WinXP Running DirectX Version 10

[TopcatWA]

Has anybody tried running SH4 with the new version of DirectX 10 on WinXP O/S? Although Microsoft have said it is only supported with Vista O/S, there is a version out that works well with WinXP O/S. Looking at the data found here:
http://www.techmixer.com/download-directx-10-for-windows-xp/

It certainly does make a difference to the graphics. I have given it a try & from what I can see it does improve things. :up:

[LeeVanSpliff]

Uhh that is good news indeed. Goodbye final reason to use Vista :)

Have you had any problems using it?

Will install later today when I have time.

[CDR Resser]

Sounds interesting. Could you post a screenshot to demostrate the difference. I would love to see one.

Respectfully Submitted;
CDR Resser

[Peto]

I'll be following this closely. However--being a little paranoid by nature :shifty: --I will probably not jump aboard right away. I looked at the link and was left with the question as to whether or not this DX10 version will still require an 8000+ version of video card?

Over-all--very interesting :hmm:. And thank you for the post!

Peto

[Digital_Trucker]

What I gathered from it and the comments and the linked "forum" (mostly spam threads and a couple of posts asking what was going in with the development) was:

1) It's been abandoned by the company that started it
B) It does indeed require a DirectX 10 capable card (nVidia 8xxx or higher)
?) It either/alternately does or doesn't work with Crysis
square root of pi) It can cause your computer to get so fouled up you'd better have a restore point set before you install it
$) I never did figure out if it would do anything for SH4 since it's a DirectX9 game anyway

Guess, I'll pass until something a little more organized and documented shows up.

[Peto]

concur

[tomoose]

Looks interesting but as someone smarter than myself once said regarding computers: "never get the first edition of anything!!". ;) I'm still quite happy with 1.4+TMO+RSRD anyway.

[Farinhir]

$) I never did figure out if it would do anything for SH4 since it's a DirectX9 game anyway

There is the kicker. DX10 only improves DX10 games. I can not wait till I can build a DX10 capable computer (mine is actually dead... using housemates computer), then I will be able to play LotRO in DX10 and really be awed by the graphics (which are beautiful in DX9). As for this game, should be no improvement other than the fact that DX9 apparently runs better on Vista then on XP due to improved driver models.

source: http://dl.tv/2006/07/25/index.php

[Orion2012]

1. Yes you will still need a 8*** class (nvidia) card to run Dx10 compatible programs. Just because there have been unofficial versions designed to run on XP dosen't mean it will work with a dx9 card.

2. The reason DX10 is only supported by vista is the new way that graphics drivers are stored in the OS. In XP the driver cabnet that contains your graphics driver is not seperate from another other driver cabinet. In Vista (for DX10) the graphics driver cabninet is seperate meaning that when you have either a memory allocation error or stop error that would normally cause an unstable "core" (the input between the bios and windows) instead of the OS crashing, the driver cabinet will crash and restor the OS (the goal set forth was to allow 90% of all error to be a CTD instead of a core crash)

3. DX10 is still in a very early state, and not fully supported by any manufactore yet (MS stopped selling XP officially a couple weeks ago, so within a year that WILL change)

Lastly, I would highly recommend not doing this unless your very computer friendly. If it were feasible to run DX10 on XP MS would offically support it. Just my professional opinion, but to each his own.

[TopcatWA]

What do you guys use to paste your screenshots to? I've tried MS Paint but find the screenshot comes out a lot darker then the game viewed pic. Could this have something to do with the Gamma control setting in the game?

[seaniam81]

What do you guys use to paste your screenshots to? I've tried MS Paint but find the screenshot comes out a lot darker then the game viewed pic. Could this have something to do with the Gamma control setting in the game?
Just press ctrl-F11 and it'll take a screenshot and store it in your SH4 directory

[TopcatWA]

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l120/teddals/SH4Img3.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l120/teddals/SH4Img2.jpg


A couple of screenshots. As far as my screen goes the pics do seem to me to be more distinct & sharper prior to DirectX 10. This is my humble opinion only. So far after playing 2 more patrols since installation I've not had any problems whatsoever with running the game.

