Creating a Graphics Magician project
What you need:
(1) GraphicsMagician.zip from this site
(2) Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or 2008
or Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition (Free download!)
Getting Started: Step by Step
Step 1: Install Visual C++
Make sure you've installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2008, Visual Studio 2008, or Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition on your computer.
Click here for additional steps only if you insist on using Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition.
Step 2: Create a folder for your Graphics Magician project
Copy the contents of GraphicsMagician.zip into your new folder. It contains a project file called "GMApplication.vcproj" with all the settings and support files that you need to create a DirectX application using the Graphics Magician. Included in this template is a "hello" program in the source file "hello.cpp".
Step 3: Open and run the "GMApplication" project
Double click on "GMApplication.vcproj" to open it in Visual C++, or use "Open Project" to open the file if C++ is already running.
Try building and executing the application. It should open a window and print "hello" on a black screen.
Step 4: Try your own programs, or test and edit the examples
Edit "hello.cpp", or replace it with another source file.
To replace, right-click on "hello.cpp" in the "solution explorer" window and choose "Exclude from project" Then from the Project menu, choose Add to Project. Add a new or existing C++ source file.
Recommendation: for starters, you might want to keep this as your only workspace/project directory. Until your programs get long with multiple source files or a lot of images and sounds, you can just replace the source file for the project just like you did now with "hello.cpp". When your projects get more complex with a lot of files that they depend on, it makes life easier if you create a new project and workspace directory for each new program.
WARNING: The Location of your Source file WILL matter
If you save your source file in a location other than the project directory you created in step 2A above, you will have to copy all the header files (*.h) from the project directory into the same directory as your source file. Alternately, you can add the location of the header files to your C++ configuration for "include directories".
It is easiest to just save your source file(s) into the project directory!
The "Hello" program
Here's a copy of the "hello" program that's included in the Graphics Magician zip file, with an explanation of how it differs from a regular console application.