Would you mind elaborating a bit on that, CookiesGaming?  I am a complete noob to powder toy development and to the C++ language, just downloaded and installed VB C++ 2010 yesterday.  I do have some experience with other programming languages, mainly the Arduino language. 

I was trying to create a new element with the coding tutorial on the powder toy wiki.  Before I tried to make my own element, I compiled the unmodified source code and it sucessfully compiled.  I ran the newly compiled .exe file and it ran like a charm. 

After doing this, I followed all of the instructions in the coding tutorial to the letter, but I am getting the following error when I try to compile the solution:

LINK : warning LNK4075: ignoring '/INCREMENTAL' due to '/OPT:ICF' specification
ElementClasses.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: virtual __thiscall Element_HETR::~Element_HETR(void)" (??1Element_HETR@@UAE@XZ) referenced in function "class std::vector<class Element,class std::allocator<class Element> > __cdecl GetElements(void)" (?GetElements@@YA?AV?$vector@VElement@@V?$allocator@VElement@@@std@@@std@@XZ)
ElementClasses.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall Element_HETR::Element_HETR(void)" (??0Element_HETR@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "class std::vector<class Element,class std::allocator<class Element> > __cdecl GetElements(void)" (?GetElements@@YA?AV?$vector@VElement@@V?$allocator@VElement@@@std@@@std@@XZ)
C:\Documents and Settings\Eddie\Desktop\TPT Modding stuff\The-Powder-Toy-master\Build\Argentum's Mod.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 2 unresolved externals
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

I have no idea what this means or what is going wrong.  The new element file I used was the one that was linked to in the tutorial (the HETR one).  I did not modify the file: I just dragged and dropped it into the src\simulation\elements folder. 

Is there a step I missed or did wrong?  Again I am a complete n00b and if someone could provide some idiot-proof help, it would really be appreciated!

Hmm, maybe there's an error in the code you wrote?

@FeynmanLogomaker (View Post)

I dont think so.  I didnt change anything about the HETR file.

@nucular (View Post)

 Okay Im trying it and will report back

They are exactly the same file.

thanks for the link nucular

There was something I noticed but forgot to post here.  Even after I removed the HETR file from the elements folder, I still got the same error, even after I closed the solution and opened it again.

I deleted my solution and started over with the unmodified source code from github.  I followed the visual studio compiling instructions and I sucessfully got a fully functional copy of the powder toy.

Im hoping that adding the HETR element wont do anything wierd to it.

Update:  Here is the exact procedure in which I did things.

1. I downloaded all of the source code and required libraries.  I then followed all of the instructions for compiling the powder toy with visual studio.  After following these instructions, I compiled the unmodified source code.  This left me with a working copy of the powder toy in my /build folder.
2. I then downloaded the HETR element C++ file.  I cut-and-pasted it into the src/simulation/elements folder.
3. I executed the "generator.py" file that was included with the source code.  A console window popped up for a second and closed again.  From what I read, this means that the file worked.
4. I then attempted to compile the modified solution with the HETR file included with the elements.  All was going great until I got the following error:

LINK : warning LNK4075: ignoring '/INCREMENTAL' due to '/OPT:ICF' specification
ElementClasses.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: virtual __thiscall Element_HETR::~Element_HETR(void)" (??1Element_HETR@@UAE@XZ) referenced in function "class std::vector<class Element,class std::allocator<class Element> > __cdecl GetElements(void)" (?GetElements@@YA?AV?$vector@VElement@@V?$allocator@VElement@@@std@@@std@@XZ)
ElementClasses.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall Element_HETR::Element_HETR(void)" (??0Element_HETR@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "class std::vector<class Element,class std::allocator<class Element> > __cdecl GetElements(void)" (?GetElements@@YA?AV?$vector@VElement@@V?$allocator@VElement@@@std@@@std@@XZ)
C:\Documents and Settings\Eddie\My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\The Powder Toy\Copy of The-Powder-Toy-master\Build\the powder toy master.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 2 unresolved externals

I just don't get what is going on!

@nucular (View Post)

when you say running it by hand, do you mean double clicking it?

Thats what I did when I added the HETR c++ file to the solution files.

Anyway I followed your instructions and the build worked again!  I think it must be the HETR file.  I will check it for typos and report it

Here is a pastebin for the code of the HETR element file.  In the meantime, I am going to try to create a new element from scratch and see if I get the same error.