Direct 2D vs Dx3D ..?

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    • Direct 2D vs Dx3D ..?

      I am wanting to make a GUI for a project that I am working on, hobby, non professional, I have just bought a new PC and have installed VS2012 on it running 64bit Windows 7..

      I came across some examples in the VS2012 documentation..and some were using DX2D.. I looked it up on MSDN.. and it says its very good for creating GUI and HUD for games.. Ofc I do not just want to take their word for it..

      So, anyone on here that has used DX2D for anything ? And if so whats your verdict..? Would you use DX2D, or stick with D3D..?


      Any information would be greatly apreciated..
    • Although I am an OpenGL user, Direct2D was deprecated in DirectX11 , you should really try to use the more up to date methods of doing things such as textured quads in D3D, where the alternative is texture blitting in Direct2D (correct me if I am wrong).

      That being said old technology is still good, it's just that something better has come along that SHOULD be used. For instance, I could use the very latest OpenGL version features in my game, but if I did that I would be cutting off many computers that could be playing my game, and for a 2D game the features don't outweigh the downside.

      I would say to try your hardest to learn to use Direct3D, it's not overly complicated however I would also like to suggest you try out OpenGL as a Direct3D alternative.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • If it serves your needs, you should definitely try windows form applications for your GUI projects. I think it would be much easier to work on and your GUI would be looking prettier. Another alternative is Qt. You could even run your games within your windows/qt forms if you wanted to but that's a different story( you can check chapter22 for this ) .
    • I second that Qt is a really great GUI system, it does have some quirks about it, but once you get the hang of it it is really one of the best out there.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • I am just gonna use DX3D..lol

      I have been reading about it the last few days and it just seems to be more trouble than its worth.. I mean it only works on Vista/Win7/8 anyway...

      And I guess I want to support XP as well...as apparently there are still many many many peoples using XP..Grrr.. lol
    • You could also consider using OpenGL which will let you cover way more devices than Direct3D
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • Yeah, I thought about it, but my OpenGL books are WAY out of date, and I cannot really aford to buy any new ones and the stuff I have found on the net is sparse and old to say the least..

      If I used it , I would want to use the latest version.. I haven't looked at it, yet..I know that its good as the company who I do Q&A for (For their RPGS) use OpenGL mainly (But also do a DX version for those that cannot or do not want to use OpenGL version)..

      But I have always hated that OpenGL is spread all over the place and isn't as nicely put together and all in one place like D3D/DirectX..

      Plus OpenGL is all C, procudural.. and I would rather have classes/OOP well at least some!.. Lol Like I said, I have never used OpenGL myself, but when I tried years ago, those were the things I really didn;t like about it.. Any info I ever found was always vbastly out of date, adn once you got past the how to draw a triangle there was nothing..
    • This is a really good series of tutorials on modern OpenGL practices.

      OGLDev
      ArcSynthesis

      Here are some that aren't quite as complete, but are still good

      Modern OpenGL

      I am an OOP guy, which is why it is strange that I prefer OpenGL over Direct3D, it's all a personal choice really. I just find I want to cover more platforms than Direct3D currently allows as I am a Linux user.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • In my current game I actually don't use a programmable pipeline as I wanted to be able to cover as many older computers as possible, for a 2D game it was ok, but I really enjoy using the programmable pipeline quite a bit more.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz