   Sdl
  So im gonna learn a bit of SDL got a game to make (nothing complicated infact its just pairs basicly - with a slight twist as its gotta be educational :) for the children)So how would i go about installing SDL for either codeblocks or visual studio express 2008i hear about synaptic what is that and how does that work?SDL and all additional libraries would be nice, or i could go straight to directX ? i have a book on thatcheersCatkill   
This guide will help you installing SDL.DirectX allows you do do stuff much more complex than SDL, but it's harder to learn, and considering the fact that you are don't have too much time, if you don't really need 3D or realtime sprite rotating/scaling, I suggest you just stick to SDL for now. You can learn DX after the competition if you want.   ;  Catkill, have you considered Googling and doing any investigation on your own? If you're going to program, you have to learn to investigate by yourself. It's not like the information is hidden in some secret vault that only we have access to.Quote:So how would i go about installing SDL for either codeblocks or visual studio express 2008Google or read documentation. SDL documentation is pretty clear about what to do. Google will net you a number of tutorials that tell you how to setup SDL. A search of this forum would help too.Quote:i hear about synaptic what is that and how does that work?That's a package manager useful for certain linux distros. I'm not sure why you ask about that along with SDL.Quote:SDL and all additional libraries would be nice, or i could go straight to directX ?It doesn't matter. Well, you ask about Synaptic, so it sounds like you are on Linux? In which case DirectX is not even an option for you.   ;  I got it set up for codeblocks ,  typed my code - doing lazyfoo's tutorials suppose thats as good a palce as any to start, click compile no errors  up pops my window (and a console for some reason) and wow a blackscreen?????  why arent my graphics showing any ideas   ;  You have to post code or we won't know what's going on. If it's a black screen it probably didn't load your resources.   ;  O yeah sorry , was a bit rushed lol#include "SDL/SDL.h"#include <string>//screen attributesconst int SCREEN_HEIGHT = 640;const int SCREEN_WIDTH = 480;const int SCREEN_BPP = 32;//Set up surfacesSDL_Surface *message = NULL;SDL_Surface *background = NULL;SDL_Surface *screen = NULL;//Load image functionSDL_Surface *LoadImage(std::string filename){    SDL_Surface *LoadedImage = NULL;    SDL_Surface *OptimizedImage = NULL;    LoadedImage = SDL_LoadBMP(filename.c_str());    if (LoadedImage!=NULL)    {   OptimizedImage = SDL_DisplayFormat(LoadedImage);   SDL_FreeSurface (LoadedImage);    }    return OptimizedImage;}//Blitting surface functionvoid ApplySurface(int x, int y, SDL_Surface *Source , SDL_Surface *Destination){    SDL_Rect offset;    offset.x = x;    offset.y = y;    SDL_BlitSurface(Source, NULL, Destination, &offset);}int main (int argc, char* args[]){    if(SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_EVERYTHING) == -1)    {   return 1;    }    screen = SDL_SetVideoMode(SCREEN_WIDTH,SCREEN_HEIGHT,SCREEN_BPP,SDL_SWSURFACE);    if (screen == NULL)    {   return 1;    }    SDL_WM_SetCaption("Hello world",NULL);    message = LoadImage("hello_world.bmp");    background = LoadImage ("background.bmp");    ApplySurface(0,0,background,screen);    ApplySurface(180,140,message,screen);    if (SDL_Flip(screen) == -1)    {   return 1;    }    SDL_Delay(7000);    SDL_FreeSurface (message);    SDL_FreeSurface (background);    SDL_Quit();    return 0;}   ;  Do you have the resources in the correct folder? Or did you designate the correct path? If you put it in a different folder you have to write the path. For example "/images/hello_world.bmp"   