When developing programs that use graphics you need a lot of
things besides just a PC. This page highlights a few software
tools that will simplify your programming tasks, or at the very
least, make writing game programs possible.
Programming languages
The examples displayed on these web pages are written in
either the C or the BASIC language, unless otherwise
stated in the example presented. So a good C compiler or
a good Basic compiler (or interpreter) is required if you
want to try the examples yourself. Particular brand of
compiler is for the most part a personal preference. I
use Turbo C++ 3.0 to compile all of the examples that I
use in the book, but I certainly do not expect people to
own a copy of this so I try to make the source code as
portable as possible. I've even recompiled a lot of the
examples using Microsoft Visual C++ 1.0 compiler in order
to make them available to a wider range of compilers.
I do not recommend trying to code up the examples on
these pages using the free compiler that Borland is
offering in their museum (Turbo C version 2). It cannot
do C++ at all and the C compiler itself has a more
limited library than what is available in TC++ 3.
Obviously Borland gave it away because it is practically
useless in my opinion and you will certainly get better
mileage on this page by using Pacific C. I think Borland
should do the programming community a favor and offer
TC++ 3.0 for free rather than continue to try to push in
in their Turbo C Development Suite package, but this is
just my opinion.
The BASIC examples are done using Microsoft's QuickBASIC
and some of them may work in QBasic that comes with
MS-DOS 5.0 and later. As far as using other BASIC
compilers, you're pretty much on your own there. My
apologies for this but I do not find the BASIC language
on a whole to be that useful for doing low level
programming tasks. Some people are able to use Power
Basic as a better QBasic replacement that supports low
level tasks much better.
Drawing programs
A paintbrush type program is a must for working with
graphics. I use them myself both for graphics / game
programs as well as for creating and editing some of the
graphics files found on my web pages. PaintShop Pro seems
to be a favorite on everyone's list as far as Windows
programs are concerned and I certainly would not argue on
the fact that it is certainly a very capable editor.
However, I've also found that Neopaint from a company
called Neosoft does a good job for most of your graphics
editing needs as well.
Creating and editing sound
A sound editing program is a definate must if you want to
add sound effects to your games. Here you are pretty much
free to use whatever you can lay your hands on, but one
thing I should point out is that a good sound capture and
editing file should allow for a wide variaty of formats.
Mainly formats like WAV (Windows), and VOC (Creative
Labs). I personally use Goldwave's Digital Audio Editor
for my sound editing needs. Not only am I able to create
and edit sound files in any of the sound formats that I
choose, but I also use it to occassionally rip MP3's from
my CD's.