Hi,

I'm just starting out on the long hard road of learning C++ and DirectX (since I have professional aspirations) and I heard that there are lots of nice free code libraries out there to use.

So I hit up Google but I was a little overwhelmed by all the stuff out there. So can anyone recommend any good libraries for simple games? Or any good resources in general for this kind of stuff :)

I was also looking into Torque Engine to use, and I'd really love it. But, $300 is a little prohibitive for me at the moment (unless my recently released XNA game can pay for it :) ).

Thanks!

It kinda depend on what u wanna do.

do u want to make game using DirectX directly or want to make use of 3the party "game engines".
If u want to learn using the DirectX sdk, there are many samples and tutorials out there, starting with the tutorials that come with the SDK.
If u prefer using a 3the party game engine, search for open source engine (wich are free).
i think one of the most used and know 3D free open source engines is Irrlicht engine
http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/

For directX/XNA tutorials, this is good site: http://riemers.net/

I'm going to be learning native DirectX but also I'd like to learn an engine at the same time.

Thanks for the link to that engine! Seems to be pretty good, I might try it out!

i searched for free game engines in the past and ran into some site with list of pretty much every free and open source game engine available.
Even when not using them, take a look at the source is a good reference to get an idea of how an engine is build.
altho i think most engine designs are totally different.