Getting Started

So now that we've got a little groundwork information, we have enough information to actually get started writing some Managed DirectX applications! Before you begin writing the next big game using Managed DirectX, there are a few things you need to have.

First, you will need a source code editor and the runtime environment. I would recommend Visual Studio.NET 2003, as that is what Microsoft supports. Regardless of what editor you use, you will need version 1.1 of the .NET runtime, which you can install from the included CD (it also comes automatically with Visual Studio.NET 2003).

Next you will need to have the DirectX 9.0 SDK Update developer runtime installed. I would recommend installing the DirectX 9.0 Software Development Kit Update located on the included CD. This will give you the developer runtime, as well as many other samples, and documentation on Managed DirectX.

The graphics samples in the first few chapters should run on just about any modern graphics card. However, later samples will require a more advanced video card, capable of using vertex and pixel shaders. The geForce3 and above should be sufficient for these samples; however, I would recommend a card capable of using the shader model 2.0 (Radeon 9700 and above).

Before we actually delve into Managed DirectX coding, there are some things it will be assumed you know. If you are new to programming in general, this book probably isn't for you. The book is targeted for developers who already have general programming experience and are looking for information on building rich multimedia applications using Managed DirectX. The code written in the text of this book will be C#, but the included CD will also contain versions of the code written in Visual Basic.NET.

The included CD contains the DirectX 9.0 SDK Update, as well as all of the source code discussed in this book, both in C# and Visual Basic.NET. You will also find the .NET runtime version 1.1 included as well. You can download the DirectX 9 SDK Update or the .NET runtime at http://msdn.microsoft.com as well.

With these things out of the way, we are ready to start using Managed DirectX. Now, we just need to figure out how to actually write the code for this next big game.