Hi! i'd like to make a game using directX, not necessarily in 3D, but with multiplayer support via LAN or internet. now, i'd like to know where to start. i got intermediate skills in C++, delphi and basic, and i'd like to use C++/C# as this is the most common language and i need it for my studies, so it would be a good training to code a game in that language. now i got some questions on where to start: 1. which would be better for a quite simple game: visual studio 6.0 oder visual studio .net? i have no experience at all with the .net environment/language. can a program be easily ported from c++ to .net? 2. i never used the win32 API directly, is it necessary/usefl for me to understand how it works and to use it? 3. i read some of the tutrials here, but i didn't find any on how to make a working multiplayer game or how to create, manipulate and draw objects in 3D space. can someone help me out? 4. which additional libraries or programs do i need to use directX in a c++ program? are they included with the directx sdk?

1) Both are good, I use VC++ 6 but I hear it's a bit out of date now. I'll be transferring to .NET soon.

2) If you want to make windows games you need to have at least a basic understanding of Win32.

3) Look up Direct3D and DirectPlay.

4) All libraries you need are included in the SDK, no worries there.

Quote:Original post by Whoooo
i'd like to make a game using directX, not necessarily in 3D, but with multiplayer support via LAN or internet. now, i'd like to know where to start. i got intermediate skills in C++, delphi and basic, and i'd like to use C++/C# as this is the most common language and i need it for my studies, so it would be a good training to code a game in that language. now i got some questions on where to start:

I have to ask, what does "intermediate skills" mean exactly? :)
Some people use that to describe "I've read half of this C++ book", and to others it means "I've used C++ at work for the last 3 years". You might be trying to do too much too soon.
Anyway, assuming you're actually ready for something like this, you have a lot of reading to do. Networking means you have to read up on sockets, which is a pain to work with. DirectX takes some getting used to too. In both cases, Google for tutorials, and see how far they get you.

1. 6.0 is an ancient, obsolete and buggy pile of junk that should never have been released. [wink]. Use VC.NET if at all possible. If that's not an option, use something like Dev-C++, which is free, and much better than 6.0.
Keep in mind that all of them support C++, so there's nothing that needs to be ported (other than 6.0 is rather buggy and not very standards-compliant, so anything you write there will be a pain to get working with a "real" compiler.

2. Depends. Someone is bound to suggest you use SDL, which also means you don't need mess with Win32, but personally, I think it's helpful to learn the basics of the Win32 API. If you don't use SDL, you'll probably have to set up your window and stuff yourself, and then you need the basics of Win32 at least.

3. [google] :)

4. The DirectX libraries. :)
And yeah, they're included in the SDK.

thanks for your posts, i slowly get the idea of what to do first. to my skills: i started programming in basic and pascal over 10 years ago, didn't use all of the languages functions, but i think i understand all the basics of programming. i started using c++ when i went to college, i use it for 2 years now and have written several programs, so i know how to use objects - the next big thing is to get used to the windows api functions, they are new to me. my college has an msdnaa license, so i can get almost all programs released by microsoft in the last 5 years, plus all the free software available. think i'll give .net a try first, if i dont like or understand it, i can still switch back to 6.0. then i'll start readin a bit.. then some more. i want to have a playable version on christmas, with about 10 hours of work/preparation per week. hope this will work.

Quote:6.0 is an ancient, obsolete and buggy pile of junk that should never have been released

That is simply not true. 6.0 is an ancient, obsolete and buggy pile of junk that had to be released to prevent mass suicide of the software engineering community that was using 5.

You could try Visual C++ 2005, which is free too if money is an issue.

Quote:Original post by dxFoo
You could try Visual C++ 2005, which is free too if money is an issue.

If you do that you'll have to remember to download the windows Platform SDK though, because VC 2005 doesn't come with the Win32 API.