@mhd VB6 might do, i wonder if it'll be too limited/crude but at least it would be easy on me... i speak fairly ok C so i figured it would be more robust that way but if VB will be just as good i might as well. hoping to make something using sockets that'll work on 98 thru 10. i've done a bit win32api that works across that gap but it's a pain to do it all by hand that way 😅

@mavica_again C/win32 is the most universal option, sure. Develop with VS6 on Win7 might be a sweet spot for DX there, IMHO. Adding a scripting language might make things less painful once the basic skeleton is running. Not sure what versions of Lua wouldn't work on Win98…

Depending on what your app is supposed to do, there might be some growing pains for integrating win32 api features with VB5/6, but if it's just sockets and 2D graphics, older docs and the internet should have you covered (I quickly found https://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?382077-DirectX-2D-Tutorials-For-VB5-VB6-VB-NET&p=2318091#post2318091 for example)

@mhd i've done some VB6 with crude graphics back in 2005 or so, i think it's the easiest option to get around to it then :) didn't think to use lua! i'll have to look about how to integrate that into a program, could open up some fun possibilities...

broadly, the idea is a MMO-ish thing with a closed server that runs on much more modern hardware - so there i can just use python.. but i want something that can be played on any number of retro PCs :)