[c++] opengl vs. directx, vs. etc.
 

So I am trying to write a game. I am in a small team and we want it to be a sprite-based 2d game. Any thoughts on how to do graphics? I have looked a little into directdraw, but it seems overly complex. Maybe I am just underestimating the difficulty.

Thanks :-)

DirectX can seem pretty arcane if you have never worked with it before, moreso because DirectDraw has been gone since DirectX 8, and you should use Direct3D and just pretend you have a 2D world (but other parts have been simplified in 8 and 9). OpenGL would probably be easier; it can be more complicated to set up but once you've done that it's more intuitive than Direct3D for a beginner. I recommend using the glut library to make it as simple as possible, and of course the NeHe tutorials are invaluable.

NeHe's tutorials are a good starting point, you have to remember that when you work at the level of directX or openGL it's roll your own, they both work pretty much the same way and have the mostly the same potential (after all they are just a layer between you and the exact same graphics hardware).

If you plan on developing in the future in industry/CAD/CAM you should use openGL. If your are planning on developing a game you should use direct3d because the support for it is generally better in terms of client hardware. You will have less hassle when running on diverse hardware.

Glut is an okay starting point, but don't use it for too long ;-) Eventually you have to deal with the OS to get real flexibility.

SDL (www.libsdl.org) Very basic and has all you need. If you add the image library on it, you can load any image you want. I used it for my first tile based 2d game. If you want to do 3d, you can call opengl from it.

If you're looking for a professional graphics library, and you're willing to pony up some cash, then FastGraph is an outstanding library that's very simple, intuitive, and comes with a great tutorial.

Does fastgraph take advantage of hardware acceleration?

For a beginning sprite based game it sounds like plenty, but you can do some pretty stuff in hardware even with sprites.

That's a good question. I do know that FastGraph can interface with DirectDraw, which does have hardware acceleration, so short answer, yes it does have hardware acceleration. It can also use its own native graphics library (which has been optimized right down to the Assembler level for the past 10-15 years), but I can't say whether the native library has any hardware acceleration. It's been years since I've toyed with that library, even though I still recommend it to others.

But, if you're asking whether the library is "game worthy", then I can definitely say that it is. FastGraph was create by a 'Ma and Pa' organization of sort. Pa (Ted Gruber) writes the library entirely in Assember, and Ma (Diane Gruber) uses the library to write marketable games. They've even managed to write the library's interface so that it can be used with all sorts of different programming languages (i.e. VB, Delphi, C/C++, etc...). It would definitely be worth your time to download the demo version (if they still do that), and just go through some of the tutorials that Diane Gruber wrote out, just to get a feel for the library.

edit: Oh yeah, and I should point out that they also have a 3D add on to the library for making 3D games. I believe they call it FRED (can't remember what the acronym stands for). If you're interested in looking at another website run by Diane Gruber, then you can go to http://www.makegames.com