bubbaray97

I'm not sure what 'relative path' and 'full path' mean;

Full path would be somethign like   c:\games\bob\cool\image.png

Relative path would be something like   cool\image.png  or ..\cool\image.png

So one question is in your code where you are loading resources which method are you using?

I'm assuming relative path so you need to make sure your .exe is in the right place to "find" the resources by following the "path" laid out in the code.

Well....according to the author for that tutorial here is what he says....

Introductory C++ programming is outside of the scope of this text. That being said, I have been very careful not to include any topics that would not have been taught in any introductory C++ course (or that could not be easily learnable from a few internet tutorials). If you’re not sure if you have the required knowledge, see the side bar.
<Note: Topics that are generally used in this text are: variables, functions, structs, and arrays. If I hit upon any topics outside of this list, I will briefly describe it in a side bar (like this one) and give you information on where to go to learn more.>

That being said he does pretty much type everything out for you...the problem is if you don't understand the language, I don't know that you would really LEARN what is going on.    Of course if everytime he mentions something you don't understand you go and look that term up, try it out, etc...then it may be a great jump start.

Honestly though like Servant of the Lord said...you have to learn a language before you can write anything.    If you're really concerned about your skill level with the language take a look at the first couple of videos on the site.   if they don't make any sense you need to go back and spend more time learning the basics of the language before you proceed.

Hey Toshi....I'm also using Allegro 5 for my current project.    I ended up creating a LoadScreen class which is capable of presenting a screen of messages to let the user know the status of the load.   Like Milcho I disable input while this screen is up.   Now I don't have a progress bar, but it wouldn't be too hard to add based on the way I've put this together.    The key would be knowing ahead of time how many things you are going to load, which in my current setup I don't know.
 
To give you an idea...
Loadscreen class is really simple...

class LoadScreen
{
public:
    LoadScreen();
    ~LoadScreen(void);
    void Destroy();
    void AddMessage(std::string);
    void Display(float);
    void ClearMessages();

private:
    ALLEGRO_BITMAP *LSimage;
    std::string messageQueue[5];
};

Then as I'm looping through loading all my graphics, entities, etc.   I call this inside the loops...

    LoadingScreen->AddMessage(Message);
    if(g_DebugLevel==0)
        LoadingScreen->Display(0);
    else
        LoadingScreen->Display(0.5);
    al_flip_display();
    al_clear_to_color(al_map_rgb(0,0,0));

LoadingScreen is just an instance of LoadScreen.

Message is a std::string of whatever I want to update the user about

The float that gets passed into Display() is a "pause time" the artificially slows down the display so you can read the messages.

(and yes I know this isn't the best code in the world....this is an area of my product thats on the eventual refactor list...but it works for now)

I'm not a professional game programmer, so take that into consideration.    But I've been a hobbiest for years.    I tend to agree with the folks who say C++ given its widespread use if your goal is really to use this exercise as a jump into the professional world.   Given you claim some basic knowledge of C++ might be the best place to start anyway.

Now for me, I spent a ton of time reading/learning/coding in all the various versions of DirectX over the years (again I'm just a hobbiest and only cared about playing on "my" machine).    Recently though I switched to Allegro since it has the option of being multi-platform and what not.    I'm not sure any "real" commerical game uses it, but it suits my purposes just fine.   I bring this up because __SKYe mentioned Allegro above.     Its easy to use, wraps around both DirectX and OpenGL.    Just one thing to take off the list if you will while you are learning game programming itself and getting better with C++.

If you do want to go the C++ with Allegro route....I recommend http://fixbyproximity.com/2d-game-development-course/ as a great kick-off.     These videos take you through how to use Allegro for a 2D game pretty well (and there is a follow up course that makes it more OO).

Anyway thats my 2 cents