I've been learning ANSI/ISO C++ for the last 10 months or so using 2 books, C++: A Beginner's Guide(Herbert Schildt), and Deitel's C++: How to Program. I was using 2 books instead of one because Herbert Schildt's book explained things in a simple way so I could understand it quickly and easily, but doesn't really give good examples to learn from; while Deitel's book has pretty awesome examples but explains things too hard =/ Now that I'm done reading both and made a lot of console applications of my own using the knowledge that I've gained from those books, I want to move on. As of the moment, I can only program console applications, and I want to move on to games programming. I've searched a lot for a good online tutorial for DirectX 9.0, but I can find none that are good. From what I've gathered, I need to know a bit of Windows programming to start developing DirectX applications. I've looked for books on Windows programming, but I can find none here. I tried to look at the sourcecodes of the example/sample applications included with the DirectX SDK, but it was too complicated to understand. My questions are: 1. Does anyone know any decent DirectX 9.0 online tutorials? 2. Do I need to learn some Windows programming before I start games programming in C++? Thanks in advance.

Quote:Original post by NMX
2. Do I need to learn some Windows programming before I start games programming in C++?

If you are going to do anything other than console games the short answer is yes.

However, there are alternatives out there. I use SDL. It makes getting started with graphics easy - it'll handle the directx stuff for you (it also is crossplatform, meaning you can use it on linux, macs, and others).

If you decide to go the SDL route, look at some of the tutorials at the SDL site to get started.

Quote:Original post by Will F
However, there are alternatives out there. I use SDL. It makes getting started with graphics easy - it'll handle the directx stuff for you (it also is crossplatform, meaning you can use it on linux, macs, and others).

Just so you don't get any misconceptions, SDL_Video (the grahpics part of SDL) is 2D based, where as Direct3d (DX 9.0's graphics part) is 2D. Fortunately for you, you can use Direct3D with SDL! Here's an article that tells you how to do that:
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/programming/features/dx9sdl/

Quote:Original post by Oberon_Command

Just so you don't get any misconceptions, SDL_Video (the grahpics part of SDL) is 2D based, where as Direct3d (DX 9.0's graphics part) is 2D. Fortunately for you, you can use Direct3D with SDL! Here's an article that tells you how to do that:

You can also easily use OpenGL with SDL, here are some tutorials.

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate your help =)