OpenGL Newbie Questions

[hermann87]

Greetings all,

I'd like to ask a couple questions...

For starters... Is it possible to use OpenGL on my Borland C++ Builder 6?
If so, what files do I need to have/download? I've tried various examples of starting a OpenGL supporting window through Borland but nothing seems to work, so I assume I'm missing something.

I'm on Windows 7 x 64 Ultimate.

Can someone provide me with a code snippet with all the necessary header files/libs and perhaps an initialiazation as well as where I can find any missing files/libraries?

Thanks in advance.

[Alan Angold]

Hi Hermann87,

There are a number of ways to use OpenGL through C++Builder. There are a number of borland components you can add that will do all the messy stuff (Windows-OpenGL interface) for you. This page seems to have a few:
http://www.buddydog.org/C++Builder/c++builder.html

Otherwise just Google "C++Builder Components OpenGL" and you should come up with a variety of components that will be to your liking (of course you then have to figure out how to install it -- but there are instructions in the Borland help files).

Another way to go is to get a Game Engine which should supply you with numerous tools to develop graphics based programs. Here's a whole list of engines (I'm trying out SDL currently and it seems like a really good, well supported system):
http://www.twilightsembrace.com/personal/gamelibs.php

Finally you can do all the grunt work associated with windows programming and interfacing with OpenGL but I wouldn't recommend it (it's not for the inexperienced programmer -- only the determined and only if you are curious about the fiddly stuff).

Have fun,
/Alan

[emilo35]

You might also want to check out http://nehe.gamedev.net/. There you find a lot of OpenGL tutorials, including setting up an OpenGL window. Although the tutorials are all written in Visual C++, there are translations to other languages, such as Java, VB and Borland C++ Builder 6.

Good Luck!
/Emil