I have a good grasp of alot of the C++ concepts. I''m about 2/3 through one book. All the way through another, simpler book. And have done most of the practice programs without problems. I still have to reference back to the books to see what functions I need and such. I have noticed though it does not explain what I need to use to build games. Is there something I''m missing? Is there more to read? Are my C++ books merely for programing applications and not complete enough to teach me games? I Have along ways to go I know, but what do I need to read along with C++ to get started. I''ve been playing with a 2D game creator. It is pretty neat, but not teaching me anything I need to know and has limited options. I have been reading somewhat into python and understand python has an add-on to allow for game building, is this so with C++. Any help on this would be great. Thanks.

To make games with C++ (as with Python) you need a libary that you can use to draw stuff on screen. SDL is a nice API that will allow you to do 2D graphics Allegro is another one, which is slightly more high level. If you want to do 3D stuff (though I''d recomend playing with 2D first so you can see how games are structured before trying to learn the concepts of 3D graphics) you''ll have to use either OpenGL or Direct3D, they can both do the same stuff, it''s just a matter of which you you prefer.

Thanks for the reply''s. The main reason I would like a book is i''m often at work and could read during my down time. And I get a headache staring at a screen, it''s also alot easier if i get to one point and have to flip back. I do most of my learning from "ebooks" though. It''s just good for me to have a hard copy. Thanks again for the advice. I''ll continue reading what i''ve got and practicing writing code. I just skipped ahead and didn''t see C++ explaining to me how to develp anything close to a game. Guess I''ll have to keep reading and practicing. Thank you. Also When I goto best buy there is a boxed program called make your own 3D video games from scratch. I haven''t ever picked it up, but I''m wondering if it is an engine or if it teaches language. Any ideas? Any programs I can toy with while learning? Thanks again guys. These boards rock.

Well, I''m still learning myself, but my recommendations would be http://nehe.gamedev.net (OpenGL only) has good commented source, and is usually easily compilable. There is http://nexe.gamedev.net for DirectX, but I don''t know how good of a resource that is. There is also http://www.gametutorials.com, which is suggested by a number of people. It goes over a lot of subjects, from OpenGL to DirectX, to networking, et al.

But, I''m like you. I''d prefer a book. I''m currently reading Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus (http://www.gamedev.net/columns/books/bookdetails.asp?productid=208). I don''t know how good of a resource it is (just started a week ago) but, it has gotten pretty good reviews (but, it''s good to know C++ before you read this book, which you say you do). The Game Programming Gems series are claimed to be good (don''t have any of them myself but, they seem to be more advanced). Go to http://www.gamedev.net/columns/books/ to look through the books reviewed here. And the articles are always useful.

Good luck.