is it easier to make it fullscreen, and make my own buttons/if(click in this area) then you clicked this button. or is it easier to learn windoze programming and learn how to put buttons on windows and drop down menus and child windows? also, if i make my render class separate from the game, i can just render that to a child window right?

It''s easier by far to use the Win32 API. For all its shortcomings, it is an order of magnitude simpler than writing your own GUI.


Don''t listen to me. I''ve had too much coffee.

Sneftel is right.

<begin personal advice>
Learn MFC and the SDI and MDI structures.

It''s also helpful if you design your engine''s data importing/exporting to be able to use outside of the engine. For instance, I simply include the same File and system data classes (both Singleton patterns) I use in the engine in any tools I build.

For the SDI or MDI saving mechanisms, I simply have a script that saves or loads all the needed files for the project I''m working on.

The singleton pattern aids in the tool bars'' ability to access and modify the system data.

I include methods to export binary file formats to XML for tweaking inside any of the hundreds of Free XML editors.

Final note: Try to make everything as Object Orientated as possible and look into Singleton patterns.
</end personal advice>

-James