Hey, im new to programming i have made a game in Dark Basic before but i know that doesnt count for much. I just wanted to say hi to everyone on the forum and also get me head clear. I am have Borland c++ and i want to learn programming using it, i wanted to know if its a good choice and your opinons of it. Although i havent really used it yet i will start now as i am going to be doing a programming course in collage, well programming related and i may very well return here sonn with some code problems ect, sorry i can be a bit anoying* in the questions way. Well thats it hello to all the forum. Thanx, SyNtH002®.

Hi. Welcome to the darkside

Well, if you are asking if you should use Borland... I learned c++ with borland and liked it. However, I''ve switched to M$VC++ for windows stuff, and I like it a little better. The one thing you should think about first, is that it seems most sdk, tutorials, and books are written for M$VC++, and don''t always work as well with borland.
It''s really a personal choice as far as that goes.
My choice was to use M$VC++ because of the tutorials and that somebody bought it for me


--Drakonite

[Insert Witty Signature Here]

Thanks for your input. As i am a newbie i do not know what an sdk is what it does and what it is used for, i wish to make programs like 2d graphics then later more on to 3d what do i need to do this?

Thanx a load SyNtH002®.

An SDK is a Software Devlopment Kit - a bunch of files that let you develop software using some particular code basically. They include stuff like header files, pre compiled libraries, you might even get some help using that interface too.

The main SDK people talk about is the DirectX SDK, currently at somewhere around version 8 if I''m not mistaken.

This SDK lets you program software that uses the functionality DirectX provides (bearing in mind that DirectX is actually a conglomeration of things like DirectX Graphics, DirectX Audio, DirectInput, DirectPlay etc.) to do certain operations. From the names you might have guessed what these operations pertain to.

You''ll be able to use DirectX to develop 2D and 3D games (although you have a choice - there are other interfaces available for graphics such as OpenGL and Allegro I think).

You can download the DirectX SDK for free from Microshaft but it''s big (over 100MB).

-Mezz

Thaks for you input mezz i have looked further into possible options and am currently downloading the Dx8a sdk.

Does any1 know any good sites for tutorials apart from this one, i am using borland c++/m$vc 6 and the dx8 sdk.

Thanx a load SyNtH002®

If you''re focused on 2D games you should know that MS has sort of removed the 2D graphics component (called DirectDraw) of DirectX in version 8, and now just has the 3D graphics component (called Direct3D). I say "sort of removed" because DirectX 8 includes all the code from previous versions. So be aware that although the 2D code is still there, it''s technically considered part of DirectX 7 and a lot of newer tutorials (and a lot of programmers) will tend to ignore its existence.

Remember that you can always make a 2D game using 3D graphics programming. Just because a game uses 3D graphics doesn''t mean it has to be really 3D like an FPS or a flight sim. Lots of games use 3D graphics but are considered 2D games because the gameplay mostly takes place in 2 dimensions - a lot of newer RTS games for example.

NeXe''s site nexe.gamedev.net is one place to start for DirectX tutorials. It concentrates mostly on 3D graphics, and starts from the very basics of drawing a single triangle.

If you want to do 2d graphics using directx, you should check out This tutorial it''s here at gamedev.net, and it''s a pretty good one. It starts with how to do stuff in windows, then how to use directx (er.. directdraw) and then goes on to talk about how to make a isometric tiled-rpg. It''s a great article. I recently changed my target from dos to windows, and this is what got me there

If you really want to know another good tutorial site... umm... well... actually, this is the best one I''ve seen, and close to the only one. Other sites like the popular NeHe, are hosted here too.

quote: and i may very well return here sonn with some code problems ect, sorry i can be a bit anoying

hehehe.. don''t hesitate to ask questions here. These people are among the smartest I''ve found, in fact people here seem to know more than most (all?) computer teachers I''ve met. Just don''t talk about goblin genocide...

--Drakonite

[Insert Witty Signature Here]

If ur talking about teachers as in scholl and collage then i know what u mean they don''t know f*ck all well most of them, i mean they know a fair bit but nothing that could be put to use.

Thanx for al yer posts, i have looked up the 2d tutorial in begginer section and made a copy and of some of the others, hehe expect to hear from me quite a lot now, im gonna need some help at points.

Ok thanx a load SyNtH002®

dark basic rules ok! stick to db cos its easy to use and can do everything that c++ can!!

DarkBASIC is a good stepping stone, but not something you'd want to spend too long using. Glad to see some people apart from me moving on to C++

[EDIT]Oh yes, and, DB canNOT do everything C++ can, by any stretch of the imagination.[/EDIT]

Rottbott

Edited by - Rottbott on July 11, 2001 1:27:30 PM