Originally Posted by
Bubba
100% agreed. The OP would do well to heed this advice. Don't worry about the choice of library until you understand the underlying concepts and have a well thought out design prior to starting. You can't design everything on paper but you can have at least a very good framework to guide you.
Libraries are a dime a dozen. Games take a lot of work, talent, and dedication and this is true for even simple 2D games. I recommend buying books on vector math, matrix math, graphics concepts (either raw D3D or raw OGL), etc. Once you understand how D3D or OGL work then you can choose which engine or library you want to use. But starting with a library or engine with no knowledge of D3D or OGL, graphics concepts, programming fundamentals, etc., will just be an exercise in futility.
To make a game you must know C++ very well and be extremely comfortable with it. This is the first requirement and superceded any other requirement. After that you must understand the concepts of game programming which are a bit different than your normal application. And before you start coding you will want a basic design laid out so you don't code yourself into a huge corner.