About Allegro
Author
Hi!
I could like to ask a question about those who have used
allergo before...does what one learn in allergo useful
when it comes to the world of windows programming, like
DirectX and OpenGL?
And also, are there any good allegro sites for beginners
worth visting? (I looked through an entire webring of
allegro site and could not find much frequently updated
allegro for beginners site).
Thanks in advance.
I assume the Allegro you''re talking about it the Dos one. I once heard of a Windows port but I don''t know if it ever came to fruition.
My advice:
Forget it. Mostly it would be a waste of time. The functions call don''t apply to any DirectX or OpenGL concepts.
You''re better off to trudge through the modern APIs or find a wrapper for them.
Good Luck!
MaXPoly
My advice:
Forget it. Mostly it would be a waste of time. The functions call don''t apply to any DirectX or OpenGL concepts.
You''re better off to trudge through the modern APIs or find a wrapper for them.
Good Luck!
MaXPoly
Using Allegro will not help you with OGL, DirectX, or Windows. It hides the API from you. However, the current work-in-progress which will soon be version 4.0 is now multi-platform. It supports Dos, Windows(9x & NT), BeOS, Unix based systems (Linux, Solaris) and maybe in the future the Mac as well.
I can say nothing bad about it.
I can say nothing bad about it.
Sorry, but I disagree 
A beginner in game programming can learn a lot of interesting stuff about DirectX/OpenGL with Allegro. For someone who knows only a bit about C/C++ and graphics, it could be too difficult to try first DirectX and OpenGL... but not Allegro. I''ve learned all the bitmaps, blitting, double buffering and basic 3D stuff with it, and I''m not sure I would have succesfully understood DirectX without this "intermediate step". Of course Allegro won''t help with the specific concepts of Windows programming, but for a young beginner who can''t afford a compiler like VC++, DJGPP+Allegro is a great free opportunity for learning.
A beginner in game programming can learn a lot of interesting stuff about DirectX/OpenGL with Allegro. For someone who knows only a bit about C/C++ and graphics, it could be too difficult to try first DirectX and OpenGL... but not Allegro. I''ve learned all the bitmaps, blitting, double buffering and basic 3D stuff with it, and I''m not sure I would have succesfully understood DirectX without this "intermediate step". Of course Allegro won''t help with the specific concepts of Windows programming, but for a young beginner who can''t afford a compiler like VC++, DJGPP+Allegro is a great free opportunity for learning.
I agree with Crousto, starting with Allegro is great, but you should move on to DirectX and Windows programming after a while. If you want to get a game programming job, DirectX is the way to go
I recommend that you create a couple of _small_ games with Allegro (Pong, Pacman, Asteroids, Tetris for example) and when you''ve learned the basics, move on to DirectX and Windows.
/. Muzzafarath
I recommend that you create a couple of _small_ games with Allegro (Pong, Pacman, Asteroids, Tetris for example) and when you''ve learned the basics, move on to DirectX and Windows.
/. Muzzafarath
Well sure, Allegro will help you with the concepts of double buffering & blitting, but that''s general graphics stuff that applies to any platform. As far as actually learning the APIs (DX & OGL) how does it help? It doesn''t. Everything is hidden inside the Allegro initialization routines. There''s no need to make any API calls at all.
Studying the source might help with DX, but Allegro''s is a bit confusing and one would be better off looking at the DX SDK examples.
Studying the source might help with DX, but Allegro''s is a bit confusing and one would be better off looking at the DX SDK examples.
Well I can say from experince that I wished I never had touched allegro. It is a great library for dos(Im not to sure on the windows version so far.)But it can be a real pain when you try an learn directx. I myself experinced the effect to a lesser degree and I know a friend that complians about it all the time. The effect being that allegro provides all your bitmap,datafile,rotation,ect ,and when you move to directx you have to try an fiqure out and make theese functions your self. It can be a big dismotivater. I mean I personaly love directx over allegro now that ive spent a few years programming it and learning it ,but in the beginning I to was kinda wanting to run back to allegro. So nowadays I would say just start with directx and windows ,and forget allegro unless you want to get spoiled in some ways I guess.
I agree with Crousto..... If you want to get familiar with game programming try Allegro first. Then after you know the concepts of game programming or you''re in the point that allegro is too easy for you, now you can switch to DX or OGL. For me allegro is a good introduction to game programming. It will help....
What it boils down to Allegro is a game programming library, the purpose of which is not to teach DirectX or any other API, but to allow faster game development.
So if you don''t want to write your own graphics, sound, music, input and bitmap loading routines and would rather focus on game code, then use a lib like Allegro. Otherwise, use DX and do it yourself.
So if you don''t want to write your own graphics, sound, music, input and bitmap loading routines and would rather focus on game code, then use a lib like Allegro. Otherwise, use DX and do it yourself.
I agree Allegro is much simpler (in fact higher level) than DX/OGL, but for a beginner in games programming, the real demoralizing choice would be to learn DirectX first... If you know someone who began programming with DirectX and fully understand it, he''s really a genious! I guess the right choice for a beginner would be to try DirectX first, and if he doesn''t understand it, try Allegro and go back to DirectX as soon as possible.
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