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Note for OpenGL

The easiest way to use OpenGL is through OpenGL Utility Toolkit (GLUT), which is "a window system independent toolkit for writing OpenGL programs."

Before using OpenGL on Windows, you will need to do what this page explains:
http://www.cs.csustan.edu/%7ersc/SDSU/GLUTinstall.html

Basically, it tells what files you need to put where to let Microsoft Visual C++ detect and use OpenGL libraries. For those who don't want to go there to read it, here is what it says:

With thanks to Kamil Saykali of the EdCenter:

This part will show how to install the glut libraries and dll's (to download it go to http://reality.sgi.com/opengl/glut3/glut3.html ) (Note: this link seemed to be broken at the time I checked. Get the files from here instead: http://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/glutdlls36.zip)

1. After you have downloaded the glut.zip file (you should get the latest ver 3.7) unzip it into a folder

2. Inside the folder you should have:

glut.dll

glut32.dll

glut.h

glut.lib

glut32.lib

3. Copy both glut.dll and glut32.dll into your windows directory (windows or winnt, depends on if you are using Windows95/98 or Windows NT)

4. Copy your glut.h to:

:\\include\GL\glut.h

*** put the drive where you installed VC++ instead of the ***

*** put the directory where you installed VC++ instead of the

5. Copy your glut.lib and glut32.lib to:

:\\lib\glut.lib

:\\lib\glut32.lib

*** put the drive where you installed VC++ instead of the ***

*** put the directory where you installed VC++ instead of the

6. That should be it for installed the glut libraries. The rest of this letter shows you how to setup VC++ so that you can use the glut libraries.

It also state some other steps but I found them unnecessary and work without performing them.
What you will get after all this are the pre-compiled libraries of OpenGL (GLUT v3.6).

For other operating systems, see the GLUT home page.

Making pong

Pong is a very old game, a very popular too. There are many versions of it, some of the interesting ones might get listed here.
But what I want to write now is that I am making a version of Pong!
It will be out soon, by tomorrow, maybe. Maybe not. :P

What is an Indie game?

In all the excitement of making a blog about my Indie game endeavours, I forgot that some of the readers may be unaware as to the meaning of an indie game. So, I thought lets define it for them using Wikipedia:

Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large companies can create independent games, they are typically designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the project. These games may take years to be constructed from the ground up or can be completed in a matter of days or even hours depending on complexity, participants, and design goal.

Indie video games are often grouped together with shareware, freeware and open source software. Indie developers are generally motivated by strong personal interest in the title they are working on, often a niche game that would not be produced by the mainstream. They tend to belong to some sort of community (usually Internet-based) which recognizes developers.

Driven by digital distribution, the concept of independent video game development has spawned an "indie" movement. These games often focus on innovation, and have occasionally become extremely successful.

Play before you make

Before making a game, one has to play many, to get the general idea of what's possible and what's popular.
So, I went by to look up many games which I'll discuss next.