Windows Platform Compatible
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Say i made a game in Windows Xp will it work for any version of windows like vista or will it only work for xp beacuse its what i made in?
Depends on what API calls you used. Generally though, it will be compatible with all versions of Windows all the way back to W98 (and possibly even beyond).
Versions are generally upward compatible. Built on XP has a high chance of working on Vista.
Pre-2000 compatibility usually needs to be specifically supported.
Then there's also sets of parallel APIs, such as DirectX, which have their own inheritance.
Then there's DLL hell, which is also Windows independent, and between different versions you might need to deal with version conflicts.
There are also different Windows APIs which impose restrictions. Some functionality simply isn't available before a certain version.
Simply put: if your API use and coding is kosher, you should have very high degree of portability between 2000 through Vista. If you rely heavily on various tweaks and pay no attention to recommended practices, then even a service pack may break your code.
Windows was generally designed with high degree of interoperability. This is a two-edged sword. On one hand, applications don't break between different versions, on the other, Windows API is a huge mess.
Ultimately, test, test and test again.
Pre-2000 compatibility usually needs to be specifically supported.
Then there's also sets of parallel APIs, such as DirectX, which have their own inheritance.
Then there's DLL hell, which is also Windows independent, and between different versions you might need to deal with version conflicts.
There are also different Windows APIs which impose restrictions. Some functionality simply isn't available before a certain version.
Simply put: if your API use and coding is kosher, you should have very high degree of portability between 2000 through Vista. If you rely heavily on various tweaks and pay no attention to recommended practices, then even a service pack may break your code.
Windows was generally designed with high degree of interoperability. This is a two-edged sword. On one hand, applications don't break between different versions, on the other, Windows API is a huge mess.
Ultimately, test, test and test again.
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