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The idea of game programming struck me when I was talking to a friend about doing something during the holidays. I began researching about programming games using C++. I chose C++ because I was very familiar with most (if not all) aspects of this language. During my research I came across this word “Allegro” a number of times. My next step, as any amateur researcher, was to check for “Allegro” on Wikipedia and what came up was:
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegro_library
The functionality of the library includes support for basic 2D graphics, image manipulation, text output, audio output, midi music, input and timers, as well as additional routines for fixed-point and floating-point matrix arithmetic, Unicode strings, file system access, file manipulation, data files, and (limited, software-only) 3D graphics.”
This description was good enough for me to look for some online site that describes how to download and install allegro to work with my Microsoft Visual C++ Express Edition 2005.
Deviating from the topic let me first talk a bit about Microsoft Visual C++ for those who are hearing it for the first time.
“Microsoft Visual C++ (often abbreviated as MSVC) is a commercial integrated development environment (IDE) product engineered by Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages. It has tools for developing and debugging C++ code. The idea of express editions, according to Microsoft, is to provide streamlined, easy-to-use and easy-to-learn IDEs for less serious users, such as hobbyists and students.”
In simple terms, it just provides a platform for you to write your codes, compile them and create executables. Other C++ IDE is DEV C++ which is preferred by other programmers. However I will stick to explaining MSVC since I like its interface, formatting and appearance.
Coming back to Allegro,
After a Google search I found these websites dedicated to Allegro Library.
· http//www.talula.demon.co.uk/allegro/readme.html . This might be helpful to understand more about Allegro and download latest versions and tutorials.
· http//wiki.allegro.cc/. This site contains most information you would need with extensive resources and hyperlinks.
· http//www.allegro.cc/ . This is a forum, which will be really helpful for troubleshooting and learning new stuff.
After going through the various sites I finally found this page which was dedicated to configuring allegro with MSVC 2005.
http//wiki.allegro.cc/index.php?title=Visual_C%2B%2B_Express_2005
I followed the links provided to download the compatible version of allegro and followed the instructions to install it. After some initial troubles with the configuration settings I managed to get allegro working however with a slightly different configuration setting than what was listed:
I added alleg.lib to the additional dependencies instead of alld.lib
Then it was time to start learning allegro programming.
The first and most useful tutorial that I used was C++ Game programming at http//www.cppgameprogramming.com/
It covered almost everything that I needed. Then to take a look at the advanced allegro features I directly jumped to the Allegro Manual and documentation which is so well-written that I didn’t require any further tutorials. With this I was on my way with game programming.
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