Easier to start with: OpenGL or DirectX?
Author
I DON''T want to start out a flame war on which is BETTER... but I would like to get people''s opinions on which is EASIER to learn for someone just starting out in game programming.
My background:
I''m fairly familiar with C/C++ and object oriented programming. I know other languages such as Java, Perl, etc.
learn whichever.
but first....
do a seach on forums for this topic. it''s been discussed a billion times before.
-me
but first....
do a seach on forums for this topic. it''s been discussed a billion times before.
-me
Author
Thanks guys... I''ll look into OpenGL more tonight (and look for the other posts).
Quick responses!!!
Quick responses!!!
Simple.
Go to NeHe and look at his tutorials. Play around, modify some things here and there, see if you like the coding style.
Get the DXSDK, look at the tutorials. They cover initialization, colored triangle, transformations, lighting, and mesh loading. Play with these ones. Alternatively, there are tutorials at www.andypike.com.
Stick with whichever tutorials are easier to follow.
Go to NeHe and look at his tutorials. Play around, modify some things here and there, see if you like the coding style.
Get the DXSDK, look at the tutorials. They cover initialization, colored triangle, transformations, lighting, and mesh loading. Play with these ones. Alternatively, there are tutorials at www.andypike.com.
Stick with whichever tutorials are easier to follow.
Hey,
OpenGL would have to be the easier I would suggest. The main reason is that when you FIRST begin you can simply call built-in functions to do things like create windows and keyboard/mouse handlers. This way you don''t have to start worrying about all the message handling to get some basic graphics up on the screen.
Apart from this though both are very similar and it is purely your own preference. Have a look at some examples of bigger programs and see which style of code you prefer. I personally steer clear of as much COM as I can, and DirectX is full of it!!!
Doolwind
OpenGL would have to be the easier I would suggest. The main reason is that when you FIRST begin you can simply call built-in functions to do things like create windows and keyboard/mouse handlers. This way you don''t have to start worrying about all the message handling to get some basic graphics up on the screen.
Apart from this though both are very similar and it is purely your own preference. Have a look at some examples of bigger programs and see which style of code you prefer. I personally steer clear of as much COM as I can, and DirectX is full of it!!!
Doolwind
I will give you my standard "its not the API" answer. The hard part of 3D programming is learning all the details of the rendering pipeline and the attendant math. If you can master that, learning either API is simple in comparision. If you know one you can learn the other in a weekend.
Or you can try both APIs over the weekend. There are a set of tutorials available on MSDN:
Direct3D 8 Tutorials
Direct3D 8 Tutorials
I''d go for OpenGL but that''s just because NeHe has such a great site with great tutorials in it. The examples and tuts in the DXSDK just don''t make as much sense an NeHe does...
Sander Maréchal
[Lone Wolves Production][Articles][E-mail]
Sander Maréchal
[Lone Wolves Production][Articles][E-mail]
Just read The Article and make up your own mind. These weekly OpenGL vs. DirectX threads are a waste of bandwidth.
BTW: Easier is a just a subset of Better, you''ll still get heavily opinionate responses.
BTW: Easier is a just a subset of Better, you''ll still get heavily opinionate responses.
quote:From the For Beginner Faq
For starters you DO NOT post questions like this (which has been done to death) and expect to get any kind of advice that is going to sway you one way over the other. Would you go to your local Super Mall and ask on a loud speaker what type of person you should date? Second only to prOn there is no other waste of bandwidth than these types of threads. What ever you do, nothing good can come from ??? vs ??? threads. period.
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