OpenGL and DirectX??
Author
I''d like to know which of the 2 API is either better, easier to learn, better documented....and your personal opinion about them.
I know that OpenGL can be used with any language, and DirectX is neither portable like OpenGL is nor can you use any language. But OpenGL only has the 3D graphics and stuff like DirectSound is missing. Is it right that you can implement DirectSound into OpenGL?? and is it still portable as without i.e DirectSound??
And again: which of the 2 API is either better, easier to learn, better documented...?
I started developing games about two years ago using Direct x 6.0
,simply because most of the professional software houses use the MS API
It is a matter of fact, useless to deny the evidence !.
A nightmare, I was about to quit with game programming.
Afterwards I shifted to Opengl .
In about 3 monthes time I was able to grasp the basic of 3D graphic programming.
Ok, my previous experience was not probably completely useless but no doubt that the Opengl architecture is much easier ( I do not mean better) than direct x.
The lack of sound and input support as well as of a custom 3d file format , same as .x file, are definitly drawbacks but you
can purchase a book such as "Opengl game programming " which integrate direct sound , direct input and md2 file format in the opengl based game engine.
I am concern about one point, only.
will the graphic cards manufacturers still support opengl in the future ? ( what about GeForce 3.0 and X box ?, for example)
I would appreciate to receive comments of other readers.
,simply because most of the professional software houses use the MS API
It is a matter of fact, useless to deny the evidence !.
A nightmare, I was about to quit with game programming.
Afterwards I shifted to Opengl .
In about 3 monthes time I was able to grasp the basic of 3D graphic programming.
Ok, my previous experience was not probably completely useless but no doubt that the Opengl architecture is much easier ( I do not mean better) than direct x.
The lack of sound and input support as well as of a custom 3d file format , same as .x file, are definitly drawbacks but you
can purchase a book such as "Opengl game programming " which integrate direct sound , direct input and md2 file format in the opengl based game engine.
I am concern about one point, only.
will the graphic cards manufacturers still support opengl in the future ? ( what about GeForce 3.0 and X box ?, for example)
I would appreciate to receive comments of other readers.
I can't make it any clearer that this is my personal opinion, and I am not trying to start a flame war here. So for those of you who want to accuse me, know it was you who is wrong.
I find Direct X messy, and alot like windows code. It seems to be in sentence structure rather than programming strucutre, and it doesn't stand out as much as OpenGL. Also, the Direct X code itself looks like a error, so its hard to find an error inside of it(my opinions). I like OpenGL because it is to the point, clean, and usually is easy to spot in code. Not to mention, i dont like MicroSoft, so using Direct X would be aginst my moral code and princpals
. That is my opnion, but I suggest you go tke a simple tutorial on both(the basics) and see whihc one suits you better.
PS: Just because I say it is messy, doesnt mean it really is, it is just that I look at it, and it seems messy. Once again, you should check both out.
"I've sparred with creatures from the nine hells themselves... I barely plan on breaking a sweat here, today."~Drizzt Do'Urden
Edited by - Drizzt DoUrden on September 4, 2001 2:57:23 PM
I find Direct X messy, and alot like windows code. It seems to be in sentence structure rather than programming strucutre, and it doesn't stand out as much as OpenGL. Also, the Direct X code itself looks like a error, so its hard to find an error inside of it(my opinions). I like OpenGL because it is to the point, clean, and usually is easy to spot in code. Not to mention, i dont like MicroSoft, so using Direct X would be aginst my moral code and princpals
. That is my opnion, but I suggest you go tke a simple tutorial on both(the basics) and see whihc one suits you better. PS: Just because I say it is messy, doesnt mean it really is, it is just that I look at it, and it seems messy. Once again, you should check both out.
"I've sparred with creatures from the nine hells themselves... I barely plan on breaking a sweat here, today."~Drizzt Do'Urden
Edited by - Drizzt DoUrden on September 4, 2001 2:57:23 PM
>>I find Direct X messy, and alot like windows code<<
i remember years ago when i started on opengl my first thought was, why cant the win16/win32 api''s be designed like this ( i was doing a lot of windows programming at the time
)
i remember years ago when i started on opengl my first thought was, why cant the win16/win32 api''s be designed like this ( i was doing a lot of windows programming at the time
)
OpenGL is better, it doesn''t need all these SDK downloading of several hundred mbs.
Just one tiny little header called glext.h needs to be downloaded for each new update.
Good luck M$, hehe.
The Game Industry
OpenGL/OpenAL/OpenNL
Just one tiny little header called glext.h needs to be downloaded for each new update.
Good luck M$, hehe.
The Game Industry
OpenGL/OpenAL/OpenNL
Question: I see openNL/hawkNL and openAL listed here. But what open library can do input like DirectInput?
Now to my input. I have used both directX (D3D and DDraw) and openGL (a little) and I personally perfer OpenGL. It is probably because I do not like microsoft and I personally think openGL is a tiny bit eaiser to use, and also because I could get it to work with Dev-C++ while I could not (after much effort) get DirectX (7 and 8) to work with it.
Now the facts. OpenGL is cross platform DirectX is not. Meaning if you want to write for linux and windows use OGL but if you are just going for windows use OGL and DX.