[Arclight]

2. The reason DX10 is only supported by vista is the new way that graphics drivers are stored in the OS. In XP the driver cabnet that contains your graphics driver is not seperate from another other driver cabinet. In Vista (for DX10) the graphics driver cabninet is seperate meaning that when you have either a memory allocation error or stop error that would normally cause an unstable "core" (the input between the bios and windows) instead of the OS crashing, the driver cabinet will crash and restor the OS (the goal set forth was to allow 90% of all error to be a CTD instead of a core crash)
Uhm, I'm no expert but that doesn't sound right. The only reason AFAIK why DX10 couldn't be backported to XP was because of "virtualisable video memory", a feature that was planned to be implemented in DX10 but never was. And since it never was, DX10 on XP is perfectly feasible, the only reason why it hasn't happened yet being that that would take away the only reason to switch to Vista... Typical M$ arm twisting IMHO. :hmm:
If it were feasible to run DX10 on XP MS would offically support it. :rotfl: Offcourse they wouldn't, I don't have to be an expert to figure that one out. No self-respecting gamer would switch to Vista if they did.

No offense, but I really think you're forgetting about the MS "comply or die" way of doing business. The number of competitors they actively drove out of business is ever growing, the company was build on the corpses of whoever stood in their way or formed a threat to their profits.

[Digital_Trucker]

@Arclight ditto to all of the above

@Teddals as far as the screenshots go, it would be extremely difficult to tell if there were any improvement unless you had before and after screenshots of approximately the same subject at the same time of day in the same weather.

I still have to wonder what good DirectX10 would do for a DirectX9 game. Perhaps someone who has a Vista/XP dual boot system with SH4 installed on both (if there is someone out there with such a set up) could tell us if there is any video quality improvement in Vista vs XP with the exact same hardware setup?

[Orion2012]

2. The reason DX10 is only supported by vista is the new way that graphics drivers are stored in the OS. In XP the driver cabnet that contains your graphics driver is not seperate from another other driver cabinet. In Vista (for DX10) the graphics driver cabninet is seperate meaning that when you have either a memory allocation error or stop error that would normally cause an unstable "core" (the input between the bios and windows) instead of the OS crashing, the driver cabinet will crash and restor the OS (the goal set forth was to allow 90% of all error to be a CTD instead of a core crash) Uhm, I'm no expert but that doesn't sound right. The only reason AFAIK why DX10 couldn't be backported to XP was because of "virtualisable video memory", a feature that was planned to be implemented in DX10 but never was. And since it never was, DX10 on XP is perfectly feasible, the only reason why it hasn't happened yet being that that would take away the only reason to switch to Vista... Typical M$ arm twisting IMHO. :hmm:
If it were feasible to run DX10 on XP MS would offically support it. :rotfl: Offcourse they wouldn't, I don't have to be an expert to figure that one out. No self-respecting gamer would switch to Vista if they did.

No offense, but I really think you're forgetting about the MS "comply or die" way of doing business. The number of competitors they actively drove out of business is ever growing, the company was build on the corpses of whoever stood in their way or formed a threat to their profits.
Trust me I know all about the die or comply business method as I drive into the Mountain View R&D center 7 days a week. Virtualizable Video memory hasn't been implimented yet meaning as of now, yes it is feasible to run DX10 on XP, but it's not a idea that has been given up on, its just not somthinge any video cards currently support.

DT: As far as posting pictures of DX9 and then DX10 on Sh4. I will do when I'm home (work) as I have dual boot into Vista/XP on XFX 9800 SLI. I'll have to install SH4 (anywhere but my programs folder) on vista as I use it mainly for work related activites. Although the difference should be miniscule, if not worse.

[Digital_Trucker]

DT: As far as posting pictures of DX9 and then DX10 on Sh4. I will do when I'm home (work) as I have dual boot into Vista/XP on XFX 9800 SLI. I'll have to install SH4 (anywhere but my programs folder) on vista as I use it mainly for work related activites. Although the difference should be miniscule, if not worse.

'Preciate that. I just have a hard time believing that DX10 could make SH4 look any better since the game won't run unless DX9 is installed (at least that's my understanding).

