Hell is free.

Well, I don''t know about free, but you can probably pick up a copy of MSVC++ 5 for pretty cheap. Thats probably going to be your best bet, since I think DirectX was designed for MSVC. But if you''re serious about programming in DirectX I would definatly look into MSVC 5 or higher.

If you want to go for free, you could try OpenGL. I''m not sure if OpenGL works correctly with Dev-C++ either.

I used Dev-C++ about 2 years ago, it was pretty bad though. Including string.h would cause an invalid page fault, but I''m sure that is resolved since I bitched and bitched and bitched at the guy who wrote it to fix it.

But I''d pay for a compiler, since they''re bound to be a lot better than anything you get for free. Strange how that works isn''t it?


PS: I do not work for MS. Nor am I paid to kiss their asses.

Hello Graham,

Here''s an idea - if this DevC++ thing has an implib function, you might want to try creating a compatible ddraw.lib from the ddraw.dll.

This move worked for me with an ancient compiler. There is a slim chance it will work for you too.

El Duderino

Thanks for your replies guys. I am relitivley new so do not know what implib is but i will research it. I suppose i could buy a compiler, how much do you guys think it would cost for MSVC 5? If someone could point out a few pro''s and cons i would be eternlly grateful. Thanks again for your replies and sorry about the spelling but it''s late and i''m tired.
graham hinchly

Well, I got my copy of MSVC 5 free from this guy who didn''t want his. But I think you can get a copy of MSVC 6 or .NET or whatever for about $90. This of course is with an academic discount (meaning you can''t buy it and use it at work...I guess). But its worth getting. =)

DevC++ works fine with OpenGL. DevC++ however does have a couple missing variables in Windows.h (Just add "#define CDS_FULLSCREEN 4", I think that''s the significant one that is missing). DevC++''s compiler works fine (MingW) it is just that a lot of the files the come with it aren''t complete. Also, you''d have to find MingW compatible DirectX libraries to use DirectX with it. Also, DevC++ 5 is being built, they just aren''t done making it yet .

Borland compilers come with "implib" which will create Borland compatible libraries out of DLL''s (you can use the original headers).

I personally use the following compilers: DevC++ (MingW and Cygwin, Mainly for testing), Borland 5.0 (somehow it creates faster/smaller executables than the newer Borland), Borland 5.5 with the VIDE (Mainly for testing), Gcc/G++ (in Linux, they''re free), and MSVC 6.0 Prof. (Good for Windows stuff). They all have their good points. The old Borland produces the fasted 32bit console and 16bit executables, MingW produces the smalled executables, and MSVC is just in general good for Win32 development (as in non-console app''s, it still produces slower 32bit console app''s than Borland, although they''re a little smaller =P).

"Finger to spiritual emptiness underlying everything." -- How a C manual referred to a "pointer to void." --Things People Said

http://druidgames.cjb.net/

You compile problem might be the order of include directories.

DevStudio normally comes with some version of Direct-X in its standard header/library directory. Then when you install the latest DXSDK the paths still point to old version of the headers and source stops compiling.

Check your directorys and make sure you point to your DXSDK header and library directories before the ones for the standard librarys.