Hi There! I have just registered and its nice to read such informative posts on the *beginners* forum. (y) Cheers to U guys for doing a great job and making this an intercative and information rich place! Now for the real problem: I am new to DirectX (any version) and like a fool I purchased a book in the *teach yourself series* but unfortunately that''s for DirectX7... (a) and it seems that there are many many changes between this and the new upgrade namely DirectX8! Is that correct?If so, can anyone give me good links to read about the differences so that I could code using DirectX7 for now and achieve the same results later on using the DirectX8 SDK? (Reply ASAP: It really is URGENT.. can''t emphasize that more) (b)Apart from the excellent tutorial at www.andypike.com/directx.. is there any other such online tutorial for a jump start?Also would it be correct to assume that Andy''s tutorial is one for starting with Direct3D(unlike books etc which start with DirectDraw as the foundation)? I request you to reply with appropriate pointers(not the C++ Variety) .Ist Aalmost a matter of life or death for me currently and any help is welcome. In distress and urgent need of help, Mons He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever

what i point you is too go for Teach yourself DirectX 7 in 24 h,I think it is downloadable. And then
go http://www.mvps.org/directx/support/book_support.htm
for the sourcecode and look good at the source code.
I could help you if you want to. DirectDraw is easy!

DirectX v7 is the last version to contain DirectDraw. As of DirectX v8.0, there is only DirectGraphics. This is mainly used for 3D. There are ways to do 2D with v8.0, but that is part of the learning curve. Since you already have the book that you bought, you can start with that and then move on from there.

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Make it work.
Make it fast.

"I’m happy to share what I can, because I’m in it for the love of programming. The Ferraris are just gravy, honest!" --John Carmack: Forward to Graphics Programming Black Book

I really don''t believe this is any more urgent than anyone else''s problem. Marking it as such is just being inconsiderate to other posters who are asking for help.

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Helpful links:
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way | Google can help with your question | Search MSDN for help with standard C or Windows functions

I hear ya siaspete.

Considering that popping in ddutil.h and referencing the article on here all about DirectDraw The Easy Way will have you up in oh 10 minutes.

Direct X has always been backwards compatible so you can always use Direct X 7.0 with out much of a problem. I wouldn''t worry too much unless your books on Direct3d.