I''m developing a driving game using Direct X, I''ve just got DX7 in 24 hours, and the dummies book because I''m new to Direct X and win32 programming. Here''s my position - I know I can write all the physics and handling routines and I have plenty of ideas on how to handle interaction with the 3d world, but my problem is with the 3d programming. (Isn''t that always the case?!) Before I even give up 24 hours of my valuable time to the DX7 book, I really need to know if I am heading in the right direction. I want a basic 3d engine that works on a model level, I can sort all my models quickly to limit the poly-count, and then pass them to the renderer. Are there any problems with this approach? As far as I can see Direct3D will sort the scene out from here, but am I relying on it too much, to give me a decent frame rate? A little bit of informed advice please and I''ll go away. (for a while...) Thanks for your time Matt

Using something like PowerRender would be so much easier. You would have support for more things and it would go really fast too.

If you don''t even understand Windows and DX yet, you should probably hold off on a 3D game. Start with something simple to at least get the hang of Windows and DX, then work your way up to that.

--TheGoop

Thanks GOOP, but that really isn''t an option!

What I''ve seen so far in the 24hr and Dummies books makes enough sense to me to not scare me off. I reckon I could manage the 2D DirectDraw stuff in a couple of days (and I might even try it when the need arises) but I really need a challenge otherwise I''ll get bored too quick!

I''m no stranger to writing 2d games on other platforms, I now work as a 3D CAD designer, and I''ve done some other 3D programming in DOS. I just need to stretch myself a bit..

Any answers to the original question?

Yeah the hardware z buffer is really fast so you should have no trouble with speed. But of course send it as little as possible and send it front to back as much as you can to minimize the drawing.