> At any rate, I can't pursue much more with a
> Visual C++ version until I buy some development
> tools I don't have (like Visual C++), then
> actually learn how to do Windows programming
> (I've done GUI programming before, but not in
> the Windows environment -- the concepts are
> mostly the same; I'd just have to learn the
> specific method calls and stuff).
>
> So that's where I'm at with the CRPG at the
> moment. Comments are welcome.

If you want to save a bit of change, try checking out DJGPP - it's a DOS-based version of the popular (award-winning, amazingly stable, ultra-compatible) GCC compiler (and thus GPLed itself). A semi-recent mod (RSXNTDJ) allows it to compile Win32 programs also. The relevant URL is http://www.delorie.com/djgpp - if that's not to your liking, there's a list of other shareware/freeware Win32 compilers at http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/v2faq/faq009.html - even if you eventually decide to go with Visual C++, it can't hurt to try the free stuff first. Especially if that free stuff is released by GNU.

As for tutorials, I know http://www.progsource.com/c_windows.html provided me with some helpful information. You can also check out Yahoo; there seems to be no shortage of C++ info on the web.