Paladin:
Yes it will run slower since it validates all parameters etc. Its not that much slower though - an app running at 60Hz will probably still run at 60Hz...
However, the main place you''ll see slowdown is in D3D components (though Max Payne seemed ok on my 1.3Tbird at home in debug!).
For that reason, when you install the Debug runtime, if you look at the control panel applet, under the D3D debug settings, you''ll see a radio button to choose between Retail and Debug D3D... so it needn''t cause any (noticable) performance drop in games.
--
Simon O''Connor
Creative Asylum Ltd
www.creative-asylum.com
DirectX debug mode, is it really worth using?
I''d say the importance of the DX debug libs is akin to the importance of anaesthetic during a lung transplant.
Thats pretty damn important.
T
Thats pretty damn important.
T
It''s better to install the debug runtimes in any case, because the retail ones are installed with it, and you can switch to retail at any time. If you install the retail runtimes, I don''t believe you can switch to debug.
Author
Okay I bit the bullet and reinstalled DirectX SDK in debug mode..... but umm... I have no debug controls in my control panel. I thought it appeared there? Not to mention the problems I had installing the SDK from the programming RPG''s with DirectX book, it never installed 95% of the files. So I used the directX 8 SDK from another disk I have which did install correctly and I find that there is no control anywhere over the levl of debugging. Anyone have any idea why this might happen? Before anyone asks, yes I did uninstall the previous SDK installation first!
You need to install the newest DXSDK. If you have DX 8.1 and you install DXSDK 8.0, then DXSDK won''t overwrite the 8.1 runtime. You probably can just install 8.1 ''developer runtime'' (see componentized download on MS site, if they have it), but I would recomment that you install the whole 8.1 SDK at least because of the improved D3DX.
I thought I might as well resurrect this useful thread rather than start a new one, in this age of no search facility.
Yeah... I get this on some commercial games when I have the debug versions installed
But I always had problems running fullscreen DirectX apps under the debugger... if it crashes then generally I''m back in the debugger with a fullscreen DX app blocking the view. I usually have to Ctrl-Alt-Del out of this, which sometimes gets me out of MSVC, but just as often reboots the computer. Which is why I usually use Execute rather than Debug. How come no-one else gets these issues?
[ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost | Asking Questions | Organising code files | My stuff ]
quote:Original post by S1CA
2. Default values for empty buffers - for example debug DSound fills sound buffers with static/white noise so that you can tell whether your code is playing a buffer before filling it with data.
Yeah... I get this on some commercial games when I have the debug versions installed
quote:4. Proper "English" descriptions of *WHY* a DirectX call failed sent to your debug output window, much more information than just what the error code, instead exact details of why D3D decided that error code was appropriate. You can also tailor the level of messages for each component to suit your needs.
But I always had problems running fullscreen DirectX apps under the debugger... if it crashes then generally I''m back in the debugger with a fullscreen DX app blocking the view. I usually have to Ctrl-Alt-Del out of this, which sometimes gets me out of MSVC, but just as often reboots the computer. Which is why I usually use Execute rather than Debug. How come no-one else gets these issues?
[ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost | Asking Questions | Organising code files | My stuff ]
quote:Original post by S1CA
2. Default values for empty buffers - for example debug DSound fills sound buffers with static/white noise so that you can tell whether your code is playing a buffer before filling it with data.
quote:Original post by Kylotan
Yeah... I get this on some commercial games when I have the debug versions installed
Is that what that *pfsshhhh* sound is when you start up a game that uses a DirectSound library? It happened on UT1 all the time, and then it started happening on my game, and I just said to myself "Oh well, if it happens to Unreal Tournament, it must be unavoidable!" Now I know...at least none of my non-devver players had this issue
Peace,
ZE.
//email me.//zealouselixir software.//msdn.//n00biez.//
miscellaneous links
quote:Original post by Kylotan
But I always had problems running fullscreen DirectX apps under the debugger... if it crashes then generally I''m back in the debugger with a fullscreen DX app blocking the view. I usually have to Ctrl-Alt-Del out of this, which sometimes gets me out of MSVC, but just as often reboots the computer. Which is why I usually use Execute rather than Debug. How come no-one else gets these issues?
I always debug in windowed mode. The differences between windowed and fullscreen mode are generally pretty minor. Another alternative is multi-monitor debugging. A lot of cards have dual outs now, and you don''t need a great monitor for the debugger.
Stay Casual,
Ken
Drunken Hyena
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