   64 bit OS--can it make everything obsolete?
  Now that the beta 64 bit WindowsXP version is out and the actual version is on it''s way, will every game development book, tutorial, tool, and anything else you can think of (that has to do with GD any way) be obsolete to people running the 64 bit OS on their PC?Hope not--I don''t feel like buy everything all over again!If so, what changes to developing games will there be as far as programming is concerned?    "Do not flame people you don''t know in a public forum. Only amateurs do that. Professionals in the industry know they will run into each other over and over. The person you flame this year may the person you want to do business with next year. Don''t burn your bridges," (Diana Gruber, http://www.makegames.com/chapt6.html). 
  I don''t see much difference in writing programs, really.  Veriable types will obviously be 64 bit, and there''ll be lots more memory available, but much else shouldn''t change...   ;  The only thing becoming obsolete are 32-bit pointers... I think everything will stay pretty much the same, except you''ll be able to address a lot more memory.Judging by the beta, you will also not be able to change your desktop wallpaper.  [My Image Gallery (WIP)][Greatest Tetris clone evar!][Return your stolen MP3s] ;quote:Original post by Valderman  Judging by the beta, you will also not be able to change your desktop wallpaper.   What?! That''s the coolest thing to do in windows. "Do not flame people you don''t know in a public forum. Only amateurs do that. Professionals in the industry know they will run into each other over and over. The person you flame this year may the person you want to do business with next year. Don''t burn your bridges," (Diana Gruber, http://www.makegames.com/chapt6.html). ;quote:Original post by DIRECTXMEN  quote:Original post by Valderman   Judging by the beta, you will also not be able to change your desktop wallpaper.   What?! That''s the coolest thing to do in windows. "Do not flame people you don''t know in a public forum. Only amateurs do that. Professionals in the industry know they will run into each other over and over. The person you flame this year may the person you want to do business with next year. Don''t burn your bridges," (Diana Gruber, http://www.makegames.com/chapt6.html)  .   THE COOLEST THING TO DO IN WINDOWS IS TO INSTALL LINXU XXFDF FOMG ;quote:Original post by DIRECTXMEN  Now that the beta 64 bit WindowsXP version is out and the actual version is on it''s way, will every game development book, tutorial, tool, and anything else you can think of (that has to do with GD any way) be obsolete to people running the 64 bit OS on their PC?Hope not--I don''t feel like buy everything all over again!If so, what changes to developing games will there be as far as programming is concerned? If you are developing properly in the first place, then nothing will change.  You upgrade your compiler, and everything works fine.  The only place you should have to worry is with file/network i/o.  Reading a word from a file written on a 32 bit machine will grab too much information.  How much that will effect is dependant on the project.If you''re using all sorts of stupid size specific hacks, then you''ll have to worry.  Attempts to cram ten variables into a single word won''t work out of the box.  Assumptions about struct sizes will be invalid.  Things like that.But with the possible exception of i/o, focusing on design rather than speed will solve those problems.CM ;quote:Original post by Conner McCloud    If you are developing properly in the first place, then nothing will change.  You upgrade your compiler, and everything works fine. Upgrade my compiler! I just bought MSVC++.NET!  The only place you should have to worry is with file/network i/o. So then DirectPlay will not work properly anymore?  Reading a word from a file written on a 32 bit machine will grab too much information.  How much that will effect is dependant on the project.If you're using all sorts of stupid size specific hacks, then you'll have to worry.  Attempts to cram ten variables into a single word won't work out of the box.  Assumptions about struct sizes will be invalid.  Things like that.But with the possible exception of i/o, focusing on design rather than speed will solve those problems. But game development is all about speed.  [edited by - DIRECTXMEN on February 5, 2004 8:25:17 PM];  You can always whine and bash Microsoft if DirectPlay no longer works. ;quote:Original post by alnite  You can always whine and bash Microsoft if DirectPlay no longer works.   Well...I do that anyway. ;quote:Original post by DIRECTXMEN  quote:Original post by Conner McCloudIf you are developing properly in the first place, then nothing will change.  You upgrade your compiler, and everything works fine. Upgrade my compiler! I just bought MSVC++.NET!  The only place you should have to worry is with file/network i/o. So then DirectPlay will not work properly anymore?  Reading a word from a file written on a 32 bit machine will grab too much information.  How much that will effect is dependant on the project.If you''re using all sorts of stupid size specific hacks, then you''ll have to worry.  Attempts to cram ten variables into a single word won''t work out of the box.  Assumptions about struct sizes will be invalid.  Things like that.But with the possible exception of i/o, focusing on design rather than speed will solve those problems. But game development is all about speed.  [edited by - DIRECTXMEN on February 5, 2004 8:25:17 PM]Let''s use proper quoting style, shall we?.NET may support 64 bit code, so upgrading won''t be neccessary.  Of course, existing programs should still work, so even then upgrading won''t be neccessary.I don''t know anything about DirectPlay, but I would think it will handle the issues for you.  I know very little about networking in general, and just assume it has the same problems you''d see with files.  *shrug*And no, game development is not all about speed.CM 