[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]About four years ago when I first got into computers, right away I wanted to get into Game Programming. About a year later I started to self teach myself C++ because I was told it was the most common programming language. I thought I was learning at a pretty good rate but then I realized that if commands, classes and such aren't even half of it and there is a lot more confusing thing that comes along with learning C++. My question is, what do I need to know in C++ to be able to start programming in SDL in making games?[/font]

First, I have to ask: when you first got into computers, do you mean you started programming some basic applications?
Second, although C++ is ONE of the most common programming languages, it is hard to master, or even get started with (from experience). So you could start by trying to make a simple text-based tic-tac-toe game in a different language like VB or C#. I will tell you, when I started programming (in general) also about 4 years ago (and now I am progressing with C++ and SFML), I made my first incomplete (it really doesn't have to be perfect, only playable) tic tac toe game in VB. Of course before that I studied VB well enough, with just a little OOP knowledge (I still don't grasp it fully). Then I moved to C# which resembles C++ in its basic syntax. I mastered that as well, and ported my VB apps into C#. And then, I came to study C++ (self-teaching). Trust me, to get along with C++ you should read one of the starter books. Those REALLY help. You should understand pointers and references pretty well. You need to know arrays and all conditional statements and loops there are from bottom to top. Other than that, get started with a tic-tac-toe game in C++ and SFML (I reccomend it more than SDL as it's C++ based, with C++ source for easy debugging) in a functional way first. Than learn stuff along the way, and convert it to OOP concepts (add classes, different scopes, and so forth...)

Best Regards,
David D.

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My advice to you and the many others who seem to be in similar situation is to do what I did and dive in and start a small game project. I've read countless books and online tutorials on C++ but most of the info doesn't stick in my brain.

So I'm currently learning by making a breakout/Arkanoid style game. When I started I thought I'd make the wall of bricks from a 2-dimensional array. However I quickly found that arrays in C++ are pretty limited, so i went searching for something better. I now know about vectors and am using them in my game.

Similarly, I had no idea how to do file input/output in C++. But I decided to put my level data in an external file and went googling for file input tutorials! It's working well, I can now simply add an extra level to my game by putting some lines of numbers in a text file. I dont even have to alter any program code to incorporate the new level, the program works it out from how many lines it reads

So basically.... learn by doing and researching solutions when you hit obstacles!

Cheers, Renners