Direct X help

[fartman_900]

i went to this site http://www.directx4vb.com/ and just look around. Under the DirectX 7 it has direct draw, music, sound, etc...
and DirectX 8 it has DX graphics, audio, etc..

my question is: what is the diff. between DX 7 and 8? Can i use Direct Draw, sound, etc. in DX 8.1 or only in DX7?

[KingDavid]

Direct X 7 is in Direct X 8, so any thing in direct direct x 7 is in directX 8. The only thing is if you're looking for Direct Draw documantation you will have to get direct x 7 Docs

[Zaei]

DirectX 8.x has removed DirectDraw support from the API (you can still use DDraw7, but there is no DDraw8). There have also been many changes to D3D8, and it has become more similar in function naming to OpenGL. In the end, if you want 2D, use DX7, else, DX8.

Z.

[fartman_900]

well i am mostly going to do 2D games so what i read is that i should get DX 7 for DDraw and the rest, right?

[KingDavid]

No! Once dirct X 8 is on your computer its on there till you reformat your hard drive.

[Zaei]

Originally posted by KingDavid
No! Once dirct X 8 is on your computer its on there till you reformat your hard drive.

There is no problem with this. DirectX is a fully backwards-compatible API, which means that, though your DirectX version is 8.1, you COULD program for DirectX 3 for example. In the end, it is usually best to upgrade to the latest version a month or so after it comes out, just to keep on top of things.

Z.

[fartman_900]

that still doesnt answer my question.

Can i program DDraw7 with DX 8.1? If not, how can i program with DDraw7?

[Zaei]

You can program with DDraw7 with any version of DirectX 7 or above.

Z.

[abdul]

You CAN program in Directx 7, as Zaei said, using Directx 7 interface. When you are declaring your main Directx object or some other Direct3D, DirectDraw, etc, you can use Directx 7 interface instead of the newest one.