Is Visual Studio the only Windows option?

#1 You can use Visual Studio C++ Express to compile it as well. It's free.

#2 There's always the free version, "Visual Studio Express".

It appears they're now distributing 2008 express, although the previous 2005 version is still available.

Edit: David beat me too it :)

#3 You can get the Express version of Visual Studio, it's free. It lacks some bells and whistles, but the key things are there. Here's a quick head's up, the 2008 Express edition is the one on the mainpage at Microsoft, so you might need to search around the site to find the 2005 version.

Edit:
Damn, beaten to the punch twice over.

#4 So I want to get the 2005 version instead of the 2008 version?

#5 Yeah, it would save you from any headaches that may come up from converting to the new version, if there are any. I haven't messed with 2k8 at all yet myself.

#6 Okay, I just downloaded Visual Studio Express C++ 2005 edition. And a fresh copy of TGB 1.5.1. And fired up the Visual Studio project that comes with that release, and hit Build. And I get a bunch of errors. The final two lines of the build are:

7>TorqueGameBuilder - 36 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 4 succeeded, 2 failed, 0 up-to-date, 2 skipped ==========

The errors (among most compiled files that worked fine) are all pretty much the same as below: I'm listing only the first 3 since they're all a problem of 'windows.h' not being found. Any ideas?

7>c:\program files\garagegames\torquegamebuilder-1.5.1\engine\source\platformwin32\platformwin32.h(21) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h': No such file or directory
7>mutex.cc
8>thread.cc
7>c:\program files\garagegames\torquegamebuilder-1.5.1\engine\source\platformwin32\platformwin32.h(21) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h': No such file or directory
7>winRegistryManager.cpp
8>c:\program files\garagegames\torquegamebuilder-1.5.1\engine\source\platformwin32\platformwin32.h(21) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h': No such file or directory

#7 Oh, also, I'm curious: if the build succeeds, where is the build executable placed? And how do I know when I got the build to work?

#8 I use the free Visual Studio compiler with the also free Code::Blocks IDE.

@ Vern, you will probably also need the platform SDK, a separate download. Also make sure you set your include paths correctly in the project options. You should have a windows.h in your compilers "include" folder.

#9 Okay, at the risk of sounding like a complete newbie... Joe, are you referring to an SDK that I would download at Microsoft's site, or from GarageGames? I doubt I need anything more from GarageGames, as the TGE package has everything necessary when I compile on the Mac, and I'm sure it's the same for Windows. So my guess is you're referring to an SDK I need from Microsoft's site. Any idea what this would be called, or where I can get it? I looked around their site a little bit, but nothing jumped out.

#10 Vern Jensen: I found this artivcle, and I believe it is what you are looking for: tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/T2D/TGBTutorials/WindowsSystemSetup

Edited to make link clickable.

#11 Hmm, that article is dated Jan 19, 2006. It refers to a DirectX 9 SDK. I wonder if that's still required by Torque? Oh well, I will try it and see if that does the trick! Thanks for the suggestion.

#12 I believe you still need both DX9.0c SDK or higher and the Windows Platform SDK to compile it under Express.

#13 Okay. I did a search for Windows SDK on Microsoft's site, and came up with "Windows Server 2003 R2 Platform Download" -- is that what I want? It says it targets Windows XP, among many other OSes.

www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=484269e2-3b89-47e3-8eb7-1f2be6...

#14 That's not what you want. The Platform SDK is what you need. If you follow the link on TDN to download VS Express, click the link, you'll see a link to the Microsoft Platform SDK as #4 on the install steps.

#15 That is it. The Platform SDK was renamed to the Windows Platform SDK or Windows SDK for short. The link from the MSDN express site for 2005 links to that version exactly.

#16 Huh, I stand corrected. It was the Server 2003 thing threw me, last time I downloaded the Platform SDK still called the Microsoft Platform SDK.

#17 Yeah. It threw me at first, too. I guess they rolled them all into one.

#18 Thanks for all the help, guys. As a Windows newbie, it's very much appreciated!

#19 Hmm, well, I've installed the Platform SDK, and updated Visual Studio's headers according to these instructions found in this document tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/Torque/vs2k5:

8) Now we need to point Visual Studio at the files in the Platform Core SDK so that it can use them for compilation: 

Goto Tools->Options. Expand "Projects and Solutions" on the left and click on "VC++ Directories" 

Choose "Include files" from the "Show directories for:" drop down in the top right. Add this entry (click on the button that looks like a folder): 

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Include
Choose "Library files" from the "Show directories for:" drop down in the top right. Add this entry (click on the folder looking button): 

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Lib

So I think I'm very close! It all compiles great now, but I do get 2 link errors:

4>LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file '..\..\link\debug\glu2d3d_debug.lib'
3>LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file '..\..\link\debug\opengl2d3d_debug.lib'

Seems like I might need to install an OpenGL SDK of some sort? (I went to the OpenGL home page and looked around, but can't seem to find an appropriate download.)

#20 Hmmm, I tried changing the targets to Release build, and that seemed to fix the problems (!). Cool.