DirectX going down?
Author
I''ve heard that as time is passing that DirectX is slowly going down and OpenGL is being used more often in games that are being sold. Since there are some professional game programmers out there I would like your opinions. Do you think that Microsoft''s DirectX isn''t going to be good and that companies will be wanting programmers that program in OGL instead in the near future? I want to be a game programmer, and I don''t want to go somewhere that is going to come to a dead end soon.
Thanks for your input
As far as I''m concerned DirectX isn''t going anywhere, at least not for a long time. If you put it in perspective, most people run windows for gaming etc. so a very large (and I mean large) portion of the PC gaming market exists on windows platforms. This is not to say that other platforms aren''t catching up, but I don''t care what anyone says, its gonna be a long road for Linux... Basically, consider that directx is a windows native api so its tailored to run well under windows. I personally prefer to work with native api''s whenever I can because they will be much more stable and probably a little faster. XBox is also going to be using DirectX if that means anything to you. What it really comes down to is a matter of preference. DirectX is a little more difficult to manage and there isn''t as much info available on it (although that''s changing). Hell, give both a shot. The bottom line is that DirectX isn''t going away and it seems anyway, that it is more widely used in professional projects than OpenGl. If you want my advice, give DirectX 8.0 a shot. Its very well designed and has a multitude of the newest features. Just my two cents.
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Well, look at it this way... is X-Box using DirectX or OpenGL?
Both.
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I''ve heard that as time is passing that DirectX is slowly going down and OpenGL is being used more often in games that are being sold.
I''ve heard the opposite. But learn whichever you find easiest. You pick up one, the other is easy to learn.
Welcome to the Tech Age. In the end, it doesn''t matter.. Being able to learn a new technology and properly use (abuse?) it is where it counts.
Even if you learn C++ today and something better fails to come along, the tools used to build C++ apps continue to evolve, gain new features, and introduce new bugs.
The graphics libraries change much faster than the languages.
Everything is constantly changing, period.
Learn how to learn and never stop.
Dustin
Even if you learn C++ today and something better fails to come along, the tools used to build C++ apps continue to evolve, gain new features, and introduce new bugs.
The graphics libraries change much faster than the languages.
Everything is constantly changing, period.
Learn how to learn and never stop.
Dustin
"Well, look at it this way... is X-Box using DirectX or OpenGL?"
I'm enlightened!! Thanks Buster - it's easy for me to see now that it's been explained to me. MS chose MS DirectX for their MS XBox because MS DirectX is a far better API.
I can't wait for Tha_HoodRat to arrive so he can share this moment with me - I am born again!!
Paulcoz.
Edited by - paulcoz on March 20, 2001 11:14:35 PM
I'm enlightened!! Thanks Buster - it's easy for me to see now that it's been explained to me. MS chose MS DirectX for their MS XBox because MS DirectX is a far better API.
I can't wait for Tha_HoodRat to arrive so he can share this moment with me - I am born again!!
Paulcoz.
Edited by - paulcoz on March 20, 2001 11:14:35 PM
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MS chose MS DirectX for their MS XBox because MS DirectX is a far better API
I surely hope that was some sort of humor. Microsoft chose DirectX because DirectX is theirs and they don't want anybody else's API running on their platform so they can have total control. That's why, and that's also why Direct3D was created.
As for Direct3D being a better API than OpenGL, I--and I'm sure many others around here--are getting absolutely sick of people saying that one is better than the other. FOR THE LAST TIME, EVERYONE, NOTHING IS INHERENTLY BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE--EVERYTHING HAS ITS STRONG POINTS AND WEAK POINTS SO USE WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU !
Edited by - merlin9x9 on March 20, 2001 11:58:18 PM
Actually once you have a good understanding of both API''s, you start to see just how similar they both are. They''re almost the same in the end. The main advantanges OpenGL has is that it can be ported to other platforms, and has hardware extensions. The main advantage DirectX has is that it is easy to write drivers for so even the more crappy video cards can run it. Those are the only real differences. Pick one, learn it. If one of those advantages is a crucial point for you, then pick the one that has it 
.
