Thread: Recommendation for game programming IDE

  1. #1
    Registered User mmarab's Avatar
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    Talking Recommendation for game programming IDE

    Hi, can anyone recommend a free ide to use with directx games programming?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Ethernal Noob
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    You can use Code::blocks, it is compatible as long as you have microsoft visual C++ compiler. It also has a template for a directx project which includes all the liink libraries and templates for a basic directx Project

    http://forums.codeblocks.org/index.php?board=20.0

  3. #3
    The Right Honourable psychopath's Avatar
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    If you have to use an MS compiler anyway, wouldn't VC++ 2005 Express be easier?
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  4. #4
    Registered User Frobozz's Avatar
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    Well you could use Dev-C++ and the following DevPak http://www.g-productions.net/files/d...ectX90c.DevPak. I've yet to try the DevPak myself since I managed to get the DirectX SDK working with MinGW and compile with command line.

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    Or you can as psycho said, save yourself a crapton of hassle and just get visual studio 2005 express, which is free aswell.
    STL Util a small headers-only library with various utility functions. Mainly for fun but feedback is welcome.

  6. #6
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    VSE as many people have said have problems such as memory leaks and slowdown. I'd rather use a program that is updated/supported more often than not, hence why I choose code-blocks. It's not without it's problems but I think it's a better IDE.

  7. #7
    The Right Honourable psychopath's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by indigo0086
    VSE as many people have said have problems such as memory leaks and slowdown.
    I haven't noticed much of this since SP1 was released. Or maybe I'm just too used to it now to notice .
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  8. #8
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    I have been using Visual Studio .NET 2005 Standard and have found very few problems. It has some tidiness issues with MFC and so forth but nothing that would kill the IDE. Visual Studio is an excellent IDE and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Express is a Lite version of Visual Studio but based on the same shell and I never had any problems with it.

    Yes there are tons of bugs in Visual Studio but I doubt you will come across them in your endeavours. Most of them have been addressed and/or fixed with recent updates.

  9. #9
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    I have the .Net Studio as well but The main problem is the runtime debugger. I can't seem to uninstall or disable it fully. I go to the options and disable it but it always pops up when using other applications.

  10. #10
    chococoder
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    VC2005 has a problem with the context sensitive help and autocomplete features. The database for the system takes forever to build when adding large libraries (like DirectX and the platform SDK) which causes serious slowdowns.
    This is done once per project because unlike previous versions VC2005 stores this database per project rather than centrally).
    But when that generation is complete (best let it run overnight as it can take hours) it's quite fast.

  11. #11
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    Is visual studio 2008 okay to use?? I am using right now Visual C++ 2005 EE.

  12. #12
    Registered User manofsteel972's Avatar
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    They have a thread at the msdn forums about it called How to Disable Intellisense. It was started back in 2005 and has recent posts with people still having problems. A major concern would be if you have projects on a network drive or usb drive. You can read more about it. The thread starter is http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/Sho...32651&SiteID=1 from 2005 and the posts starting from june of this year would be here http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/sho...&tf=0&pageid=8

    They expect a hot fix sometime in September. There is a link in the last post to a hotfix for users with network and USB drives.
    Last edited by manofsteel972; 08-08-2007 at 12:02 PM.
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  13. #13
    Registered User Frobozz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shakti View Post
    Or you can as psycho said, save yourself a crapton of hassle and just get visual studio 2005 express, which is free aswell.
    Actually using DirectX with MinGW is surprisingly easy. Easier than most people think. I've attached some a pdf I made from some instructions GarageGames put up a while back. They're pretty simple. You first have to reimp the various library files of DirectX. Then it simply becomes a matter of specifying the headers and library files when you go to compile as with anything else.

  14. #14
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    You first have to reimp the various library files of DirectX.
    And this is easier than buying an IDE or downloading one from MS and just linking with the right libraries and including the correct headers?

  15. #15
    Registered User Frobozz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba
    And this is easier than buying an IDE or downloading one from MS and just linking with the right libraries and including the correct headers?
    If you had bothered to download the PDF you would have noticed that it includes source to a small script that does the work for you. If you're too lazy to run that script then you're probably too lazy to develop anything of any decent size.

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