how to make games using C++?

[Warrior2089]

I'm learning C++ (not on this site) right now and I don't see at all how this would help me with game developing. How do I use C++ to make games?

[Disch]

C++ can be used for game development, but you need to use libraries to output graphics and sound. There are many free and crossplatform libs available, but if you're just starting out with C++ you might have a hard time working with them.

SDL is a popular one because it's available for many systems, is easy to set up, and decently documented. There's also a slew of tutorials that show how to get started with SDL. They might be worth a look (just google "SDL tutorials" or something -- SDL itself can be downloaded from www.libsdl.org)

SDL is of course not your only option. But as far as simple APIs go, they don't get much simpler.

-- EDIT --

First paragraph removed. helios is right, I shouldn't go off on opinionated rants in every thread which poses an opportunity for me to do so. My apologies ^^

[helios]

I don't want to get into another discussion about UIs with you, here, but I think it'd be best if you refrained from that kind of misleading comments, in the future ("Introduction tutorials really like to start you out with stuff hardly anybody cares about"). std::cin and std::cout just happen to be linked to a terminal emulator, but they could just as well be linked to GUI. A good tutorial should should this out. A very good tutorial wouldn't even bother with user interaction, and would just teach the language itself. It's a common misconception people that come from languages such as Pascal and BASIC have that C++ is bound to the console, and I put the blame on the tutorial writers, who don't make it clear enough that a stream is not the console. This is why there are so many questions like "how do I keep the console open?", "how do I clear the screen?", "how d I mask a password?", and so on.

I'm sure if tutorial writers made it clear that C++ is not about putting characters on a terminal, but about manipulating state and doing things very fast and with few abstractions, this kind of questions would be much rarer.

[naeem]

You need to be patient Warrior... Game development is a complicated process now adays... You know ther are a lot of graphics, effects, sounds, physics, and harware specific things involved in game development.
In most places C++ is used as an engine, for example Graphics Engine and Physics Engine. And you know, most of the time its all plain logic i.e. if/else;switch(case);for loop;while loop;
These simple constructs are always used to create gaming wonders...
There are libraries for different tasks for example multi threading(Intel Threading Building Blocks), graphics(OPenGL, DirectX)...
But still bro... you need to take it one step a time...
Learn good C++ and stay persistent... I ensure, one day you'll be A rated programmer... just be persistent...

[AngelGithara23]

I got into C++ programming because I had an affection for games. I found Irrlicht, which is a library that allows you to use c++ to manipulate the graphic processing unit (GPU) if you have one, using opengl, directX, or if you are without graphics acceleration hardware, it provides a few software graphics renderer. A good place to start would be to do a little research on the Irrlicht 3d engine or the Ogre 3d engine, which are both well documented, have huge user groups of much experience with the libraries that are happy to provide helpful advice, and these libraries are just plain cool. There are an infinite amount of useful things that can be done with either of these two engines, not limited to games. And the rewards of implementing things in with these libraries is too.

But, on the other hand, I would recommend you study the un-aesthetic realm of programming first until you can code complex things in your sleep (I'm being serious) otherwise, you will might be miss out on the important details of C++ that are intrinsic to programming with any library. I say that because I have made this mistake, and had to face the reality that I didn't know how to program so well but was able to do cool things simply because the Irrlicht library is so well documented with tutorials and code snippets.

And there are people who have succeeded with jumping into learning programming by working with a killer library like the ones I've described, but it doesn't work that way for most people. Stick around on a Libraries forum long enough and you'll know what I'm going on about.

In any case, I wish you the best in all your future endeavors.