"Finger to spiritual emptiness underlying everything." -- How a C manual referred to a "pointer to void." --Things People Said
http://www.gdarchive.net/druidgames/
. "Finger to spiritual emptiness underlying everything." -- How a C manual referred to a "pointer to void." --Things People Said
http://www.gdarchive.net/druidgames/
quote:Original post by lunarss
As far as I''m concerned DirectX isn''t going anywhere, at least not for a long time. If you put it in perspective, most people run windows for gaming etc. so a very large (and I mean large) portion of the PC gaming market exists on windows platforms.
So what running a game under windows has to do with it being DirectX or not?
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This is not to say that other platforms aren''t catching up, but I don''t care what anyone says, its gonna be a long road for Linux...
I''m even more confused... so you say that the only plataform where OpenGL matters is Linux?
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Basically, consider that directx is a windows native api so its tailored to run well under windows.
Bullshit.
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I personally prefer to work with native api''s whenever I can because they will be much more stable and probably a little faster. XBox is also going to be using DirectX if that means anything to you.
Means nothing to me.
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The bottom line is that DirectX isn''t going away and it seems anyway, that it is more widely used in professional projects than OpenGl.
Huh?!?! Professional projects? What kind of projects are you talking about? What about scientific projects, running on Silicon Graphics workstations? Of course I know you are talking about games here, but keep in your mind that the BIG companies(that''s what I think you''re referring to) will make games support any API they want(they have resources, and can hire the necessary programmers). If there''s one reason that makes DirectX to be more popular is the crappy OpenGL support in the first 3D graphic cards. Hell, even my old 3DFX Banshee didn''t have a decent OpenGL driver(my Riva TNT 2 does, bless NVIDIA). Also, the first games used DirectX(not Direct 3D) because we didn''t have computers powerful enough to do realtime 3D rendering by then (remember Pitfall, one of the first available games for Windows 95) and it didn''t make sense to use a 3D API for the job(and also, it didn''t make sense for the hardware manufacturers to support an API that asn''t used at the time). By then, Direct3D was almost non-existant.
Gaiomard Dragon
-===(UDIC)===-
The XBox supports both DX and OGL.
There are increasing numbers of linux gamers and developers. By using DX you are cutting out that portion of gamers until the WINE developers release their DX wrapping libraries, which basically wrap DX calls under linux to other api's such as OGL and the like.
The Win32 build of OGL is optimized for win32, not for linux, so it will run just as well as D3D.
Professional projects tend to be cross-platform, and require a cross-platform api. They also occasionally offer support for other api's that the platform that each build runs on, such as DX and OGL for win32.
Both D3D and OGL are great API's, neither is better than the other. They both have strong points and weak points. Neither one of them is going to go away, whether you like it or not.
- Edit -
/me curses uppercase QUOTE not working
Edited by - Maximus on March 22, 2001 8:09:40 AM
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This is not to say that other platforms aren't catching up, but I don't care what anyone says, its gonna be a long road for Linux...
There are increasing numbers of linux gamers and developers. By using DX you are cutting out that portion of gamers until the WINE developers release their DX wrapping libraries, which basically wrap DX calls under linux to other api's such as OGL and the like.
quote:
I personally prefer to work with native api's whenever I can because they will be much more stable and probably a little faster. XBox is also going to be using DirectX if that means anything to you.
The Win32 build of OGL is optimized for win32, not for linux, so it will run just as well as D3D.
quote:
The bottom line is that DirectX isn't going away and it seems anyway, that it is more widely used in professional projects than OpenGl.
Professional projects tend to be cross-platform, and require a cross-platform api. They also occasionally offer support for other api's that the platform that each build runs on, such as DX and OGL for win32.
Both D3D and OGL are great API's, neither is better than the other. They both have strong points and weak points. Neither one of them is going to go away, whether you like it or not.
- Edit -
/me curses uppercase QUOTE not working
Edited by - Maximus on March 22, 2001 8:09:40 AM
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