Help learning WinAPI?

Hello MPGH,

I ordered a book on C++ WinAPI - "Programming Windows (Microsoft Programming Series) - Charles Petzold", but it won't be here for a few weeks.

Do I have to learn the WinAPI in order to game hack?
Which should I be more focused on, DirectX development or WinAPI?
Did this all seem like a foreign language (no pun intended) to you guys too?


I thought by learning the console API that this would clear up a lot of my questions, but it only sparked more. I think i've mastered console though.

All this code seems to esoteric. Nothing that I read or watch is helping me understand it more...Is microsoft trying to keep this API a fucking secret?


-camelCase

Yes you need to learn Windows API to hack games on the Windows platform.

Here is an excellent tutorial:
Tutorial: Getting Started

They aren't trying to keep Windows API a secret, MSDN has documented every possible Windows API function known to man ( lul ) and a lot of them have examples of how to use them. From here on, Google is no longer your best friend, MSDN is.