After that I tried running the first app in the manual via python and got the same error plus not all the images loaded so I go an image of a grass floor and a background but none of the other objects.
Upon running the c++ version of the same program, I was bombarded with a stream of errors saying that header dependencies(other headers) couldn’t be found.
This is very irritating and I would appreciate any help.
Those error messages indicate a problem with audio, which might not have anything to do with whatever rendering problems you are experiencing. Unless you are specifically concerned with getting audio to work right now, I’d suggest ignoring these messages.
When you say you tried “running the first app in the manual via python”, I need to know what version of the app you were running (the app is introduced in stages, and some of the early stages indeed only load a grass floor and a background), and again what error messages you were given.
As to your C++ troubles, it sounds like you didn’t have the correct path to the Panda header files in your compilation rules. Be sure you reference the Panda include and lib directories properly. If you’re not already very familiar with C++, though, I wouldn’t recommend pursuing this language with Panda; it’s much easier to learn to use it with Python.