MMORPG/RPG 2D Sidescrolling, need some help

[Pyrofyr]

Okay, well I don't normally like asking for help, but I've read 2 books on the subject of making computer games and I realize that making an MMO is hard, and it isn't my task at hand, so I'm going to start with an RPG, but I am trying to make a 2D sidescroller, it seems to be something very simple. Here's my problem.

1)Visual C++, I have a book that's supposedly good to learn about it, but I ran into a problem since it 'needs' Visual C++ to work, and it uses a "Win32 Project" as the base in the first program, and creates it as a "Windows Application", however Express Edition does not allow this, so now it appears that I've almost wasted money on this...

I like to go by the book, so that after I have a feel of everything, I can go exploring, or find an environment I find suitable for my needs. My aunt gave me "Visual C++ Standard Edition" on floppy's but it's Version 1.0 o.o; Also Standard version has been omitted from today's Visual edition's, is there a way I can use this to get the newest version? Or would I have to actually purchase Windows Visual? [I've tried other methods of getting it to no avail actually.]

2)Beginning in Gaming Graphics Design, well I have this book "Beginning Game Programming Second Edition by Jonathan S. Harbour" and it goes over all the things I need to know about 2d and 3d game programming (I can stop at 2d, while skimming through the rest of 3d I presume). So I'm hoping to learn through this, however this stump with Visual C++ is driving me up a wall, and reading things online or printed out is pretty... well let's just say I can barely see straight after a few hours of reading it, just too much for me. However a tutorial with a blow-by-blow would be nice.

3)Programming, well I have a C++ for Dummies book I've been going through, up to about half the book, it's pretty good, I just can't deal with the lackluster of not being able to see how the designer part of it will end up too. (Not that I don't like programming, not at all; I just want to see that what I'm doing is amounting to something)

4)APIs, well the book I have only goes over DirectX really, and the problem is. Since it only works on Windows platforms it won't be accessible to others, and that's what I want is at least for it to be cross platform.
Now I run into another problem, I can use OpenGL, but is it harder, and are there any good books on the subject? I find spending hours/days at Barnes and Nobles reading about programming rather enjoyable, so that wouldn't be so bad, or a website would be fine too if it had in-depth information.

Help would be appreciated greatly, sorry to ask for help, really, but trying to find things on my own is getting rather tedious, and I figure someone here might know.

Edit: Nevermind, about the OpenGL, read another post on it. However, is there any in-depth tutorial about how to combine C++ (or other programming languages) to OpenGL, and the Sound/Image/Other things it deals with. I really like to find out as much about how it works as I can, as that helps me work on it better (Duh, but heh) so anything with a good amount of info would be great. :]

[Reedbeta]

1. The Visual C++ 8.0 express edition is still capable of making those Win32 projects. You have to hack it a little bit to enable this functionality, and the instructions for doing so are here (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/usingpsdk/). Once you have done this you should be able to create a Win32 project (though the process may be slightly different than detailed in your book). All the actual code in the book would still be valid. It sounds like your book was written against Visual C++ 7.1, so if you can track down a copy of that, it would work nicely (you can probably buy a copy of it for cheap especially if you are a student and qualify for the academic pricing). The 'standard' edition contains some additional functionality that you probably won't need to use, so the express edition should be just fine for you.

4. OpenGL isn't harder than D3D (in fact, arguably the opposite). The Red Book (http://www.amazon.com/OpenGL-Programming-Guide-Official-Learning/dp/0321335732) is the definitive guide to learning OpenGL, and Nehe (http://nehe.gamedev.net/) has a lot of decent OpenGL tutorials as well, specifically in C++. OpenGL doesn't deal with sound at all, but there's OpenAL (http://www.openal.org/) for that.

[Pyrofyr]

Thank you a ton! I'll look into that, and actually the book I have deals with Visual C++ 6.0, which is what I think I have already, but I'll track down that cracked version you speak of :]

As for OpenGL vs DirectX (I'm sure there must be a thread on it), which is better documented? :x

[Reedbeta]

Thank you a ton! I'll look into that, and actually the book I have deals with Visual C++ 6.0, which is what I think I have already, but I'll track down that cracked version you speak of

Cracked? I'm not talking about anything cracked. There really is an academic edition for students with a smaller (not zero) price tag.

As for OpenGL vs DirectX (I'm sure there must be a thread on it), which is better documented? :x

I would say they're about equally well documented. Their capabilities are also pretty much equal. Certain people like to claim that one is better than the other for such and such a reason, but when all the opinions and hearsay are boiled down the only real difference between them is platform support - OGL is supported by Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and D3D is supported just by Windows and the XBox.

[Pyrofyr]

Well I hate Xbox, so OpenGL seems to be better, I guess I'll learn what I have first though (Since I have the DirectX book) and from there just go on preference. Thanks for the awesome help!