Ok, I will go to make a simple game. I have a C++ compiler (wxDev-C++), a 3D graphics generator (Autodesk 3ds Max), a 2D graphics and textures generator (Adobe Photoshop), and a sound editor (Adobe Audition).

I have two questions: These are all the tools that I need? and How can I use OpenGL to develop the game?.

Thanks and greetings.

Yes thoose are all the tools you need except that wxDev-C++ is not a compiler but an IDE. It probably uses mingw as standard. But yeah that IDE is pretty outdated you should use codeblocks or really just visual studio. Btw codeblocks works perfectly with mingw and the visual studio compiler(forgot its name shortcut i think msvc). And like the others said start with some simple 2d stuff and make sure to use a premade graphics framework it makes stuff simple to start and later you probably won't even start coding a graphics system from scratch bc it doesn't make any sense at all when all you want to do is making a game.
I case you really have to play around with some 3d stuff even in your first project and you are really as confident in c++ as you state try using irrlicht( http://irrlicht.sf.net ) its a really simple grahics api that as well supports input.

[quote name='ApochPiQ' timestamp='1311315142' post='4838793']You cannot develop for the PS2 without ... break[ing] the law

That's just wrong information, and overly dramatic, sorry.
Sony released an official PS2 linux distro, that came with an official PS2 HDD, which allowed you to develop and run your own software.

With PS2 Linux [software and add-on hardware], a user can program his/her own games that will work under PS2 Linux, but not on an unmodified PlayStation 2. Free open source code for games are available for download from PS2 Linux support sites. There is little difference between PS2 Linux and the Linux software used on the more expensive system ("Tool", DTL-T10000) used by professional licenced PlayStation game programmers. Some amateur-created games are submitted to a competition such as the Independent Games Festival's annual competition. It is possible for an amateur to sell games or software that he/she develops using PS2 Linux, with certain restrictions detailed in the End User License Agreement.[/quote]That seems pretty legit to me.

Even if they didn't release their own official linux distro (which they did), there's nothing intrinsically illegal about installing your own 3rd party linux distro (unless you break some anti-copy-circumvention law, etc, in doing so, which you don't have to in this case).
[/quote]
Not only that but it's not inherently against the law to write homebrew using publicly available toolchains. It's a different matter if you compiled said code through the use of official pirated toolchains, but those aren't the only means to compile binaries.

That depends entirely on who makes those toolchains available. If they are not endorsed by the owners of the relevant technologies, then the DMCA kicks in, and things quickly get to a point where I (and, I would guess, you also) lack the legal training to safely make any statements.

To wit: if, say, Microsoft releases a free XNA-based development pipeline for the Xbox 360, fair game. If LulzSec releases an Objective-C based development pipeline for the Wii, hire an attorney before you even think about downloading that toolkit (at least in the USA).




[size="1"]Disclaimer: I'm sure someone is going to jump on this and insist that I just said that third-party tools are illegal. Read carefully; I'm saying that without extensive legal training in intellectual property legislation, making definitive statements about the legality (or illegality) of any such tools is thoroughly irresponsible.

You would certainly need to be cautious using a hypothetical toolchain created by a group like LulzSec since you could easily believe that they stole official toolchain elements to create it. Even with the DMCA, we as a people have been publicly reverse engineering consoles and creating a number of toolchains over the years. To my knowledge, no console manufactures have ever attempted to shut down such a toolchain project (or go after any developers who use them). It should be common sense that you can't use any classified official documentation or official toolchain elements, though, and that using any of it would put you in a dangerous place.

There is even precedence in the courts that rule in favor of homebrew (Sega used to try to squash unlicensed games from being sold by using the necessary "Developed or Licensed by Sega" line games on the Genesis and Dreamcast needed to show in order to load, and even that was deemed fair use in order to access the machine). Further than that, if anyone remembers Bleem! and the legal battle they had with Sony while the PS1 was still commercially viable. The courts held up that reverse engineering the console such that an emulator could be written and sold (and directly compete with Sony's PS1) was legal. Granted Bleem! went bankrupt after the battle, it was still a legal victory.

I think mod chips and similar apparatus are where these companies start to get worried. When you start enabling the hardware to bypass security measures in order to run code generated with the toolchains (and by association, things like piracy start to become feasible), things start getting grim, and the DMCA starts rearing its ugly head. This sort of functionality is outside the scope of my views.