Cliffs of XP

[Codex]

Originally Posted by zanzark

I don't see the point of developing a game for DX9, nor the point of NOT using Windows 7.

Just to clarify your statement, you can't actually escape DX9 or DX8 for that matter when developing games for DX11. The reason is that each DX version is not a complete overhaul, it's just an incremental addition of features.

For example if I wanted hardware tessellation then I need to use the DX11 function calls to do it, however if I wanted to read the joystick states and apply force-feed back, under DX11 specifications, I would still be using the DX8 DirectInput function calls which haven't changed since being introduced since 2000, or under XNA (C#) I'd be using DX9's XInput which came in 2002.

What I'm trying to say is if you develop a game saying it's DX11 you can, with very little effort ensure it also runs under DX9.

With regards to CloD, and the requirement to have .NET4.0 installed, I think CloD's main game code sits in the managed space but all the graphics routines are done in the unmanaged space. This can slow things down a little, but reduces the possibility of memory leaks (not eliminate) and the need to manage garbage collection.