- i have absolutely no idea as to where to go from here. as of now im learning c & c++ thru a book (by herbert schildt) and am targetting windows as my platform to develop games on. till date i had been using the turbo c++ compiler but have outgrown it now specially due to its limits and constrictions. and the borland free compiler that i did try did not have an editor making life not one bit easy?? I mean could anyone plz help me out in like what books to read and which compiler to get (price is not a problem)!! i thought of programming in DOS and then move on to windows but will that be a good step or will i be just wasting my time caus i wanted to get the basics clear.. all other game development boards have turned nothing but just flak and so i decided to post my query here.. any suggestions ???

1. FORGET ABOUT DOS. It`s year 2002 now.
2. Get Micro$oft Visual C++
3. Go for DirectX or OpenGL. As for openGL you can find many tutorials online (e.g. NeHe) and a Red Book can be downloaded online. Unfortunately OpenGL isn`t very common today between proffesional developers. So you better learn DirectX. As for differencies, look up the threads OpenGL vs DirectX and you`ll get plethora info.
4. Get "Programming Role playing games in DirectX" book from Amazon.
5. Always search the forum with any problem you have before posting it here.

Good luck

quote: Original post by VladR
3. Go for DirectX or OpenGL. As for openGL you can find many tutorials online (e.g. NeHe) and a Red Book can be downloaded online. Unfortunately OpenGL isn`t very common today between proffesional developers. So you better learn DirectX. As for differencies, look up the threads OpenGL vs DirectX and you`ll get plethora info.

Heard of Quake3 recently?? Ever heard of Doom3??
Atleast I would call mr Carmack a proffesional.. and he isn't alone (but the most well know I think)

Naah... enought ranting

Go for OpenGL, or DirectX.. Don't make the mistake to try to learn both API;s at once Personally, I like GL better, but the best way is to not give a damn about what others say and stick to the API which you prefer. Read up about both of them, and mess around with some of the source-code that's available for downloading.

DirectX is so much more than graphics - it also includes DirectPlay, DirectInput, DirectSound, DirectShow and DirectMoneyIntoUncleBillsWallet and at the first it might look a bit scary.

OpenGL is just a graphics API, designed to help the programmer render 3D graphics, so atleast I found it least scary. You will have to dig into DirectX anyway, but not that deep by far. Don't take my word for it, cause I'm little more than a newbie myself, but atleast I'm trying to help

Also, try out UltraEdit or Dev C++. UltraEdit costs $35 and DevC++ is for free. I think that you might be bale to set up UltraEdit to support your BC++ compiler.

Another great site for learning windows programming is WinProg and for OpenGl we have NeHe and for DirecX NeXe.

Good luck

EDIT - Links should work now

Wannabe

#ifdef CODER
#undef SOCIAL_LIFE
#undef FAMILY
#endif //CODER


[edited by - Rickmeister on March 15, 2002 11:52:08 AM]

Go for DirectX

I would recommend you learn DirectDraw if you''re a beginner.
Start with 2D and then move on the 3D.

DirectX is easy and widely supported. And you''ll get input, audio and all that without any major problems.

Belive me, DirectX is what you should learn. And I really recommend DirectDraw, start with 2D as I said.

/MindWipe

(And please no "you can do 2D in OGL" BS)

"If it doesn''t fit, force it; if it breaks, it needed replacement anyway."

Here to dispel the myths of OpenGL...

Why does everyone without any experience with OpenGL bash it? OpenGL, for those who don''t know, is every bit as powerful and easier to learn than Direct3D. You obviously don''t know what you''re talking about by parallelling DirectX, the collection of APIs which includes input, sound, etc, with OpenGL, whic is only a graphics API.

Hate to "rant" or "BS," but you can do 2D stuff in OpenGL. Now, due to the fact that DirectGraphics no longer includes DirectDraw, you have no justification to promote DirectGraphics over OpenGL.

Lay off,
ZE.

//email me.//zealouselixir software.//msdn.//n00biez.//
miscellaneous links

[if you have a link proposal, email me.]

Well... you''re right. But you can still use DirectDraw and there will still be games on the market using it one or two years forward atleast.

I prefer sticking to DX with gfx, audio and input.

But ofcourse you could use OGL and DX audio and input

"If it doesn''t fit, force it; if it breaks, it needed replacement anyway."

Where the heck did my post go? I responded to this last night and now my post is gone. Huh.

Oh well,

If you are truly as new as you say, you might even wanna pick up a bit of Java to learn the basics of programming structure and type checking, etc. Java is easier to learn than C/C++ because it hides a LOT of the trickier stuff away from you - just remeber that you will probly want to move to C/C++ eventually though.

DO NOT TURN THIS INTO AN OGL vs DX FLAME WAR!

When you do get to Windows and C/C++ programming, browse the tutorials and pick an API. It makes NO difference which one you use. If you plan to stick to the Windows platform, they are both EQUALLY valid graphics libraries.

Hope this helps,
Landsknecht



[edited by - landsknecht on March 15, 2002 6:08:52 PM]

Take a look at SDL multiplatform and easier than directx, Suports OpenGL, once you are ready for some 3d action.

Good luck

I''d just like to put an end to this; This is what I''ve heard from many people who know both DX and OGL -

1. OGL is a little bit easier to learn than DX
2. DX is a little bit easier to use than OGL
3. DX is a little bit faster than OGL
4. OGL works on more than one platform

All of these differences are minute (even the more than one platform thing, because 95% of gamers use Windows).
So, in my mind, one is just as good as the other. If you know one, then stick with it, unless you want to learn both. If you want to program games, then you should probably learn both. Which one you learn first is up to you.

"I''ve learned something today: It doesn''t matter if you''re white, or if you''re black...the only color that really matters is green"
-Peter Griffin

Hello,

I am a beginner, and do plan to program in windows, but in my opinion, if your a complete beginner, you should learn SOME dos programming. Very basic dos programming of course. From what i''ve read, these people are telling you to just jump into windows programming, but i''m probbaly miss interpereting their posts, and I apoligize if I am wrong.

Anyway,

Hope this helps,
Kyle

¬_¬