   MDX and C# for 2D graphics (or 3D?)
  I have a game engine currently written in C# and GDI+.It uses 2D graphics (bitmaps), including unit animation.I'd like to port the game to DirectX, but don't know DirectX yet. So sorry if some questions are a bit basic...I have the following constraints:- It should run in a Windows form, not in fullscreen (I have a lot of information and editor windows, which are done with Windows forms)- For the unit animations, I must be able to use 2D sprites (I have plenty of existing animation and want to keep them).So question one:- How much will using DirectX for 2D in a Windows form increase the performances?- Is it possible to mix DirectX and GDI+ with good results?- Is it better to keep 2D, or trying to go direct to a 3D engine, and use bilboards to display the units?- Is there some example of code, including sprites animations, working in a Window form? All the example I have found so far are for fullscreen, and I was not able to have them work properly.- Will someone with some experience be interested to help me with the DirectX engine?   
Quote:- How much will using DirectX for 2D in a Windows form increase the performances?As anything depends on design and proper coding. DirectX performs on the basis of your system such as your graphics card. If you have an outstanding system such as a NVidia 7800 with a decent processor and lots of ram your engine will perform well. From an API point of view you can make use of the fact that DirectX uses your graphics hardware rather than processing it on the CPU and sending the bitmaps to be displayed on screen. Direct3D uses a component called HAL (Hardware abstraction layer) that gives it a way of taking advantage of your GPU (Graphics Processing unit)Quote:- Is it possible to mix DirectX and GDI+ with good results?As far as I know you can mix GDI+ with DirectX and with good results.Quote:- Is it better to keep 2D, or trying to go direct to a 3D engine, and use bilboards to display the units?It all depends. If you look at this article it gives you a nice progression to learn from. It's generally a good idea if you have never done any  graphics/game related programming/development that you start with 2D and then progress to 3D as adding another dimension almost adds another dimension of complexity to all your math. Some people might disagree but it's my point of view. :)Quote:- Is there some example of code, including sprites animations, working in a Window form? All the example I have found so far are for fullscreen, and I was not able to have them work properly.The difference between fullscreen and windowed is essentially a couple of lines of code in Managed DirectX and even as little in Native DirectX as far as setting it up goes. Here is a sprite example for you in C# and Managed DirectXQuote:- Will someone with some experience be interested to help me with the DirectX engine?It's a good idea to ask in the "Help Wanted" forum as people will go look there for other people who need help.I hope this helps.Take care.   ;  Thanks!It seems the example is quite close to what I need!I'll give it a closer look.   