How to obtain DirectX8 RenderSystem?

TheGilb · Post by **TheGilb** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 4:38 pm

Hi everyone,

First I would like to say how utterly incredible OGRE is! It truly is by far and beyond the finest open source 3d game engine to date!

Anyway, praise out of the way I have a serious question. I need to check out the old DirectX8 RenderSystem from the CVS repository. How do I do this?

Also, if anyone has a clue, how much work would you estimate it would take to bring the DX8 RenderSystem in line with the engine?

Thank you for your time!

Antiarc · Post by **Antiarc** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 4:44 pm

I believe that the old DirectX 8 rendersystem was scrapped, since it contained too many inconsistencies and problems to make continued development worth it when the DirectX 7 and 9 rendersystems were both available. That could be wrong, however.

Banania · Post by **Banania** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:27 pm

Why would you want to do that ? You should use DirectX 9.

Anyway, I think Antiarc is right. If the DirectX8 RenderSystem exists somewhere, it must be way outdated.

TheGilb · Post by **TheGilb** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:28 pm

Yes the DX8 rendersystem was scrapped, but I need to resurrect it. CVS should keep a copy in the repository - in fact I've seen it in the repository, all I need to know is what command I need to use to retrieve it.

qsilver · Post by **qsilver** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:53 pm

Out of curiousity, why on earth would you want to use it? It seems like a huge (and unnessary) amount of work to bring back such an outdated piece of code.

FYI, the DX9 RenderSystem does not require a DX9-class graphics card; it only requires that the end-user have DirectX 9 installed. It's up to the application to use pixel shaders or not, and you can always define fallbacks if the hardware doesn't support your best (and most demanding) techniques.

Post by **sinbad** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:16 pm

You can get the old rendersystem by using the -D parameter and asking for a version when the Dx8 rendersystem still existed. You can find that out by browsing the web version of CVS, follow the link on the left hand side of www.ogre3d.org.

However, everyone is right. You'd be nuts to use it. It will need significant changes anyway, and Dx8 was a disgusting half-breed of a release, with a botched attempt at shader integration that just made a mess of several interfaces, whether you wanted to use shaders or not; like the tight binding of vertex shader and vertex declaration. It was a train-wreck of a version IMHO and I'm glad to see the back of it. Luckily they fixed the glaring design faults in D3D9.

Dx9 runs on older hardware, and the vertex formats are even arranged so that they're compatible with non-native D3D9 drivers too. And if you want really old card support, use D3D7. D3D8 just doesn't do anyone any favours.