JA is a direct x 9 game, but i don't see any special direct x9 effects. what are some of the effects that JA uses? To me, it seems identical to JO, which is a direct x 8 game.
Hmm, well, I really can't answer you there. Doesn't make much sense to me, but it uses the Quake engine. But DirectX works in ways not always apparent to you. Like FPS enhancements.
Not being a DX programmer I can't tell you all the technical details, but JA does have some graphical features that JK2 doesn't.
One of them is shaders applied to third person models, another is dynamic glow, then there's dynamic lighting on weapons (sabers casting glow on things, not just a sprite under your feet), anisotropic (sp?) filtering, footprints (and like effects), model scarring (saber burns and blaster scoring on players and enemies), "transparency effects" (Cloaking Shields, Force Push/Pull effects)... there's probably more I missed.
That and they upped the polycounts (IIRC) of stuff and upped the limits on objects in maps (making stuff like Siege possible).
Maybe some of those were possible in JK2, they just weren't implemented in the game.
JA, like all other Quake III powered games, doesn't use DirectX for it's graphics. It uses OpenGL. JA does have graphical improvements over JKII, taking advantage of OpenGL 1.4 features. The Dynamic Glow is one of these, as is some special mapping stuff that was used on the weapons to make them look better...I'm not that familiar with the specific stuff that JA uses, so I can't really give a very good list of new graphical features.
I also dont see much difference with any directx versions. But JA and JO are both different games, but JO is older so it uses an old directx, JA is new so it uses the new directx 9.0. Although they both use the same engine.
JA, like all other Quake III powered games, doesn't use DirectX for it's graphics. It uses OpenGL. JA does have graphical improvements over JKII, taking advantage of OpenGL 1.4 features. The Dynamic Glow is one of these, as is some special mapping stuff that was used on the weapons to make them look better...I'm not that familiar with the specific stuff that JA uses, so I can't really give a very good list of new graphical features.
Ha! I can't believe I forgot about that. Well anyway... just pretend I said OpenGL then.
So what's the answer to his question? Why does JA need DX9?
Originally posted by Kurgan
So what's the answer to his question? Why does JA need DX9?
DirectX is used for the Sound and Input...I guess it must use some DirectX 9.0 features for input, since in the readme it says: "Input Device: Keyboard and mouse required. 100% DirectX 9.0a-compatible joystick or gamepad (optional)."
Originally posted by Kurgan
Ha! I can't believe I forgot about that. Well anyway... just pretend I said OpenGL then.
So what's the answer to his question? Why does JA need DX9?
Heh, if you noticed, as more and more new games and as the months and years go by, better graphics and new games require newer directx. :D
Originally posted by Kurgan
Not being a DX programmer I can't tell you all the technical details I am a DirectX programmer, at least as a hobby. DirectX 9 has some major feature additions for graphics, such as line antialiasing, support for sphere texture mapping, support for displacement mapping, along with API improvements and new tools. This, of course, doesn't matter with JA, as it uses OpenGL :)
JA uses DirectInput and DirectSound. The improvements with version 9 in DirectInput are mostly for compatibility reasons. For DirectSound, 9 mainly involves performance enhancements, along with a few API changes. Some of the performance improvements include increased maximum frequency of sound buffers and improved frequency and effects controls.
Also note that in the graphics department, many or most video cards do not support a lot of the new features provided by DirectX 9, so you likely won't see them in games for a little while yet.
yea, i love how the latest breed of vid cards are being toted as dx9 complient when they in fact, arnt much of the time :)