   .X format changes between DirectX versions?
  Here is what I ''know'' (which isnt much - and may be wrong, please correct me!):There once was a .X retained mode version. What version of directx did this stop?Directx can handle ascii, binary, and compressed binary version of .X files?Has the .X format changed from 8.0, 8.1, to 9.x?Thanks, John. 
  I don''t believe the .x file ''format'' has changed ever.  At least not since DX7, and probably never has.  Some of the template definitions may have changed, but I don''t think so. I like pie. ;  the .x format has never changed that i''m aware of. a few new templates have been added but that''s about it.what has changed are the DirectX-supplied functions/interfaces that make use of .x files.i believe retained mode, which had nothing to do with .x other than the methods provided to make use of that file format, was last seen in version D3D6. i believe with DX7 MS "collapsed" retained mode into the Direct3DX Utility Library, and that has continued with DX8 and DX9. all of the .x functionality within DX may be found within D3DX functions and COM interfaces from DX7 onward. ;  X file specification has gained, for example, a bone support template over the years.However, if your app doesn''t know how to handle unknown templates, it can just skip them. This method is very common on various file formats. 