I've been writing fun little dinky games for a few years now. I've been using Visual C++ 6.0 and OpenGL. I've even gotten passably good at it. Then, suddenly, I looked up and noticed that no one seemed to be writing Windows games this way anymore. It seems like people have moved on to .NET. The thing that struck me, though, is how much infrastructure you seem to need to install just to run a .NET game. So I've resisted. On the other hand, the unassisted, pure, bare-bones Windows API is kind of obnoxious. There's a lot to keep track of, and a big advantage of .NET seems to be that it takes care of a good amount of the obnoxious stuff for you. So, the question: If I were brand new, with no experience writing games whatsoever, where would you have suggested I start? (Let's assume the hypothetical me has non-game-related programming experience.) Is there a good reason for me to move on, learn the new stuff? Would it improve the output I get? Should I just hunker down and learn C#? Is anyone actually writing Windows games in C++ anymore? Or am I just being silly?

Yes, lots of people are still writting windows games in C++.


EDIT: Although, if you do continue with C++, I suggest you upgrade to Visual C++ Express Edition. From what I know, Visual C++ 6.0 is old now. VC++EE is free.


Chad.

I have Express Edition, but I'm not using it much because I can't for the life of me find the Resource Editor.

Why don't you just try it out sometime, there's a free C# express and all that. Since you have experience you'll probably be able to pick it up easily. I have been using C++ for a some time and now migrated to D, and it made me have a lot more fun programming. That's all I care about. Note I haven't actually used C# so I shouldn't give any recommendations, but from some snippet's I've seen and whatnot I gather it is rather sweet. Just get some taste of it.

in fact, everyone is still using C++...

very few have moved to C# and most of the professional game developers are sticking to C++...

I've learned C# only becuz i had to (university credits shit), and I personally didn't like it.. I prefer C++ syntax.
Besides .NET needs a huge framework to run, let's stay away from faster or slower arguments.

I agree on the express edition thing...

I also suggest you get VS.NET 2003 ... from what I heard , if you don't write managed code your programs will not be dependant on the .NET framework, which means you can write plain old C++ programs, and get them compiled better..
im not sure of that though... better ask someone more into IDE

Quote:Original post by memento_mori
in fact, everyone is still using C++...

very few have moved to C# and most of the professional game developers are sticking to C++...

There are a lot of people writing games with C++, C, C#, Delphi, Python and many other languages. It's too drastic to say that "everyone" is using C++.
Note, that i don't know this for sure, but from what i've heard on these forums - a lot of professional developers are using C# for their tools.

Quote:Original post by memento_mori
I agree on the express edition thing...

I also suggest you get VS.NET 2003 ... from what I heard , if you don't write managed code your programs will not be dependant on the .NET framework, which means you can write plain old C++ programs, and get them compiled better..
im not sure of that though... better ask someone more into IDE

If you don't write managed code - it won't be dependant on the .NET framework. This is true for all Visual C++ .NET versions (be it 2002, 2003 or 2005).

Quote:It's too drastic to say that "everyone" is using C++.

i know.. I didn't mean "everyone" as in absoultely everyone... i was making an exageration because he said "I looked up and noticed that no one seemed to be writing Windows games this way anymore." which is also an exageration...

Quote:Note, that i don't know this for sure, but from what i've heard on these forums - a lot of professional developers are using C# for their tools.

i think the main reason is that microsoft ported their .NET framework and support for C# to XBOX ... they're trying to make C# more popular.. that's the only reason why I would consider C#... but of course thats just me, everyone will have his own opinion

Is there anything that C# can do that C++ can't do?