DirectX 10 - Think Your Ready?

[gord]

Well, it seems to be that DirectX 10 will not be backwards comptable with 9,8,7. WHOA!!, you might say, but hold up there. Rumours are that there will be software emulation included at the expense of system resources.

What does this mean for all of us. DirectX 10 will offer the next big leap, pixel shader 4.0, new DLL library structure and less CPU dependence. However if your running a DX9 based rig, dont expect amazing performance in these next gen titles.

What sort of divides do you think this will create in the communities. I mean, they havnt entirely stopped 9,8,7, but there seems to be a definite push by microsoft to draw the line and start again.

In my eyes this is no bad thing. I think evolution of technology is all very good, but sometimes we need a revolution in order to really advance. Im pretty sure this will not be apparent in the short term but the long term will undoubtedly prove bright.

 

[gord]

*yawn*

What is wrong with DX 9 exactly. Personally I find bringing out a new DX version every year or two to be stupid and unneccesary, but there ya go. Pixel Shader 1, 2, 3, 4, 500.. yeah whatever.

Aye well, thankfully many people like to push the boundaries and advance further. Depending on your opinion of wrong, there is nothing 'wrong' with DX9, it works, but how efficiently and with enough functionality and scalability to allow graphics to reach the ultimate level of realism? I think not.

Your personal opinion is unfortunately flawed in terms of 'stupid and unnecessary'. If you want a visual demonstration of early use of DirectX10 then take a look at the Crysis video. From the makers of FarCry their next engine is supposedly directX10 based and i for one think it looks a great deal better than at least the old farcry, which was far from ugly. Some people would probably say they dont think it looks much better. Infact, i have a feeling about your opinion.

Check it out and report back.

So what exactly is DX10 going to do that DX9 can't do, and I mean in layman's terms rather than technical talk of pixel shaders and other stuff that sends me to sleep.

Well, going on that video which is easiest to explain. Almost all of the functionality shown there CAN be done in DX9. HA!, i hear you say. However depending on your opinion of CAN the functionality changes. Its all very well being able to make it work at a few fps, but DX10 seems to be reorganising the its structure for improved efficiency, time saving, while rendering scenes and taking a load off the central processor. Thats the best laymans terms i can think of right now, due to DirectX10 being a technical piece of software it would be best to use an analogy, which is best formed with detailed knowledge of the software, naturally i dont have this.

Hope this clears it up for you. And remember to check out that video. Its very impressive for an early build.

 

[gord]

I haven't seen the video but regardless of how good it looks, it doesn't prove to me that it couldn't be done in DX9. If you raise the minimum system requirements for Crysis above what they were for Far Cry then obviously you can achieve more.

Almost all of the functionality shown there CAN be done in DX9. HA!, i hear you say

I hate to quote myself after ive posted, as it indicates to me that you are not reading my post properly. Nevertheless, ive orchestrated it so that you will have to read my above post to gain any sense from the quote.

How many games make full use of DX9 anyway? Most games still cater for DX8 cards and as was just pointed out to me, DX9 has been around for about four years.

We were told that DX9 would be amazing yet to me games look little better than with DX8. What do we get, a subtle difference in how water is rendered in Half Life 2 between DX8 and 9 and stuff like that. Woo hoo.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/567/567437p1.html

Take a look at that, i tried to find you the decent res crysis video aswell, but gamershell seem to have a problem with that file... i imagine its other places too though.

IGN clearly describe differences, with images to back up the improvements. True it isnt gargantuan improvements, but thats the point of my original post. DX10 is dropping the older incarntations in order to bring us a leap.

 

[gord]

Okay I watched this video, is this the one?

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/694/694190/vids_1.html

Nothing to get excited about there.

Aye thats the one although, thats low res. A pure beauty, its absolutely awesome. The foliage interaction, the real time day/night cycle with that scale of map and lighting. The fantastic shadows of the foliage. All in relatively decent frames.

You *Yawn* at the prospect of DX10, i can understand the stereotypical nature of Microsoft rolling out another update. However this indeed seems to be a big change.
As people are pointing out, it is most likely games will include the ability to just play with DX9 features etc if thats the best your card can handle and so forth.

 

[gord]

I think IGN exaggerates the differences between DX8 and 9 in those HL2 screenshots - saying there is a 'world' of difference etc - I think the average man in the street wouldn't agree. I am a PC geek and I can hardly tell the difference except when it's pointed out to me and I look hard!

You digress, i clearly stated.

True it isnt gargantuan improvements, but thats the point of my original post. DX10 is dropping the older incarntations in order to bring us a leap.

If we can keep on track with the DX10 upgrade.

 

[gord]

I just wish game developers would put gameplay first, and then put a 60fps+ smooth framerate with zero stuttering or slowdown second. Fancy features should come third but all too often it seems they have the order reversed.

Your impossible, can. worms. everywhere.

In succinct off topic notation. I agree, nevertheless, did you not enjoy FarCry? At least the single player experience.

 

[gord]

My point is that when DX10 is released, we will see a new era of PC gaming and we will extinguish the console presence and doubt of who rules in the gaming community, as we all know that DX is the factor between the X-Box games & the PC games

Hmmm. The xbox 360 and only the 360 is directx generation compatable. Part of the sly coding i think from Microsoft and Ati. But xbox 360 can be directX10 compliant.

As opposed to current rumours about PS3, as that uses a modified 7800 chip which is solely DX9.