   Directx 10
  Hi,Having now not used DirectX for some 3 years, I've just started to pick it back up.  I've just downloaded DirectX 10 SDK, unfortunately my video card doesn't support DirectX10 - will purchase one that does and I am running Vista.Now, I was wondering, should I start to learn DX10 or stick with DX9?  The shaders look pretty awesome in DX10.Regards,Steve   
Quote:Original post by stegHi,Having now not used DirectX for some 3 years, I've just started to pick it back up.  I've just downloaded DirectX 10 SDK, unfortunately my video card doesn't support DirectX10 - will purchase one that does and I am running Vista.Now, I was wondering, should I start to learn DX10 or stick with DX9?  The shaders look pretty awesome in DX10.Regards,SteveA lot of the stuff should be transferrable from DX9 to DX10, so long as you don't use the fixed function (Which doesn't exist in DX10). DX9 will be around for quite a while yet, since DX10 requires Vista and DX10 hardware, and there's plenty of people who are still on XP, or are running Vista with a non-DX10 card.   ;  I have vista and a dx10 card for more than a year now, yet I'm still using d3d9 and all the games I am playing are still d3d9.Yes I didn't play Crysis [smile].I guess there is no harm in learning both,looks like d3d9 will be around for quite some time.;  You could consider learning D3D11 (similar to 10) which is Vista + 7 and targeting hardware from GF6 to latest and beyond, depending on what you want to achieve, and whether you want everyone to use your app or you make "high-end" demos....   ;  Thanks all,Think I will stick with DX9.  Looks like the major diff with DX10 is the removal of the fixed pipeline, also DX10 is not backward compatible like the other version of DX9 - I see DX10 does include D3D9.  Having read some stuff on DX10, looks like it is D3D10 that is the major difference and the shader model.If I stick with DX9 how hard is it to port to DX10, guess I shouldn't be lazy and google this :-)Anyway, my vid card doesn't support D310 in HAL, only REF :-(Cheers,Steve   ;Quote:Original post by steg...also DX10 is not backward compatible like the other version of DX9 - I see DX10 does include D3D9.The SDK does, yes.Quote:Original post by stegHaving read some stuff on DX10, looks like it is D3D10 that is the major difference and the shader model.D3D10 is the only part of DX10 that's new [smile]. Technically it should be DX9, D3D9 or D3D10, but there's been a bit of dicking around and it seems to be called DX10 now.Quote:Original post by stegIf I stick with DX9 how hard is it to port to DX10, guess I shouldn't be lazy and google this :-)I've not really looked at DX10 stuff, but the general concepts are the same, but there's some differences in how things are laid out to give a better mapping to how the hardware behaves. The documentation and SDK samples have the basic stuff down.Quote:Original post by stegAnyway, my vid card doesn't support D310 in HAL, only REF :-(If you just want a basic DX10 card, you can pick one up for ~£30 (Cheapest one I found on dabs).   ;  Cheers for that, much appreciated.I have got two books on D3D10, one seems ok, the other, well, won't say, lol.  I do have a few on D3D9, just need get my coding boots back on and use it again.DX11 seems around the corner?! I find it difficult that Microsoft only target Vista for D310, most people I know are still using WinXP which means to target the majority of users, you stick with D3D9, just wondering when this will change?!Regards,Steve   ;  Cheers for that, much appreciated.I have got two books on D3D10, one seems ok, the other, well, won't say, lol.  I do have a few on D3D9, just need get my coding boots back on and use it again.DX11 seems around the corner?! I find it difficult that Microsoft only target Vista for D310, most people I know are still using WinXP which means to target the majority of users, you stick with D3D9, just wondering when this will change?!Regards,StevePS - I've installed DX10, take it I can still use the older interfaces, i.e. the D3D9 ones ( after all, this is how COM is meant to work ;-) ) or is this not the case?!;  I've created a DirectX9/10 engine (with 3 games right now) and i can tell you for sure. While the general concepts are the same, and knowing one you can "easily" pass to another (except for Geometry Shader and some other feature that aren't available on DX9), the code required to do something is COMPLETELY different. You will share nothing between DX9 and DX10, not even a line of code. (the shader language instead isn't changed that much and most code can be ported "effortless" (just watch out for corrent usage of the costant buffers))Another important thing is that DirectX10 extras library D3DX doesn't have anymore X file support and other facilities so if you learn by using the X format, you'll have to change format/create your own when you change to DX10. (or use some hack like using a nullref DX9 device)I suggest to start up in DirectX10, so you can be ready when DirectX11 will come up. (they are very similiar in structure by the current beta)   ;  Thanks for that,No .x support, guess you have to come up with your own format then?  Why no .x anymore for model loading?  If I do some models in Maya for instance, I use to convert to .x, guess in D310 you come up with your own format? Does anybody use XML for this?Think I may well get a vid card with DX10 support, has to be the way forward and it will take me a while to get into it anyway, by that time, most people will be using Vista + ( lol ;-) )Steve   