You need a solid understanding of C++ and how to create applications using C++ for this book. Of course, you need a compiler to compile the example applications. This book uses Visual Studio as a reference, but any other compiler will also do. Your computer should have a graphic card with 3D capabilities. It would be best if the graphic card supports DirectX 9.0 because Ogre 3D is an open source software and we will download it in Chapter 1. So there is no need for you to have Ogre 3D already installed on your computer.