I found something "VB6 Upgrade to VB.NET"

[hisherwin]

Is VB6 structure or syntax is exactly the same with VB.NET? if no.. why upgradE? :D

[Helladen]

Syntax does not matter. The only purpose of syntax is for programmer comfort and preference.

Visual Basic 6 vs. Visual Basic .NET is like comparing Windows 98 to Windows 7, they both do the job, but you are using outdated technology that will eventually lose complete support.

There are many incentives to using .NET over Visual Basic 6, more than cons which the only con is just the amount of work needed to create a new engine, and you have endless possibilities like Mono for cross-platform functionality and so many other third party libraries.

[hisherwin]

> Syntax does not matter. The only purpose of syntax is for programmer comfort and preference.
>
> Visual Basic 6 vs. Visual Basic .NET is like comparing Windows 98 to Windows 7, they both do the job, but you are using outdated technology that will eventually lose complete support.
>
> There are many incentives to using .NET over Visual Basic 6, more than cons which the only con is just the amount of work needed to create a new engine, and you have endless possibilities like Mono for cross-platform functionality and so many other third party libraries.

What i mean is.. like if you do VB6 like this

```
Public Sub Things(Byval BlahBlah As Boolean)
  If BlahBlah = True Then
      Call BlahBlah 
  Else
      Call OtherThings
  End if
End if

Public Sub BlahBlah()
   Unload frmMain
   End
End Sub

```

then .NET is also the same?

[Joyce]

Mostly yes, but the way Eclipse uses some things to hack functionality into a VB6 program either doesn't work in .NET or will simply do more harm than good. Some portions of the engine would require a decent rewrite to make full use of the benefit of the .NET Framework and the languages associated with it.

[Helladen]

The graphics, audio, and forms would all have to be done from scratch. You also need to redesign it to use proper multi-threading for the client and server.

[hisherwin]

I can remake a server and client from scratch using vb6.. but will my code work on .NET?

If so, i'll switch to .NET right away

[SpiceyWolf]

> What i mean is.. like if you do VB6 like this
>
> ```
> Public Sub Things(Byval BlahBlah As Boolean)
>   If BlahBlah = True Then
>       Call BlahBlah 
>   Else
>       Call OtherThings
>   End if
> End if
>  
> Public Sub BlahBlah()
>    Unload frmMain
>    End
> End Sub
>
> ```
> then .NET is also the same?

The only difference between that code and the .net equivalence is you wouldn't do Unload frmMain, you'd have to use frmMain.Hide because unload isn't a function built into .net!

[hisherwin]

> The only difference between that code and the .net equivalence is you wouldn't do Unload frmMain, you'd have to use frmMain.Hide because unload isn't a function built into .net!

VB6 also have that .Hide function.. so that means, there are some function that aren't working on .Net

i think i get it now.. i wonder if i can setup Dx7 on .NET using my code on VB6

[Growlith1223]

seems redundant to use DX7 in vb.net if you can even figure out how to work the rendering on it. if i was you, start learning DirectX9 and work with that. it will be so much easier and much less of a hassle to get it working.

[hisherwin]

> seems redundant to use DX7 in vb.net if you can even figure out how to work the rendering on it. if i was you, start learning DirectX9 and work with that. it will be so much easier and much less of a hassle to get it working.

I see.. Thanks, i think i can study Dx9 on Vacation

[Growlith1223]

If you need help i can help you with the DirectX9 thing. it's really easy and fast.

[SpiceyWolf]

In .net vs VB6 there are MANY differences bro xD its more of a similar syntax deal. Not exactly the same but close enough the IDE usually kinda tells you how to fix it. However as far as the vb6 engines went, they called alot of API features which in .net you mostly want to avoid doing at all costs as they dont function properly. A big reason why they dont work is most of the time that the API functions were called they registered the type requirement as "any" which .net will not accept. Most of how Eclipse engines or mirage for that matter all run heavily weaved with API functions to gain power and features that vb6 otherwise would never be capable of. Aside from getting past what it doesnt have, or rather will not work with, there are alot of things youll need to learn like exception handeling ->

Try

Catch

End Try

and other things because alot of code in .net is kept pretty sensitive to the types past in. Everything needs to be exact so you either have to do alot of work keeping track of what is what so nothing cross contaminates OR having alot of exception handlers(which the main difference between those 2 options is speed and readability vs ease of programming and cluttered mess.)

Aside if you stay determined i guarentee itll be a worthy accomplishment, an enjoyable learning journey, and youll have a great program for building you game in that will have pretty much microsofts lifespan support.

Some tips: Look into pre-made network libraries like networkComms, netcomm, Lidgren, or other things you can find around google. Its okay to learn the string based packet sending and reading, but recommended in something you plan to keep and use, figure out how to make this work under byteconversions.

also choose between opengl or directx9, those will be what most benefit you for a 2d engine in .net.

If your not worried about the players hassle getting the game up and running… you can always look into vb.net xna support... that will have alot of premade game development libraries(including some for networking i believe)

know that in .net your types would be structures or classes, where whichever you choose to use doesnt really matter - By default structures are public, classes are private but they can each be the opposite as well.

last tip: avoid COM libraries at all costs, use them and youve just downgraded your project and added requirements for use by the player(which are only 2 bad sides so it does not help at all)

EDIT:

Forgot to mention that using COM libraries will also make you lose cross-platform compatability support(Mono, or other .net crossplatform supported IDE's cant use COM on OS's such as Linux or Mac)