Hmm.. strange.. That quote is not in the DX8.1 C++ docs (that I can find). By "DX8.1 SDK for the Xbox", do you mean the XDK? I've never heard it called that.

The following is from Philip Taylor on the DX newsgroup:

quote:
yes, D3DX can be used in a commercial game. the texture loading routines alone get used a lot.

and from Tony Cox on the same newsgroup:

quote:
With the latest version, many of the functions do indeed have some custom
assembly language, including optimizations for SSE and 3DNow! extensions.

If there are particular functions which you believe are performance critical
where D3DX is not performing as well as you'd like, please let us know (mail
directx@microsoft.com).

In general, MS is fairly committed to making D3DX very usable. This is in contract to D3DRM, which was regarded as the "easy but slow" way to go.

ps. I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm only following up on this because there seems to be some misconceptions about D3DX...



[edited by - CrazedGenius on August 31, 2002 3:12:26 PM]

quote:Original post by KingsRevenge
hahah, you guys diss this bok so harshly.

Yup!

quote:This is what "I" have to say about the book, it''s good if your just starting into 3d Game Programming.

I disagree. I think it''s a bad book to get started on since a large number of the techniques have to be unlearned to do anything useful.

Both Programming Role-Playing Games With DirectX (Jim Adams) and Special Effects Game Programming With DirectX (Mason McCuskey) had very good introductions to D3D. Jim''s book in particular is an easy read. He has a relaxed style that has a sense of humour without trying so hard that it''s annoying. Zen''s constant attempts to assure you of it''s coolness was very distracting.

I can''t comment on CG''s intro (in Realtime Rendering Tricks) because it''s still on order (*grumble*), but if his posts here are any indication it will be quite good as well.

And for those who don''t want to write RPG games, Jim''s book is still a great buy. It covers game scripting, which just about every game for every genre uses to some degree. Many non-RPGs have inventory systems. Discussions of 2D and/or 3D engines are applicable to all genres as well.

I would not hesitate at all to recommend Jim''s book to people just starting out in DirectX and game programming.

Mason''s book is a good follow-up since it focuses on techniques without much focus on how to use them in a game, which is actually a good thing. He explains techniques, implements a number of them and gives ideas on how to extend them to do custom effects. His book adds a number of nice tools to your programming toolbox.

CG''s book, I would imagine, is similar to Mason''s in that it''s a graphics techniques book, not a game dev book. The more techniques you understand, the easier it is to come up with your own, so it would still be a valuable resource.


Stay Casual,

Ken
Drunken Hyena

You know what sicne were all taking about books. Lets just make a DirectX book list, label your book levels as Begginer books, Itnermediate Books, and Advacned books and give a rating 1 for bad, 2 for middle and 3 for REALLY good. Something like that could be helpful for peeps lookin for books.

Eric Wright o0Programmer0o

"Zen of Direct3d Game Programming" is the worst book I've every read about computers. I, personally, don't enjoy being told to "just smile and nod, and be glad that it works." I would much rather have some idea what is going on, and I felt that this book did not explain anything. It felt like the author expects the reader to just use his code as is, doing nothing more than copying and pasting it, and even that can be problematic since the CD that came with mine was corrupted. Also, the book is full of horrible typos in code and text alike. Just about every code sample has some error that would prevent it compiling, such as missing semi-colons all over the place.
I contacted prima tech and they had no problem sending me another cd, but it took several weeks, and they sent me the wrong CD. I now have a CD to "OpenGL Game Programming" or something like that, the book to which I do not own. When inserted it auto-runs some license agreement to which you must agree to continue. I closed it and broswed the CD manually so I didnt continue and agree to only use it if I owned the book etc. Some nice demos on the disc. When they emailed me confirming that they had shipped it off I replied that it was the wrong CD but never got anything back from them.
I own several books on Direct3D, and I was doing ok until I got this book. After reading it, I moved to OpenGL and so far I'm enjoying it a lot more. Resources like Nehe and GameTutorials.com are free, and despite that they are of higher quality than "Zen of Direct3d Game Programming."

"The Requested Information Is Unknown Or Classified" -Anonymous

[edited by - Extrarius on September 1, 2002 2:39:19 PM]