OpenGL gets the newest features first. Through extentions you can use the newest features on video cards before you can with DX but your code may not work unless people have that card (correct me if i''m wrong). With DX pretty much all your code will work.
Well I could go on but I will advise along with these other people to try both out even thought we are making it sound like OGL is 10 times better. Still try both (unless you are pressed for time).
Oh one more thing OGL can be used with DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and the like (only on windows of course).
Hope I helped.
Matthew
WebMaster
www.Matt-Land.com
Now to my input. I have used both directX (D3D and DDraw) and openGL (a little) and I personally perfer OpenGL. It is probably because I do not like microsoft and I personally think openGL is a tiny bit eaiser to use, and also because I could get it to work with Dev-C++ while I could not (after much effort) get DirectX (7 and 8) to work with it.
Now the facts. OpenGL is cross platform DirectX is not. Meaning if you want to write for linux and windows use OGL but if you are just going for windows use OGL and DX.
OpenGL gets the newest features first. Through extentions you can use the newest features on video cards before you can with DX but your code may not work unless people have that card (correct me if i''m wrong). With DX pretty much all your code will work.
Well I could go on but I will advise along with these other people to try both out even thought we are making it sound like OGL is 10 times better. Still try both (unless you are pressed for time).
Oh one more thing OGL can be used with DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and the like (only on windows of course).
Hope I helped.
Matthew
WebMaster
www.Matt-Land.com
I''ve personally found Open GL to be a much better API to work with. It has is flaws. No input support and such but a person can use the good aspects of direct x for those things. Direct 3D gave me a headache when coding. I always came up with errors and had to rewrite a lot of code to get it to do what I wanted. I switched to Open GL a few months ago and have written a lot more code that actually works in a shorter period of time.
As for Anonymous''s concern. As far as I know every major video card manufacturer still plans on supporting Open GL. Nvidia has even released an OpenGL SDK specific for the GeForce 3 cards. And with version 1.3 of OpenGL coming out the future looks good.
As far as X-Box? I would give that a big thumbs down. Microsoft has pretty much based the whole system around programming with Direct X. At least that is what I''ve heard and someone may be able to enlighten me more. Personally why would I want to buy what is basically another PC modified to just play games. When I have an even better one right in front of me now.
Talk to everyone later.
As for Anonymous''s concern. As far as I know every major video card manufacturer still plans on supporting Open GL. Nvidia has even released an OpenGL SDK specific for the GeForce 3 cards. And with version 1.3 of OpenGL coming out the future looks good.
As far as X-Box? I would give that a big thumbs down. Microsoft has pretty much based the whole system around programming with Direct X. At least that is what I''ve heard and someone may be able to enlighten me more. Personally why would I want to buy what is basically another PC modified to just play games. When I have an even better one right in front of me now.
Talk to everyone later.
I can't say it better.
When I used VB, I used DirectX. Simply because it's the first language I crossed, and because it has all the features needed for games. Later I saw some OpenGL, but it was really a pain with VB.
When I moved to C++ for more speed and control, I started with DirectX too, and bought a book. Although I had a lot of experience with it using VB (it's almost the same, code's just a bit bigger now) I still found it hard. Then I found NeHe. I immediatly started using OpenGL when I heard impressive games where made with it (Quake III, Half-Life) and I found it's much easier to use than DirectX. (only the setup code in the first lesson was hard, the rest of code is really self-explaining)
I'm creating an engine with it now, and it goes pretty well. The engine is better than all my VB / DirectX engines and everything I created with C++ / DirectX. I'm going to buy the OpenGL superbible 2nd edition, OpenGL game programming and a C++ book soon, to become an OpenGL master because this language is really powerfull and has a future (though it's much easier to use than DirectX)
Oh, and for Input and Sound, you can integrate it with DirectX easily, and the input code is not so hard (I don't know about sound really)
Good luck with it. I really advise you to use OpenGL
Edited by - Everquest on September 5, 2001 1:46:39 AM
When I used VB, I used DirectX. Simply because it's the first language I crossed, and because it has all the features needed for games. Later I saw some OpenGL, but it was really a pain with VB.
When I moved to C++ for more speed and control, I started with DirectX too, and bought a book. Although I had a lot of experience with it using VB (it's almost the same, code's just a bit bigger now
) I still found it hard. Then I found NeHe. I immediatly started using OpenGL when I heard impressive games where made with it (Quake III, Half-Life) and I found it's much easier to use than DirectX. (only the setup code in the first lesson was hard, the rest of code is really self-explaining) I'm creating an engine with it now, and it goes pretty well. The engine is better than all my VB / DirectX engines and everything I created with C++ / DirectX. I'm going to buy the OpenGL superbible 2nd edition, OpenGL game programming and a C++ book soon, to become an OpenGL master because this language is really powerfull and has a future (though it's much easier to use than DirectX)
Oh, and for Input and Sound, you can integrate it with DirectX easily, and the input code is not so hard (I don't know about sound really)
Good luck with it. I really advise you to use OpenGL
Edited by - Everquest on September 5, 2001 1:46:39 AM
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement