yes, D3D is extremely dodgy
all the tutorials I've seen are totally different yet doing the same thing. You need a map editor for anything more complex than a cube, 'cos hard-coding vertices *really* isnt good

gl support for VB is pretty poor; there's no documentation (i think), but if u wanna try it get the typelibrary from patrice scribe's site.

D3d will get better, hopefully, as m$ release new dx versions. dotn hold your breath though