DX9 vs. DX10 Comparison in a video

[GlobalExplorer]

DX10 required => Vista required => moar vista sales!

[GSpector]

After watching the DX9 vs. DX10 video of PT Boat, all I can say is that I would be very happy with the DX9 version.

Other than a few particles, the biggest difference I saw was that the DX10 looked a lot brighter. In fact, I thought the ships looked to clean. Neither side seemed to use Anti-Aliasing. The cables on both sides looked equally bad and I can live with the water splash effect of DX9 even though DX10 did look better, I just thought it as odd that neither showed wakes for the Torpedoes.

It was nice to read that you can get promoted and get more responsibility but I'm not sure if you play just 1 person (like in SH4) or do you play the sailor you are controlling (like in B-17, the Mighty Eighth) where each crewman can get promoted and decorated whether you control them or not.

I'd like to know if each person on your crew can earn decoration? Graphics are fine for me as long as there is a good career model.

And when are we going to get more then just the 6 basic hero medals. MicroProse had 8 Ribbons as well as the 6 Hero Medals (that 14 awards) way back in F-117a Stealth Fighter, B-17 TM8th had 13 awards (not all medals). I am feeling cheated in my navel careers . I know the graphics keep getting better by why do the Decorations get shorter and shorter?

Even F-14 Tomcat (back on the C=128) had a Demotion video where your Commanding Officer would rip your Wings right off your uniform if you were bad enough. Where is "that" kind of detail now? It's al about the Graphics & Flying etc... now, not the players hard work.

[GlobalExplorer]

Originally Posted by GSpector

After watching the DX9 vs. DX10 video of PT Boat, all I can say is that I would be very happy with the DX9 version.

After watching the DX9 vs. DX10 video I have lost interest in the game whatsoever. A completely uninspired blend of explosions, flashes and water effects.

[GSpector]

Originally Posted by GlobalExplorer

After watching the DX9 vs. DX10 video I have lost interest in the game whatsoever. A completely uninspired blend of explosions, flashes and water effects.

That all may be true but compared to DX10, I was happy with DX9. I am not about to upgrade my OS and Graphics Card for the difference.

[Frederf]

My understanding was that DX10 is more designed around reducing developer effort and remove esoteric practices present in current DX9 programming. DX10 apparently is hampered by the requirement for DX10 dedicated hardware, DX10 dedicated programming, and DX10 dedicated playback all of which are not used in anything commercially viable. Hardware is mainly DX9 based with sub-optimal DX10 capability tacked on, games are made with DX9 in mind and then ported to a DX10 process. Also I hear that DX10's benefits won't truly become apparent until the average graphical demand raises a notch or two.

DX9 vs DX10 comparisons are highly unlikely to be objective or meaningful. Nvidia or Microsoft produced examples are going to be unscientifically skewed toward marketing the "DX10 jump" and small-scale comparisons will be using unsuitably compromised comparison material.

The primary goal when development of DX10 was, and this is really sad, is too make it simpler for console developers to port there games over. The Xbox 360 is based around DX10 or vice-versa, however you choose to look at it. Thats the reason the driver cabnet for DX10 is seperate from any hard code in vista. DX10 does offer benefits when it comes to advanced lighting options such as HDR and better AA (think a super-multisample). Right now the only game that uses some of DX10's options is crysis and even that isn't a great example.

[Lionman]

Hmmmmm. My OS is VISTA Ultimate Edition running on an ASUS MOBO, with a Quad-Core Intel CPU, 4 GB RAM, nVidia 8800 GTX GPU, Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Platinum SPU and MATROX TripleHEad2Go running a 3 screen surround gaming monitor display, so DX10 should run automatically in games that support it, shouldn't it? (This rig will run FSX with all sliders maxed out.)

The things is how do I know if a game IS running DX 10 on my rig? i.e. Apart from Belarc & DXDiag both of which I've run, is there some system monitor function that reveals which DX a particular game is running on one's PC?

So far I haven't got SH III or SH IV to run across 3 screens. Does anyone on Sub Sim with a TripleHead2Go know a fix?

I suffer more than a touch of OCD so accurate detail is critical for immersion for me. things like AI rather than randomly scripted sea gulls, fish shoals & sharks underwater that react to the proximity of ships and combat. So I was really delighted to see the AI crew running about on the decks, jumping overboard and swimming away from sinking ships! I wonder if they'll have oil blackened life-jacketed crew floating in the water and waving and crying for rescue, or floating bodies, oil slicks and flotsam after a sinking. It's these little things that make all the difference. if the detail is all there, you can always de-tune the sharpness with fog or mist to avoid the "plastic model" factor. I believe in a few years these battle simulators will be almost indistinguishable from WW2 documentary movies and cut scenes will blend in seamlessly.

But it isn't all just a matter of technology and hardware. This is a new artform and it needs artists to move it forward a generation. Although IMO his products are starting to look quite dated now and by the time it finally (if ever) comes out Battle of Briatin Storm of War will look pretty dated, Oleg Maddox was one of those pioneering artists. Singlehanded, along with his exceptional team, he took the combat flight simulator market away from mighty Microsoft.