OpenGL Vs SW Rendering with SDL

[cloudncali]

OK so here is my problem, i have been using SDL for ages now, and i love it, but every time i try to get it to work with openGL i crash and burn. So I'm going to try again and was wondering, is it even worth it for 2d. Dose any one know of stuff you can do with openGL that you cant do with Standard SDL?

if so then can some one point me in the right direction for SDL+OpenGL?

If not then i will stick to standard SDL?

Thanks,
-Cloudncali

[Ginto8]

For 2D games, the main thing that OGL gives you is the z coordinate. This allows you to easily have things overlap. However, this can be done with SDL if you add extra layers. All that must be done then is to have them be drawn bottom first, then up and up until the top layer.

However, OGL has much more power than SDL. Exactly how much and in which ways, I'm not sure. I've never used OGL. However, the extra power means that it must be lower-level, and thus harder to use.

In my opinion, sticking to SDL for your actual projects would probably be a good idea. Learn OGL on the side, and once you understand and know how to use it, try it. If you like it, then keep going. From then on, it shouldn't be too hard.

[rolland]

If you want to start learning OpenGL, NeHe has some new tutorials which use SDL as a base. http://nehe.gamedev.net/wiki/NewLessons.ashx

[cloudncali]

ok well i just had a break trough with OpenGL, thanks for the support guys . also i rememberd that SDLs alpha blending system is really slow, so that might be a perk with openGL.