April 2005 SDK is out

Graphics and GPU Programming Programming

Started by wazoo69 March 30, 2005 10:11 PM

29 comments, last by wazoo69 19 years ago

577

April 01, 2005 04:54 AM

Quote:Original post by paulble
Quote:Original post by Trip99
So they removed DirectShow and have not yet replaced it. I asked them about this but got no reply, it seems daft to take it out of the DirectX SDK before it is introduced into the Platform SDK. From what I can tell DirectX is slowly being taken apart as we lead up to Longhorn. I suspect DirectX will become just Direct3D (renamed WGF) and Microsoft will move stuff into the Platform SDK and concentrate on the XNA tools. Personally I think it is a shame to do this as it was neat having all the APIs in one SDK.

The reality is that DirectShow is not designed to be the optimal solution for simply playing video onto a surface. DirectShow is great for writing digital audio/video applications, especially those where editing or transforming the streams is important. Most games do not require the feature set that DirectShow provides and the DirectX 9 SDK is being targetted more and more at game developers.

As for an alternative, the Video for Windows API appears to be sufficient for alot of people's playback needs. There are also commercial alternatives that are already popular such as Bink (http://www.radgametools.com/bnkmain.htm). As always, we're constantly evaluating Windows as a games platform and we're monitoring demand for a new playback solution. If you have comments or concerns about our offerings (or lack thereof) in this space, email directx@microsoft.com

As for the future of the SDK, our primary goal with the SDK is to be the source for Windows games and graphics programming information and best practices. We will move some stuff to the Platform SDK, especially those technologies that are in maintenance mode or are considered obsolete.

I hope this helps.

Paul Bleisch
Paul

Thanks for the reply Paul, I think a lot of the frustration from our side has been the lack of information more than anything. I realise DirectShow and DirectPlay were not being used much in games development and understand why they may be moved. I feel though that for DirectX to be the source for Windows games and graphics programming information it really needs to provide more than just graphics.

------------------------See my games programming site at: www.toymaker.info

vidalsasoon

100

April 01, 2005 07:48 AM

doodz, you're raping msdn bandwidth. please give me a chance to download.

wazoo69

157

Author

April 01, 2005 07:50 AM

Quote:Original post by Trip99
Quote:Original post by paulble
As for the future of the SDK, our primary goal with the SDK is to be the source for Windows games and graphics programming information and best practices. We will move some stuff to the Platform SDK, especially those technologies that are in maintenance mode or are considered obsolete.

I hope this helps.

Paul Bleisch
Paul

Thanks for the reply Paul, I think a lot of the frustration from our side has been the lack of information more than anything. I realise DirectShow and DirectPlay were not being used much in games development and understand why they may be moved. I feel though that for DirectX to be the source for Windows games and graphics programming information it really needs to provide more than just graphics.

Paul, thanks for taking the time to answer and post here.

I think what would really benefit the directx community is some kind of roadmap or outline of where DirectX intends to be within the next few releases.

There have been a lot (a LOT) of "sudden" component chopping from the SDK which does affect a lot of us and/or will affect how we will evaluate using DirectX in any upcoming projects.

If there's already a roadmap posted somewhere in the MSDN and I just can't find it at the moment, then my apologies in advance.

Learn about game programming!Games Programming in C++: Start to Finish

paulble

349

April 01, 2005 01:17 PM

Quote:Original post by Trip99
I feel though that for DirectX to be the source for Windows games and graphics programming information it really needs to provide more than just graphics.

Absolutely. There is some method to our madness and we know we have work to do outside of graphics to help developers realize the potential of Windows for gaming.

As for a roadmap (mentioned elsewhere in this thread), we're working to get our developers more informed about our direction. I think we've been doing a better job of that on the graphics side recently, we need to do a better job on the gaming side as well. Part of the delay is fully digesting the feedback we get and making sure we build a roadmap goes where (we think) Windows game developers want it to go. With the Longhorn and DX10 on the way, we think now is a good time to stop, think, cleanup, and set a direction for the next decade or so. <g>

Paul Bleisch

wazoo69

157

Author

April 01, 2005 02:55 PM

Much appreciated Paul.

I know that a lot of us are eagerly awaiting any news of the direction MS is intending to take the DirectX toolset, and as the small guys in the commercial game development industry (REAL REAL REAL small guys compared to Id, EA, etc), it's still nice to know that our feedback is accepted.

With DirectX taking a new "vigour" in the game development toolset area, I guess the next obvious question (which will probably not get an official response just "yet"..*grin*) is if the DX team intends on building or buying any engine or middleware which takes care of the lower-level DX/Windows/XBox stuff while allowing us to interface with it via scripts, etc..

I'd better stop there before any other Indie dogpiles on me and hangs me up as a sellout.

Learn about game programming!Games Programming in C++: Start to Finish

DrunkenHyena

805

April 01, 2005 04:28 PM

Quote:Original post by kam1su2
the swapping of paths didn't work...
Where can i find this FAQ at... I would love to check it out. Hope it works.

I don't have a link handy, but there's another easy (though not incredibly quick) way to fix it. Those link errors give the names of the functions it can't find. Do a search in the help for that function and it will tell you what lib it needs. Add that lib to the link list and rebuild. Repeat as needed.

Stay Casual,KenDrunken Hyena

Cambo_frog

856

April 04, 2005 04:11 PM

Quote:Original post by circlesoft
For those who want to know what's new before installing the new SDK, here you go:

Quote:
DXUT Updates

- Callback functions now pass a void* pUserContext that allows the callback functions to receive context from the application.

Brilliant, I had to change the DXUT source to implement this previously.
IMHO, this makes the DXUT callbacks much more useful/powerful.

Downloading the new SDK now :)

Thanks for the info circlesoft,
****edit***
And thanks to the MS DirectX team,
Cambo_frog

[Edited by - Cambo_frog on April 4, 2005 4:11:46 PM]

For the love of god, please tell me that you've just omitted your error checking code for brevity, and you don't really assume that all those functions succeed.

DarkBrute

100

April 04, 2005 04:34 PM

Any info on the official XNA release date and/or price?

darookie

1,441

April 04, 2005 04:59 PM

Quote:Original post by DarkBrute
Any info on the official XNA release date and/or price?

XNA website, maybe?

Quote:
Q: When will the XNA Studio ship?
A: Our goal is to deliver it to the industry next year

Quote:
Q: Does Microsoft XNA mean added costs for game developers?
A: No. XNA does not change the way that developers get tools from Microsoft today. The existing process for developers to get access to both the DirectX SDK and the Xbox XDK will remain the same. Costs for Microsoft XNA technology, tools, services and support will be the same as always. Microsoft XNA allows developers to put their money where it matters-making great games.

Interpretation of the above: Windows tools will remain free, Xbox XDK is available to registered developers at the same price (apply here) as before.

HTH and remember [google],
Pat.

jollyjeffers

1,571

April 04, 2005 05:08 PM

Quote:Original post by DarkBrute
Any info on the official XNA release date and/or price?

Thats a bit optimistic [smile]

XNA is just a concept/idea at the moment, there aren't really any concrete implementations (at least not publicly) yet.

I can guarantee you without a shadow of a doubt that if XNA is going to be as big as Microsoft seem to think (hope?) you'll know when its released. They're hardly gonna keep it quiet! [wink]

Jack

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April 2005 SDK is out

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