nill

• Visual C++ is probably a good choice.
• I would imagine get the latest? DirectX 11
• DirectX is free to use.
• Check this site out, and Google around! http://www.rastertek.com/tutdx11.html

• I can only guess that Visual C++ is the best compiler to be using ?
• Which DirectX would I require and where do I get it ? There are so many different versions it's all confusing, I believe I should be getting a DirectX SDK ? The latest I found linked to something to do with Windows 8, I don't even want to go near Windows 8 or they "Windows store" and whatnot.
• Just to make it clear, DirectX is free for whatever use right ?
• Where would I find an up-to date tutorial, dealing with C++ ? Most are outdated and based on C.

-Visual Studio (Visual C++ Express Edition) is pretty much the best choice

-It depends what you want the game to run on, if you want it to be compatible with Windows XP you have to use directx 9, but if you're fine with it only running on Vista and later, then you can go with 11 (most people by now have vista or beyond, but if it's not a very graphically demanding game I'd still recommend using dx9 just for the added compatibility, you could also write two different versions, but that's a bit of extra work)

Download link for directx sdk: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=6812

Integrating with visual studio: http://takinginitiative.net/2010/07/02/setting-up-the-directx-sdk-with-visual-studio-2010/

-it is absolutely free, for non-profit or commercial games

-as for learning, the sdk itself comes with a bunch of samples and tutorials when you download it, and you can find some more samples most of the information you need on MSDN, this is also a pretty good site that I used in the past (I only used the free parts of it) http://www.directxtutorial.com/

nill

The full 2012 edition of Visual Studio is fine, it's just that the Express editions of whatever version are the free ones, the professional versions are just a limited trial unless you can pay for it or you're a student (see https://www.dreamspark.com/Product/Product.aspx?productid=44 but note that it won't come with a commercial license.)

For the different versions of directx, when Vista and directx 10 came out, the new versions were no longer compatible with Windows XP. So directx 10 or 11 will run on Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, but directx 9 will run on all these plus Windows XP. It's really pretty safe at this point to only do directx 11, unless you're really trying to support older hardware, (I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone who plays games and still has only XP) I'll probably be using dx11 for my next game for what it's worth, but maybe it's worth it to include a dx9 version.

It looks like the Windows 8 SDK at that link also includes the directx SDK, so either one should be fine, I guess that one includes a lot of other features. I'm currently using all XNA and I haven't worked in directx since before Windows 8 came out, so I'm not really up to date, especially on the 11.1 features.

I actually thought the directx tutorial website was ok, but if there's one best source I'd still say it's the DirectX Sample Browser that's installed with the SDK. It has a lot of tutorials and samples, plus gives you working demos that you can run and edit for each of the samples.

Get visual studio express 2012 for desktop. Get the directx sdk june 2010. Maybe check out www.directxtutorial.com some of it is free.

I suggest start learning using directx9.0c. You can start with fixed function or shaders with that version. The main reason I suggest it, is that it has functions for loading .x mesh files. Blender comes with a .x file exporter, you just have to activate it in the settings menu.

You've pretty much got the information you need for the first three questions, but I'd like to add that http://www.rastertek.com/tutindex.html is one of the best resources I've found for a practical approach to learning DirectX11.

nill