[Orion2012]

DT: As far as posting pictures of DX9 and then DX10 on Sh4. I will do when I'm home (work) as I have dual boot into Vista/XP on XFX 9800 SLI. I'll have to install SH4 (anywhere but my programs folder) on vista as I use it mainly for work related activites. Although the difference should be miniscule, if not worse.
'Preciate that. I just have a hard time believing that DX10 could make SH4 look any better since the game won't run unless DX9 is installed (at least that's my understanding).
No problem at all! And I don't see how it could look any better either since all the textures and such are Dx9 based, but will know in about 30 mins....

Edit: Still fighting with Vista on excepting SH4 as a program...it installed fine but dosent want to update to 1.5....

[TopcatWA]

OK. What I have done is reverted back to my O/S prior to DirectX10 (I have an image backup of my O/S with DirectX 9c), setup the game in a similar situation & time frame & taken a screenshot. Although the screenshot is a little brighter then the one taken with DirectX10 is doesn't appear to me to be as clear as my previous screenshot. I may be wrong but that is just my opinion.
I'll be interested to see how Orion2012 screenshots turn out.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l120/teddals/SH4Img4.jpg

[Digital_Trucker]

Me, too. Looking at the two shots side by side, it's hard for me to see a whole lot of difference (other than the brightness, which could be caused by all sorts of things), but I see them with my eyes and you with yours, so it's kind of a subjective thing when the qualities are as close as they are.

Edit :


Edit: Still fighting with Vista on excepting SH4 as a program...it installed fine but dosent want to update to 1.5....

[begin extreme sarcasm mode]
Vista be finicky? I can't imagine that:arrgh!:

[end extreme sarcasm mode]

[Orion2012]

Kinda got side-tracked on my camera business.....

Edit: This is driving me insane, I finally got the game to update and now whenever I do load it I get between 15-20FPS vs the 70-80 I was seeing running on XPSP2.

[Flamingboat]

I think it's lame microshaft is having Vista hold DX10 hostage. I don't think it would affect the Silent Hunter games because they have to be made to have DX10 graphics. Take Age of Conan for example, they advertised it as DX10 but haven't released that version for the game. So having DX10 or not is moot because it is based on the game.

[kriller2]

Well... I have just tried this after doing a backup of my system and... IT WORKS! :D downloaded all the files and copied the files to my win/system32 after that I downloaded the second link Directx10 for winxp said yes to the russian disclaimer in the Directx setup installed and folowed this guideline to hack Crysis to work with very high settings, using this guideline:

1. In the BIN folder look up both files CryRenderD3D9.dll and CryRenderD3D10.dll

2. Rename them, switching names between them.

3. Then go to your Crysis shortcut on the desktop and right click properties.

4. Add the shortcut “_DX10″ at the end (without quotes).

For example:
“C:\Crysis\Bin32\Crysis.exe” _DX10

try this and if this don't work try this instead (this worked for me!!)
C:\Crysis\Bin32\Crysis.exe” -DX10 (add the -DX10 at the end of the target.)

Suddenly I can choose very high in Crysis and it realy works, that's incredible!

My GFX-card is an X3850 running in Win XP3 with Crysis on very high settings :cool: (but still says it's runing DX9 if I type r_displayinfo=1 in the console.)

[kriller2]

Tried Crysis some more and the graphics is.. wow! looks much better and my FPS is at 20-25 that's better than before and with very high :p screenshots! (look the info says DX9, but if you look at the graphics you can clearly see the difference from DX9)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7769/dx10onxpvp3.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dx10onxpvp3.jpg)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/632/dx10onxp2nc2.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dx10onxp2nc2.jpg)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6928/dx10onxp3tq5.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dx10onxp3tq5.jpg)

[Orion2012]

The only question is, can the same be done with DX11.

[kriller2]

The only question is, can the same be done with DX11.

I hope so, but M$ will probaly do what they can to prevent this and force the users to buy a new OS and gfx-card again to run DX11.. :nope:

[Arclight]

I'm running crysis on very high as well, don't need DX10 for that at all. Used a different method (replaced the high settings with the very high ones), but I bet I've got the same results. Crysis is probably the worst game to try this on since you can run very high without DX10 anyway.

Sorry, still not convinced. :down: