Hey all, After having a read through this forum, I've got some questions. Whilst I'm not new to programming, game coding is a completely different ball game. Basically, I read through the article about the path to take as a games programmer and I'd really like to have a bash at making a Tetris clone. However, a few things are holding me back. Firstly, implementing the graphics side of the game is my biggest hurdle. I've looked at OpenGL and DirectX (got the SDK's installed etc.), but I don't know which to use. I thought that for a game like this, I'd be most likely to use software rendering, but having read a bit more, I think that I've not got a strong definition as to what software rendering actually is. I think it's just down to using a platform specific API (like winAPI) to produce all of the graphics, but I'm not 100% certain. Could someone clarify for me please? Leading on from this, depending on which graphics technology you think I should use, where should I start? I've had a look through the NeHe tutorials, but they're a bit vague for my liking (I like knowing what every little detail does, so that I can manipulate it to my liking... preference I suppose ). Ah and one last thing. Can anyone recommend a good mathematics site? I was pretty good at maths at school, but to be perfectly honest, it's been 7 years since I've left and I've never needed what was taught (up 'til now that is), so there's a lot I need to re-learn. Sorry if these questions have been answered a thousand times over. I did have a look through, but I couldn't find the answers that I was looking for. Thanks in advance, --hellz [edited by - hellz on May 2, 2003 4:42:03 PM]

As for using the Windows API, obviously you''ll need to use it when programming for windows, but for graphics, I wouldn''t. After all, you wouldn''t use it for a more complex game, so why bother with it at all? Just use this opportunity to do something simple with DirectX or OpenGL and start learning those.

Ah thanks guys. So, let''s say I went with OpenGL to start out with. Would I use for example, DirectSound and DirectInput for the sound and input respectively?

Mmm, getting that feeling of wanting to code...

Cheers again,

--hellz

Programming for the X-Box? :D Steady on! :D That would be great though. I''ve not thought that far ahead to be perfectly honest. I''d just like to get Tetris under my belt first and steadily progress along the line until I can get to grips with something I''d enjoy more; most notably, FPS games.

Obviously, that''s going to take a while, so I guess for now, it''ll probably just be developing for Windows. I''d like to have a bash at developing a game on *nix at some point, just for some extra experience.

Thanks for the info, though (John Carmack is a god! lol).

--hellz