[pfristoe]

Has anyone had any experience with this book? I did everything it said to do in chapter one, the tutorial compiled without any errors, but didn't wait for me to press escape to quit the view of a game background. at one point, I got so desperate that I tried running the .exe file that my C++ 5.0 generated. And when I came back into windows, all my Shortcut Icons were squenched up into the upper left corner of the screen.

As you can see, I am new at this...

[Mrafcho001]

You dont want to learn DirectX 7.0. There was some major changes in DirectX 8.0. DirectDraw and Direct3D got merged and a whole bunch of other stuff. THere was also some not as major changes in DirectX 9.0. So you realy want to learn DirectX 9, not 7.0.

[pfristoe]

No, I'm not really learning DirectX 7.0, that's just what is part of the name of the book. I downloaded DirectX 9.0c. I'm using Windows 2000 with Visual C++ 5.0. and have also installed Java. How else can I start learning to program for games? I'm just beginning, and know nothing, give me some pointers here...

This post has been edited by pfristoe: 22 January 2006 - 05:41 PM

[Amadeus]

You can program for games in any number of languages, although C++ using either DirectX (mentioned by Mrafcho001) or OpenGL are the most common. Each has pros and cons (albeit minor in their real difference from each other), so you can choose what you like. Java is good as well, although there are standardly some performance issues in java apps that run in older versions of the runtime environment.

[Mrafcho001]

I see you have a book that teaches you about programming in DirecX 7.0, which is now outdated.

Also, your compiler VC++ 5.0 is quite old, and i recommend that you upgrade to VC++ 6.0 or higher.

You have downloaded DirectX required to play the games. Its just bunch of dlls. You need the DirectX SDK, which has libraries, and header files, that allow you to make games.

[born2c0de]

I think he already has the SDK from the description he's given.
As everyone said, learning DirectX 7 would be useless as DirectX 8 and above have a lot more functions in the API.
Get a Book that Teaches DirectX 9 or at least 8

[pfristoe]

Okay thanks all,
I'll have another look at the library, and see what I can find. And I will also try to see if I can update my compiler. That is expensive though...

[Amadeus]

It is only expensive if you use a compiler like M$ VS or Borland...there are many free C++ compilers available for use.

[Mrafcho001]

The best free compiler i recommend is Dev C++.

I am not sure if it is compatible with directX or but there was times when i use to use it, and it was very good for a free compiler.

[1lacca]

I would suggest checking out the pinned thread in game programming that has a couple of resources about, well: game programming. There are dozens of tutorials on those sites for free using both DX or OpenGL.

[WolfCoder]

Watch out! The versions for independant parts of DirectX are all out of sync. I've been programming for DirectX 8 and all of the variables have different generations. A version 7 surface requires a version 2 surface description struct. I know it's crazy but be careful.

PS, wasn't this supposed to be in the Game Programming forum?