It''s all about getting access to the video memory, and that''s what DirectX (specifically DirectDraw) allows you to do. You create a direct draw object, and then create "surfaces." Surfaces hold either bitmap data, or give you access to the screen. When you draw to the screen, you are modifying the video memory, using the surface pointer like an array. With access to the surface (video memory) you can render pixels, lines, polygons, bitmaps, or 3d shapes, or whatever you want to (using either libraries, or your own code).

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Jonathan Little
invader@hushmail.com
http://www.crosswinds.net/~uselessknowledge

It''s not *all* about getting access to video memory. You also have to get access to video card i/o ports for things like moniter refresh rates, hardware page flipping etc.

Old way of doing things was to control video through a combination of interrupts, direct memory access and port i/o.