when I type in C:/pd/bin/pd -lib/gen/Gen or C:\pd\bin\pd ->lib/gem/Gem what I get is a lexicon of various flags preceded >by "usage: pd [flags] [file]" ... Is the command prompt "telling me" >to enter info. differently?

Yes. Try something like "c:/pd/bin/pd -lib c:/pd/gem/gem." Substitute "c:/pd/gem" for the path containing the file gem.dll. You could also copy that file into the "extras" directory, and add the arguments "-path c:/pd/extras", and simply "-lib gem" You'll probably find that your pd command line starts getting quite long, with a few libraries, audio and midi settings etc, in which case you might want to make a .bat file which you can modify as you get different externals and so on. Maybe you already thought of that. Maybe you double checked the manual and realised what you were doing wrong with the command line already :-/. Also, it's quite easy to only get the gem documentation, and not the actual library when you download it, in which case you need the "gem-binaries" thing from the website.

As for the rewards, I guess that's up to you... But surely increasing your effort and frustration at a given activity only to diminish the rewards would suggest that keeping on plugging away was a somewhat masochistic activity?

Have fun.

Peter