Hi Thomas,
Yes, I have had plenty of thoughts about the .net framework, both from an end user's perspective and a developer's. As an end user I found the applications to be much slower in comparison, and much more costly in disk space. While disk space is no longer a problem for me, I would rather use a smaller alternative such as a C/C++ or VB based application that doesn't require many system changes or modifications to be made. I cannot claim absolute certainty on the next point, but it is very coincidental that after installing the .net framework I had many system crashes, I.E. crashes forcing Windows to reboot itself. After uninstalling it, there were no such problems. My theory is that something is causing a memory leak, or maybe even a conflict with other software or drivers installed. I also found the user interfaces not very accessible, I.E. screenreaders not reading out controls as they should. Again, I have constructed a theory, it may not be correct, but I like guessing at things. I suspect that the control classes have changed internally, or maybe there are new controls being used that the screenreaders cannot recognise. Having never managed to start developing in .net I have never really had an opportunity to experiment with user interface designs. As a developer, my main problems were, again, the size of the program (5 CDROMs for Visual Studio 2003), and most importantly, accessibility. I constantly got messages to use a certain set of scripts which I couldn't get hold of, and without them the user interface, again, was just a cluttered mess. Also recently I was told about the development security risks, and I would rather not go through the whole polava of having to use code obfuscators to try and hide my treasure. And then of course you've got issues on some systems, you get problems more than on others. System crashes aside I have never had problems playing Tomb Hunter, while others mention startup errors, abrupt exits while checking status, etc. I had no problems trying out Ryan's Monopoly game, whereas my partner's computer complained about a missing component despite the fact that all required components were on her system.
Personally I see the .net framework as more trouble than it is worth.
I did once look into other available languages, such as Python, Ruby, Pascal and Delphi, but none of them were as understandable or usable as VB.
Regards,
Damien.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Ward" <thomasward1...@gmail.com>
To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Good news!


Hi Damien,
I'm very glad to know your data recovery was a success. Being a
developer I know all too well  how much time and money was at stake, and
that's a serious problem for any software developer.
Although, I'm saddened to hear you are having so much trouble with C++.
Perhaps a simpler and more useful solution for you would be to go to C
++ .Net   rather than go back to VB 6 which is pretty much a dead
language as far as serious software development goes.   From a
syntactical standpoint C++ .Net  is identical to standard C++, but is
much easier for a novis  C++ developer as you don't have to do all the
low-level programming yourself. Instead of working with pointers and
memory management on your own  you can use the .Net Framework's garbage
collecter for all that low-level  stuff. Plus picking C++ .Net or
C# .Net will get you familiar with Microsoft's .Net development system
which is now officially apart of the Windows Vista and Windows 7
operating environment as the future of the Windows platform. For any
developer looking at Windows specific software .Net has a lot to offer
in terms of ease of development and rapid deployment. The down side is
that older PC's running XP etc are going to eventually   fall behind and
those users wil have to  continue applying patches and updates to keep
up with Windows 7. Plus there are security issues and other drawbacks to
be considered. However, if you really can't understand standard C++ one
of the .Net solutions would be a better option for your personal needs.
Especially, if you plan to stop depending on legacy code and begin
taking an active roll in developing new games for Windows 7 and beyond.
Windows XP was released in 2001, making it an extremely old operating
system, and as a result of its extremely long life cycle a lot of
technologies and APIs have changed under the hood so to speak in Windows
7 which makes it a much newer and fresher operating system with its own
specific programming best practices and procedures to  follow. Since it
is now out it only makes sense to begin migrating to Windows 7, and
begin flushing out legacyy code.
A case in point. When Windows XP came out DirectX 8 was considered to be
the latest and greatist multimedia API for the platform. Now the XNA
libraries for DirectX such as XAudio2, XInput, X3DAudio, etc have all
but replaced their DirectX counterparts on Windows 7. The older
libraries such as DirectPlay, DirectSound, DirectInput, etc are provided
only for backwards compatibility with XP, but future development on
those libs were  completely  frozen  in 2007. Visual Basic 6, which was
current in 2001, was officially dropped in 2008.  Now, Windows 7 doesn't
even provide legacy libraries for backwards XP support for VB, and that
requires you to manually install any and all legacy libraries you need
for VB 6 programs. It isn't a big deal, but the bottom line is Visual
Basic 6 is ancient history. Know one knows how long these legacy
applications and libraries will be unofficially  supported beyond
Windows 7. So again it makes sense to be looking at your alternatives
closely. Maybe C++ didn't work out, but there are plenty of choices out
there which might be of use to you.

HTH


On Tue, 2010-01-26 at 19:54 +0000, Damien Sadler wrote:
Hi guys,
I have a few updates here.
Data death:
I am sitting here now, with a new, healthy hard drive, with all the data, checked in by the recovery specialist about half an hour ago. Therefore data death is data now revived. I can now begin full support for X-Sight again, that is providing none of the data is corrupted. I shouldn't imagine it is though, I played a full game of the new Acefire and ran several other of my programs on it with no problems. Additionally, I now have further methods and sources of backup storage, so hopefully this should not happen again.
Programming progress:
After hours and months of looking at tutorials from websites, CD's etc, and being personally tutored on the glories of C, and not getting anywhere with it, I have decided, at least for the time being, to continue using VB, my former development platform. This may not be a permanent arrangement, but at least I won't be sat here bored to death while feeling like the C compiler is practically screaming angry insults at me, I will be able to continue support for my old titles, releasing patches, etc, and I may also be able to make a smooth transition from VB to C/C++ without any delays when I finally grasp it. I can understand the syntax no problem, having previously made an attempt on writing a PHP chat system, however the complex methods of Windows programming, such as memory management, pointers and multithreading, are all very mixed inside my fuzzled up brain. I know their function, but can never properly write their code or use them in the correct situations. Therefore I have retired from this avenue, at least until I can afford more intense personal tuition on the subject. I hope none of you mind, and am always open for comments, suggestions, etc.
Other updates:
Now I have the correct equipment I will be doing a little bit more than my software/game development, and that will be released and updated a lot more frequently, but that is off topic and can be seen in more detail on the website.
Thanks.
Regards,
Damien C. Sadler.
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