Conclusion

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In this chapter, you learned what types of primitives are available in Direct3D and how to use them to create 3D objects. You also learned about render states and discovered how to use them when rendering primitives. You then saw how to apply Gouraud and specular interpolants when rendering primitives to make them look more realistic. Finally, you looked at all the code required to create a running application, which specified and rendered a complex 3D scene.

Chapter 7 covers all the DirectInput capabilities needed to enable keyboard and joystick input. (In DirectInput terminology, a joystick device can be a traditional joystick, a steering wheel, or any number of other controlling devices.) Although this book focuses on Direct3D, when developing a complete 3D application, it's almost always critical to provide some form of control and input capability. In addition to covering all the code needed to implement and enable keyboard and joystick input, you'll learn how to implement force feedback—an intriguing capability provided on many new devices that lets your application mimic real-world forces.

By covering how to use input devices in Direct3D applications before discussing how to add additional 3D content, I'll show you how to set up your program to allow for manual control of motion through the scene as you add content to it. You'll be able to render and move through your 3D world easily to verify that it looks as you expect it to.