I''m kinda new to graphics programming. I''ve been coding in VB for 6 years, C for 3 years and C++ for about 2. I''ve checked some small scale D3D tutorials and i want to make a program that just loads a map froma binary file, with appropriate tiles and objects, stuff modeled in Maya... and some objects would have basic stuff such as provide some lighting but actually no interaction but camera movement. Do you think I''m aiming too high right now? I think I can pull it if I dont''t do animations and detection collisions stuff... It would basically the base of a base of some basic tile-based turn-based strategy game. Any comments about it? What will be hard? what else would be easy to implement, or is it plain to hard for me ?

It depends, if its 2d, which is implied by tiles, then you should have no problem

if its 3d, then you should have no problem, but remeber, it takes time to do stuff...

You can do it if you take your time and concentrate on one thing at a time,

-do a simple home grown tile engine

-do a tile engine that loads a specific file format.

-do a raw or S3d model loader

-do a more advanced model loader, like Maya.

-You can add lighting inbetween any of these steps....

Just remeber, do it yourself stuff progresses slower than you think will happen, don''t get frustrated, and don''t be afraid to ask for help.

It will be 3d... but still tile-based... imagine the game myth, if you played it, but with tiles and no game heh. But I think I can pull it off and even have some kind of lousy game on it by the end of the summer