Chapter 4 -- Direct3D for DirectX Applications

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Chapter 4

Now for the start of the fun stuff! At this point, we're ready to start creating the Microsoft Direct3D Immediate Mode portion of our program. In this chapter, we'll first examine the objects and interfaces available in Immediate Mode, and then we'll walk through the steps involved in creating the framework of an Immediate Mode application. After reading Chapter 3, you should feel comfortable with DirectDraw setup code. Just be sure to keep in mind that Direct3D is implemented as a COM interface to a DirectDraw object. Because of this, Microsoft calls the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) the DirectDraw/Direct3D HAL. In addition, Direct3D uses DirectDraw surfaces as the front and back buffers for displaying the 3D scene and as the z-buffer for rendering the 3D scene. Additionally, Direct3D textures are composed of DirectDraw surfaces and can use DirectDraw palettes.