Hey leejames04,
I am also getting back in the game industry. I wrote an ancient game with one other guy that sold $750,000 way back in 1983. It was "Sword of Fargoal" for Epyx in Silicon Valley.
Your question about compilers and tools might be found here. It's free and has links to
other resources.
http://www.thefreecountry.com/compilers/cpp.shtml
Good Luck,
Scott Corsaire