Quote:Original post by DigitalDelusion
* a horrible inconsistent API
* some weird ass gui system
* pak-files
* crap OGL support
... that's about it from my experience ;)

Allegro was a godsend in the early days what then happened I don't know I simply refuse to touch the thing and use SDL that is lean clean and consistent.

Just my personal oppinion though.

* the API, while inconsistent, has much better documentation than SDL's.
* never used the GUI system, so I don't know.
* PAK-Files are nice, but whatever.
* Allegro has no built-in OpenGL support; you have to use AllegroGL. I have no idea how AllegroGL has "crap" OGL support, so if you would like to elaborate on that, please do so.

I used to use Allegro, but now use SDL. Allegro has a much better community (I'm sorry SDL devs, mailing lists suck) and is easier to get into. Regardless, as far as the graphics portions of these two APIs go, they're both equally sucky unless you use OpenGL.

Quote:Original post by Meagermanx
I wanted to try Allegro, but like 95% of people who try to install it, I couldn't figure it out.

I think you have that reversed... you must be in the 5% of people who can't read really straight forward documentation. =P

Windows probably has the most difficult Allegro installation, but really, how hard is it to set two environment variables and then run "make" and "make install."

...as opposed to SDL on Windows, where you have to juggle burning chainsaws while balancing on a bowling ball (install a terminal emulation layer like MSYS or Cygwin).

I like both libraries. Allegro has a much better community and much better documentation, while SDL seems to have a more consistent, leaner API that isn't as bogged down by legacy code.

As for me, I mainly use SDL but hang around and ask any questions I have at the Allegro.cc forums. Irony.

It took me days to install Allegro too, but once I figured out how to do it it never takes me more than 2-3 minutes, depending on the computer's speed. I installed Allegro around 15 times since on different computers.

To install it under Windows, you're going to have to take a radical step: read the README file. After that basically you need to set two enviroment variables (as AP said before me) and type "make" and "make install" in the command prompt. You set the enviroment variables by opening My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Enviroment settings, and you add MINGDIR = C:\Dev-cpp as a new variable, and C:\Dev-cpp\bin to the begining of the Path= variable. You start the command prompt by going to Start Menu -> Run and typing "cmd" in there.

Was MS-DOS really so much years ago? It seems weird to me people that consider themselves programmers, and especially people that write games, don't know how to type a few commands in the console...

Quote:Original post by Rhaal
I've spent the day perusing information on Allegro. I've been using SDL but considered giving Allegro a try as I hear it's a full-fledged game library whereas SDL is a graphics library (with extras, of course).

SDL has more than just graphics you know. In fact, most of it is quite a bit like DirectX (especially the graphics part, very much like DirectDraw), but the worst thing about it is the native sound system. The sound system really sucks unless you use SDL_Mixer. Otherwise, it's just like a simplified DirectX.

allegro rocks, its fast and the code isn't 20 line long initialization like dx is. I have problems learning from game programming all in one 2nd edition, but there are many online tutorials that help better. I had no trouble installing it with dev-c++ its a downloadable pack. thats a free compiler and a free library right there. It works great once you get going. You will see me asking alot of questions about it, but i have only been doing c and c++ for a few months, If you have done it longer than allegro would be great for you, I think.

allegro took me about 2 minutes to install. yes im not exagerating.

Quote:Original post by PnP Bios

Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster

...as opposed to SDL on Windows, where you have to juggle burning chainsaws while balancing on a bowling ball (install a terminal emulation layer like MSYS or Cygwin).

What you talkin 'bout fool?

Sorry, that was assuming that you don't use Visual C++... and I don't see why anyone would.

Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster

Quote:Original post by PnP Bios

Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster

...as opposed to SDL on Windows, where you have to juggle burning chainsaws while balancing on a bowling ball (install a terminal emulation layer like MSYS or Cygwin).

What you talkin 'bout fool?

Sorry, that was assuming that you don't use Visual C++... and I don't see why anyone would.

Are you sure you know what you're talking about? For Windows, the latest iteration of Visual C++ includes a better optimizing compiler and a more feature-rich IDE than any other compiler with IDE out there. On Windows, I don't see why you wouldn't use Visual C++, other than money constraints.

Allegro has much better support for people NOT using VisualC++. Installing SDL for MinGW is a pain.

Start out with Allegro, it's a great way to learn.