SDL Tutorials

[sirtom93]

So how would you load images in such a way and blit images and stuff like that before it came out.

I got the pants thing to work. Pretty cool, gunna get a book and read it all like I did with c++ for dummys; anyone know any good books?

[Arce]

Focus On SDL

^ great book. That tutorial shown above was heavily influenced by and a result of it.

[sirtom93]

Focus On SDL

^ great book. That tutorial shown above was heavily influenced by and a result of it.

Awesome, ill look out for it.

[MarauderIIC]

Hey Arce, I changed the post name since that old acct of yours had been deleted, out of curiosity: can you edit it?
Of course if youre a moderator then you can probably edit anything...

[cloudncali]

wow a post dedicated to SDL tutorials with out this:
http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/index.php

this IMO is THE best SDL tutorial, he makes it so easy to understand, and yet you can do so much with it. hell i still use his timer class for simple projects.

[Ginto8]

wow a post dedicated to SDL tutorials with out this:
http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/index.php

this IMO is THE best SDL tutorial, he makes it so easy to understand, and yet you can do so much with it. hell i still use his timer class for simple projects.

I agree. I learned SDL from Lazyfoo, and he is insanely good at making easy-to-understand tutorials (compared to other programming tutorials).

[jumboorange]

I looked for Focus on SDL at a few stores and couldn't find it so I googled it to see if I could find it somewhere, and guess what i found:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Lp_py9c ... E#PPP11,M1
The entire book, for free, thanks to Google.
[edit] I just looked at it again and its not the whole book... Back to my search i guess [/edit]
Anyone know if this book is any good? http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592000746/gam-20

[programmerinprogress]

I also learnt from Lazyfoo, but I believe once you've got your head around the pointers, the SDL DocWiki is probably the most invaluable source you'll find.

[Daxtorax]

I've tried to follow lazyfoo's tutorials, but I come up with one of two errors depending on how I change the include heading.
When the include is, #include "SDL.h" I get the following error:
fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'SDL.h': No such file or directory
I get this error even after I add the SDL.dll to my project folder. I then saw on there that you can instead change the include to #include "SDL.h", I try this, but then I get the error:
fatal error C1189: #error : You should copy include/SDL_config.h.default to include/SDL_config.h
I looked in the include folder in SDL and found the SDL_config.h but don't understand how to add the default to the SDL_config.h?
I'm sorry if I'm asking a newbish question, I just don't know how to solve it, I've tried searching google, any help is greatly appreciated.

[Ewan]

I looked for Focus on SDL at a few stores and couldn't find it so I googled it to see if I could find it somewhere, and guess what i found:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Lp_py9c ... E#PPP11,M1
The entire book, for free, thanks to Google.
[edit] I just looked at it again and its not the whole book... Back to my search i guess [/edit]
Anyone know if this book is any good? http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592000746/gam-20

Focus on SDL is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Focus-Premier-Pre ... 1592000304

I think I'll buy it...I'm trying to build up a collection of C++ and Game Development books. Should help in the long run, even if I can't understand half the stuff in them at the moment

BTW, thanks for the tutorial Arce.

It doesn't work for VC++ 2008 though

[herby490]

[
It doesn't work for VC++ 2008 though

Yes it does. Here is a tutorial on how to set it up in VC++ 2008 . There is also one in Focus on SDL.

EDIT: Forgot the link so here it is http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/lesson ... /index.php

[MarauderIIC]

You forgot the link?

[xmjhsx]

What all do I need to know before I start trying to learn SDL?

[Ewan]

[
It doesn't work for VC++ 2008 though

Yes it does. Here is a tutorial on how to set it up in VC++ 2008 . There is also one in Focus on SDL.

I meant this tutorial

Some of the stuff is in different places in the 2008 version, I couldn't figure out how to set it up. But I'm using Dev-C++ now so it's good

[programmerinprogress]

What all do I need to know before I start trying to learn SDL?

You should have at least a basic understanding of how to program, and you should be proficient with your language (most likely C or C++ if we're talking SDL)

The bare minimum you need to know (in my opinion) are:
- variables and constants (if you don't know how to use these, you can't program)
- control flow statements (conditional statements such as if...else, and iteration statements such as the for statement or Do...While)
- Pointers (the first thing you need to set up an SDL window, involves using pointers, understanding these are essential)
if you intend to write solutions in C++
- then a basic knowledge of OOP is essential, you don't have to be an OO zealot, but if you're going to be make games using objects, then a knowledge of how classes work, how they are wirtten, and their benefits is a definate must.
- It might also help to become acquanted with inheritance aswell.

Overall, you need to make sure you have a grip on the fundamentals of programming, at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself "can I program proficiently WITHOUT SDL", if yes, then proceed to instaling SDL