>IMHO, DX is far inferior compared to OpenGL.I ma glad you finally acknowledge it is your opinion only.>and DX obviously isn't doing that.But then again you make statements as if they were absolutes and they aren't. It 'obviously' is your opinion only.Mchael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/for...argo_hauler.gifhttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg

>You would think MS would give>us the option to run FS in either DirectX or OpenGL.>Obviously, my choice would be OpenGL. Just my 2 cents...The only thing "obvious" is that you aren't a programmer. Adding such a "choice" wouldn't be as simple as adding a tickbox to a GUI... ;)Not only would the entire core engine need to be completely recoded, but every add on gauge would have to be recoded as well!Friend, that just ain't gonna happen!

Yeah, it might be a bit of work, but ultimately, I think we'd see much better results, especially when combining the other parts of the sim such as weather calculations, etc. It seems to me, that OpenGL is much lighter when it comes to system requirements than DX is which would ultimately help free up a lot of the bottlenecks. Yeah, I've checked out X-Plane, and for the mostpart, it does run much smoother without all of the jerky pauses we see in FSX. I think that right there is a good demonstration of what could be achieved with FS. I'm not knocking DX entirely, but what I am saying is, I think for some applications, DX isn't the best option. Flightsims being one of those. For some, it might be great, but when factoring in everything else, it falls behind dramatically. When saying that every add-on gauge would have to be re-coded, etc., I think that could happen through some sort of conversion process with little to no work involved. All kinds of formats are converted all the time, and they work out great. It's basically just like translating one language to another. People want actual lights that light the ground, buildings, etc., OpenGL is the best option to do that with. In summary, if you want to squeeze 2 pounds of #*it through a 1 pound bag, you need to open up it up; DX isn't doing that. I guess we'll have to wait and see what DX10 has to offer, but after what I've seen and become so acustomed to out there, I'm definitely not going to count my chickens before they hatch.

>When saying that every add-on gauge would have to be re-coded, etc., I>think that could happen through some sort of conversion>process with little to no work involved. All kinds of formats>are converted all the time, and they work out great. It's>basically just like translating one language to another.Now I know you've never even written a simple "Hello World" program... :-outta

>Yeah, it might be a bit of work, but ultimately, I think we'd>see much better results, especially when combining the other>parts of the sim such as weather calculations, etc.Out of curiosity, how well does OpenGL handle sound and input and network connectivity? Ok, well DirectX isn't exactly brilliant in that last one, but the point is, DirectX won because it is a complete multimedia and game API.

You know Bill, I didn't exactly come on here to be flamed by you. I put this topic for discussion, not sarcasm or flaming. If I had wished it to be for negativity, I think it would've been more of a complaint topic, not a discussion on suggestion.

>You know Bill, I didn't exactly come on here to be flamed by>you. I put this topic for discussion, not sarcasm or flaming.>If I had wished it to be for negativity, I think it would've>been more of a complaint topic, not a discussion on>suggestion.You titled your thread "Will MS ever learn" and didn't expect negativity?

Um, looking at the latest games that are being released such as Gears of War (Unreal 3 engine) and Crysis, it's obvious that DX is an excellent graphics API.Like someone else has said, DX10 will be much improved. I know for a fact that DX10 WILL be far better than any OGL API to date. Even my friend Daniel who's a game developer and is a fan of OGL acknowledges this.James

HeheOWNED!James

Depends on how you look at it. Most of the topics around here are of a negative conotation, so you may read it as that. However, you should never judge a book by it's cover. :)

Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see. Based on previous releases, I'm not going to count my blessings before they happen. I'm just not too optimistic based on what's happened before with MS, and that goes far beyond FS. I recall when Win95 made it's debut. All the hype that surrounded that, and ultimately, was the worst operating system with major bugs, etc.

"It seems that with each release, everyone has to go out and buy a new computer which gets to be rather expensive, and counter-productive to say the least." I won't get into the DirectX/OpenGL debate here but why would upgrading one's computer be "counter-productive"? Lets not forget that most of us are serious gamers who upgrade our rigs as a hobby and to "have the very best" that we can afford. I would upgrade every few months if I could afford it and if you think every two years is asking too much (the life cycle of the flight sim editions) then I think you are not looking at the bigger picture here. Most games that I purchase have settings higher than my rig can handle and I know that in time I will be able to run these same games with the best of everything down the line. ...............Randy J. Smith................CAUTION! My views represent no one but my own. While I do help companies test products - this in no way means I represent them in ANY fashion.[h4]Evolution is a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations[/h4]

Regardless which API is the 'better' one: We won't see OpenGL for FS. DX is a Microsoft API and any expectations of MS releasing a game with OpenGL support would be the same as expecting MS to develop a game for Linux. It ain't gonna happen and therefore the suggestions are pointless.Pat

>Regardless which API is the 'better' one: We won't see OpenGL>for FS. DX is a Microsoft API and any expectations of MS>releasing a game with OpenGL support would be the same as>expecting MS to develop a game for Linux. It ain't gonna>happen and therefore the suggestions are pointless.>>PatReminds me of the time a friend first introduced me to APIs back when 3DFX and Voodoo cards were the rage. He was an FPS gamer who loved OGL and Glide....he told the story that MS made the decision to build their own DX API to eliminate the competition of the other APIs. If true, then there is no reason to expect MS to ever support another API but its own:-)

funny joke tdragger.