DirectDraw dead?
Author
I am a beginner roughly 200 pages into Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus and was curious whether DirectDraw was dead. I ask this because it has been removed in the later versions of DirectX right? I was wondering whether I should still become familiar with it for 2d programming, or just learn how to program 2d in Direct3D. Any information would help - I''d just like to make sure I''m not learning something that isn''t a stepping stone and/or is obsolete now days. Thanks
Yes.
Edit: Actually no, but that's not where everyone is at as far as the technology level is concerned. For instance I am on level 23 and you are still hanging out on level 17.
James Simmons
MindEngine Development
http://medev.sourceforge.net
[edited by - neurokaotix on August 11, 2003 11:07:48 AM]
Edit: Actually no, but that's not where everyone is at as far as the technology level is concerned. For instance I am on level 23 and you are still hanging out on level 17.
James Simmons
MindEngine Development
http://medev.sourceforge.net
[edited by - neurokaotix on August 11, 2003 11:07:48 AM]
DirectDraw was primarily designed for graphics cards that emphasized blitting. Nowadays, the cards are built around vertices and textures.
This is not to say that you must do 3D!!! In DirectDraw, you had a rect with 4 corners. Now those corners are called vertices. Unless you want to support older cards, forget about DirectDraw.
This is not to say that you must do 3D!!! In DirectDraw, you had a rect with 4 corners. Now those corners are called vertices. Unless you want to support older cards, forget about DirectDraw.
Direct Draw is not dead by any means and is still viable in the shareware industry where many people do not have up to date hardware. Regardless of this go with whichever route you prefer. If you plan on doing 3d later then start with Direct3D. If you want to make shareware go with Direct Draw. The important thing is that in the end you are making games and having fun, not how you draw your graphics on screen. Since your already have the book I say work through it and learn Direct Draw, it can only help you.
I''d just like to point out that there is such a thing as 3D shareware with up-to-date technology.
James Simmons
MindEngine Development
http://medev.sourceforge.net
James Simmons
MindEngine Development
http://medev.sourceforge.net
I didn''t mean to imply that there weren''t shareware games using Direct3D and the like. I merely wanted to point out that it is something shareware authors still have to consider especially depending on their target market.
If you''re trying to create cutting edge visuals, then DirectDraw is long gone, but most of us here a amateur game/graphics programmers, so I think DirectDraw still serves a purpose. I''m currently working explusively in 3d, but if I didn''t get a good background in 2d, I think I''d strugle a lot more. I''m the kind of person who learns for the sake of learning, and doing low level pixel stuff in DDraw was a good primer for pixelshaders in D3D. Don''t give up on DDraw just because 3d is cool. 2d knowledge is quite usefull even in modern graphics.
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, it''s dead. It''s actually easier to do 2d games using 3d concepts, anyways, once you get used to the idea.
Long answer: Yes, it''s dead. It''s actually easier to do 2d games using 3d concepts, anyways, once you get used to the idea.
Short answer:No
Long answer:No it''s not dead althought none of the new accelerators support anything else than the primary display driver compatible with the Win32 GDI.It will be dumb to remove it anyway since a LOT of things are based on it.Every new DirectX is released with the DirectDraw7 interfaces which are the newest and perhaps the last.It''s always worth it to learn a new API believe me.
P.S.
I''ll soon demostrate that it''s not dead with my software renderer
"Tonight we strike,there is thunder in the sky,together we''ll fight,some of us will die,but they''ll always remember that we''ve made a stand and many will die by hand!" - ManOwaR
Long answer:No it''s not dead althought none of the new accelerators support anything else than the primary display driver compatible with the Win32 GDI.It will be dumb to remove it anyway since a LOT of things are based on it.Every new DirectX is released with the DirectDraw7 interfaces which are the newest and perhaps the last.It''s always worth it to learn a new API believe me.
P.S.
I''ll soon demostrate that it''s not dead with my software renderer
"Tonight we strike,there is thunder in the sky,together we''ll fight,some of us will die,but they''ll always remember that we''ve made a stand and many will die by hand!" - ManOwaR
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