quote:Original post by Ashleywlee
Also would it be easier to get maybe a few people to help on graphics? Please reply.

Short answer: no.

Long answer: not until you are a more experienced developer, otherwise you''ll just create a huge, horrible, ugly mess.

8. Time
9. Time
10. Time

...you forgot those Learning to program, not to mention making games, takes quite a bit of time. oh, yeah don''t forget this:

11. Effort

quote:Original post by RandomTask
Blender, as mentioned before, is a FREE modeler that works superbly well in linux.

Works superbly well in Windows too.

quote:The compilers for the GNU/Linux OS are completely FREE as well (gcc and g++.)

Available for Windows too (MingW32).

quote:The openGL libraries are FREE (MesaGL.)

They''re provided with your video card''s drivers and don''t require the hassle of configuring DRI.

quote:There are FREE API''s such as SDL (Simple Direct Layer) which will handle sound, graphics, timers, semaphores, windowing basics, etc. These are GOOD packages that work great. SDL can be used with OpenGL.

SDL is crossplatform, which means - you guessed it - it works superbly under Windows too, though I know you know this (you state this near the end of your post).

quote:There are "make" utilities like automake that make installation of your program simple and easy which are of course FREE as well.

MingW32, again.

quote:There are several source code editors that are likewise, free.

And Windows user can try Dev-C++ (check that URL), which is also - you guessed it - free.

quote:If you set up a linux box you can then set up the same machine as a source code repository using the FREE CVS (concurrent versioning system) software.

There''s also CVS for Windows.

I''m not trying to shoot you down, though. I support and enthuse over Linux (I prefer not to use the GNU prefix; no offense), but I also recognize that Linux is a fairly complicated system and most likely a bad introductory development platform for the contemporary beginner. It''s fine at college levels or for people who have prior technical experience, but for someone trying to get to grips with compiler technology - not a good idea (remember that you have to compile almost everything under Linux, which occasionally means tweaking and/or debugging.)

So I''d advise go with Windows and freely available software, and then when you know what you''re doing commit to the costly tools.

A 3D modeler can be used for both making (plotting and texturing) models (which you can use directly) or for rendering them to 2D images (and/or movies).

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

As Oluseyi said there are free compilers for Window's, and they are MinGW, Cygwin, Dev C++(Which is really an IDE for MinGW or Cygwin), and you can also download Borland's command line compiler for free. I sure that these aren't all of them, but they are the main ones. One word or caution when choosing graphics though, while MinGW and Dev C++ do support a certain library of Direct X, they do have problems for time to time, but in my experiance OpenGL works fine. I think Borland work works fine with both as long as you have the right libraries. I'm not sure about Cygwin though, but I'd guess at least OpenGL would work fine. I'm not say OpenGL is best, I personally favor Direct X, but OpenGL has shown to work with free compilers best. Except for just a couple of things Dev C++ can be a great replacement for MSVC++

One more thing, just for your none 3D graphics, I would recomed GIMP. The Linux version is quite stable, and although the Windows version isn't technically labeled as stable, it usually works fine under most circumstances. The worst is has done to me is froze up a couple times, and that was more due to my machine being a bit aged.

Edited by - brandon6684 on October 10, 2001 6:58:25 PM