I am a bit lost here...

[JRyan]

So I came across IRRLICHT which is a very suitable 3D rendering engine with basic support for other minor uses (I/O ETC). I decided to take on a project designing a 3D RPG for my own personal learning since I am going to go to school soon for game design or programming of some sort. I am at a bit of a loss here mentally because I never learned C++ or any programming languages besides web based ones so I wanted to finally tackle the big boy, C++!

I have an IDE (MS Visual C++) and I am using irrEdit for level creation and the sort. I compiled a few tutorials on C++ from the IRRLICHT examples which were relatively easy enough to understand but I need to have a full engine before I can worry about design, Right? Well there is my problem.

I looked into a few open libraries but there are more than one to choose from. I am looking for any General Public Licensed based libraries and if anyone could post about the better, more reliable and optimized ones I would appreciate the help on that end. The libraries I am looking for are pretty self-explanatory since IRRLICHT is just a 3D engine it requires other components alongside with it to function as a full-themed engine to design games on. Basics include audio, networking, input, physics, and any other miscellaneous functions a game would require to be, in fact a game of todays stature.

I would also appreciate some help understanding the engine a little more... I did look at the documentation and the examples (a few of them so far) but I want someone who uses this engine to give me their thoughts on how optimized this engine is or what it's potential is for a game. I understand the potential of the engine is what you make of it and so if this makes sense I am asking what other people have made of it. I hope this was clear enough for a response! Hope to hear from somebody soon!

Good job Niko

[Strong99]

I would also appreciate some help understanding the engine a little more... I did look at the documentation and the examples (a few of them so far) but I want someone who uses this engine to give me their thoughts on how optimized this engine is or what it's potential is for a game. I understand the potential of the engine is what you make of it and so if this makes sense I am asking what other people have made of it. I hope this was clear enough for a response! Hope to hear from somebody soon!

Search the forums, many people asked the same and look at he project page for projects made with it. If you're tottaly new to programming, irrlicht or gamedesign its maybe a better idea to start experimenting on the engine and several small games.

I have an IDE (MS Visual C++) and I am using irrEdit for level creation and the sort. I compiled a few tutorials on C++ from the IRRLICHT examples which were relatively easy enough to understand but I need to have a full engine before I can worry about design, Right? Well there is my problem.

I think personally you start with the design for the code instead start coding and you need to have to concept 100% ready when start coding a "real" game...

[JRyan]

I have seen a few projects, I don't really want to visually see what others have done. This is hard for me to explain but I just want a basic understanding of what this engine cannot do, if that makes sense? Again, I know it all depends... I even read all of the features. I have been browsing the forum for a few days now actually that is why I bring this up now. Sorry if I was unclear.

Also, I might not have much experience in C++ but I think I can do a play by play of the basic compilation of the engine I want to use as a tool for a game. That point on is where I will most likely be required to understand C++ fully. If I am wrong please do correct me because like everyone else, we all start somewhere!

Thank you for the reply.

[hybrid]

Irrlicht is a 3d render engine with a very reduced set of additional features (collision detection, I/O, GUI). It is not a game engine. So without knowing C++ to a larger extent (or any of the other languages you can get a binding for) you won't succeed with anything. The amount of features supported by Irrlicht might help from from keeping away from low-level gfx routines (so no DirectX methods used in the user code), but you need to know about gfx programming in general and you will definitely need more than the basics of C++.

[JRyan]

I see... Perhaps I was wrong. I know you are a reliable source hybrid so I won't question your response. I guess I should start from the bottom then. Thanks for your response.

Edit: Hybrid what book did you learn from, or how did you learn?

[NoodlePowa]

There are many methods to learn C++ these days. Tutorials and e-books found on the internet are quite popular. I learned from a book I found at the public library! "C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata was the name. It has a little over a thousand pages, if I remember... but if you really want to dig through a lot of pages, I suggest reading a book written by the creator of the language itself, Bjarne Stroustrup. Otherwise, take a look at e-books and tutorials available on the internet.

Below are a few links (gotten from OnRPG.com):
http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/
CPlusPlus Tutorial

http://home.no.net/dubjai/win32cpptut/html/
Correct C++ Tutorial

http://etheism.org/doku.php?id=programming:cpp
programming:cpp

http://www.intap.net/~drw/cpp/
Online C++ Tutorial

http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/cppcen.html
C++ Tutorial for C users

http://mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html
Thinking In C++

http://newdata.box.sk/bx/c/index.htm
Teach Yourself C++

http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone3/index.htm
Programmers Heaven C++ Page

http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/index.html
C++ FAQ LITE

http://www.cppreference.com/index.html
C++ Reference


Best of luck!

[JRyan]

Yeah, I am starting with Accelerated C++ the book very in depth for learning the basics... though it bores me with the hello world programs (I hate those!). Thanks for your response though! I will check those books out when I finish this e-book.

[hybrid]

Hmm, I learnt C with K&R book and C++ with Stroustrup and with lots of existing code I had to deal with