Reply-To: <arfa AT clara DOT net>
From: "Arthur" <arfa AT clara DOT net>
To: "DJGPP Mailing List" <djgpp AT delorie DOT com>,
        "Pawel Kowalski" <pk AT tcs DOT uni DOT wroc DOT pl>
Subject: RE: DJ+Allegro & employment?
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 15:06:33 +0100
Message-ID: <000101bdbe1e$c0f945a0$914e08c3@arthur>
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> >>If you want to get a job as a game programmer, then I suggest you
> >>ditch Allegro and DJGPP, get Visual C++ 5.0, learn Windows 95
> >>programming and DirectX + OpenGL and everything affiliated with 3d
> >>programming, almost every game programmer in the market is a 3d
> >>programmer.
> >
> >I disagree with ditching DJGPP. Quake, Quake, Quake, Quake, Quake...
> Besides, you can
> >access Windows throug DJGPP, now.
>
> DJGPP is good for Dos, not Windows. Of course you can access Windows
> through DJGPP,
> but YOU CAN NOT USE ANY MS-COMPATIBLE LIBRARY, it needs porting to DJGPP first.
> Eg. is it possible to use DirectX 5.0 SDK with DJGPP? -not. However with
> VC++ it is.

Agreed.

> >BTW, OpenGL's had it now. It's powerful, I agree, but the difference in quality is
> >negligable compared to Direct 3D 5.2, and DirectX is more widely supported (and
> >faster) than GL.
>
> In most cases DirectX is NOT faster than OpenGL. However DirectX is more
> widely supported.

Depends on the hardware. Direct 3D is slower in GL on some cards (such as 3Dfx cards)
but faster on others. DX6 will cream GL when it comes out. I've seen the development
version.

> >Anyway, there's RSXNTDJ you can use to use Windows, and there's WinAllegro which
> >supports DirectX. And WinAllegro also supports VC++ if you are going to
> defect to the
> >Dark Side :^)
>
> Wouldn't it be easier to use (VC++ + DirectX) than (VC++ + WinAllegro +
> DJGPP's port of DirectX)

Do you know what WinAllegro is? It is a Windows version of Allegro. That means that
you can do stuff like set up a VESA 2 screen mode in one line, blit areas of the
screen about easily, and if you're used to Allegro then it would be invaluable.

> If you think that DJGPP+RSXNTDJ is really better than VC++, Watcom for
> Win32, etc, then tell
> me why:
> Quake 2 was written in VC++,
> N.I.C.E. 2 - VC++
> StarCraft - VC++
> Shipwreckers - WC++
> GLQuake - VC++
> etc, etc...

Because the programming teams have made their fortune and so can afford it. VC++ is
fast and is probably one of the best tools for the job, but I for one am reluctant to
spend £350 (about $500?) on something that I am most likely not going to get a return
on. Note that all the programming teams above started out by writing shareware/PD
games in low-budget or free compilers, such as DJGPP. You don't have to use VC++ to
produce a game...

I am not saying that DJGPP+RSXNTDJ is the best. I am saying that it is better if
you're on a budget. I definitely did not say it was the best for Windows
development - and did not even include the other packages you mentioned above.

Also if VC++ is so good, why are you still on this newsgroup?