Which project template should I use for Visual C++ game development project?

Question

Which project template should I use for Visual C++ game development project? I am really new to Visual Studio and I am little bit confused with all these Windows Form Application, Win32 Console Application, CLR Console Application, etc. stuff. I have previously coded games in Linux and now I would like to do a pure Windows application.

Answer 1

You can just open an Empty Project under the Visual C++ projects. I don't what libraries and so forth you will be using. I doubt you are going the .NET route definitely don't want CLR based apps in this case.

Answer 2

if you are creating a DirectX app, you would probably want to start with a Win32 console app.

This would be similar to a linux app as well.

Answer 3

The simplest method would be using the Win32 Console Application. You can use GLUT to do your rendering.

I would recommend the FreeGLUT library for rendering.

http://freeglut.sourceforge.net/ - pretty simple to setup on Visual Studio

http://www.lighthouse3d.com/opengl/glut/ - set by step instructions for using glut.

Answer 4

The easiest way is indeed to use the Empty Project option and set the settings yourself.

If you want a starting application use the Win32 Project, but not the Win32 Console Application as that will spawn a console window for you when you run it and it is not desirable.

If you want to do game development with the XNA toolkit then that has its own project options, but for that you'll be using C# not C++.

Answer 5

I myself use an empty project template for most projects including games. Reasons?

1. More control
2. Easier integration
3. No unnecessary stuff is added

Downsides:

1. You get to write more code (or reuse already written code)
2. You get to care a bit more about internals

Answer 6

chow wa lagi wins the match