Hey guys,
I'm taking a break from the dark world of server programming and stepping into the public eye with a little game programming (I've noticed that most people can't appreciate any sort of server, unless they understand how much work is involved in it).
I tried DirectDraw but the windows programming side of it got a little too much for me to handle at the moment (I've never written a proper windows app with windows), but then I found SDL. SDL seems to be really easy to use and I am loving it, and I think learning this will make it easier for me to learn OpenGL/Direct Draw later. I also picked up a copy of Charles Petzolds Programming Windows 5th edition.
Now, enough gassbagging and onto the questions.
Its been my experience with SDL that when I create an SDL App, it opens a new window that has all the SDL graphics in it. This is all well and fine, except I'd like to do some other things with this window. I'd like to get a handle to it, so that when I create message boxes they come up blocking that window.
I know theres a function somewhere that I can use to get a handle for a window based on its title, but theres a chance I might not get the right one (they might have 2 instances of the program open at once for example).
I'd also like it so that when I create other windows, like dialog boxes, to have the show up over the top of the SDL window. I figure that can also be done by getting a handle to it, but I'm not sure.
And, is it possible to create a menu on the SDL window? I'm not sure how menus are created, but if its possible I'd like to know.
And lastly, how can I create skinned windows like Winamp and windows media player use? I know a lot of this is beyond me right now, but I'd like to know for future reference.
Many thanks to anyone that can help
