making a game...

[Duthomhas]

Back to the OP...

"DirectX" is now considered an older technology which is being replaced by "Direct3D". Likewise, the very excellent .X file format is not supported by current Microsoft tools... but there is a very nice Open Source version you can find here
http://www.kwxport.org/kwxport-1.4.1

It should help you significantly.

Good luck!

[AngelHoof]

Wait.. What, DirectX = old technology?

[z05DSL3A]

Microsoft wrote:

DirectX® 11, the next generation of graphics technology, arrives with Windows 7...

http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/aboutGFW/pages/directx.aspx

Isn't DirectX the umbrella name for Direct3D, DirectSound, et al?

[helios]

Yes, it is. I think What Duoas meant was that almost all of the development goes to D3D, which makes sense, since graphics technology has grown orders of magnitude faster than other technologies involve in game development.

[Incubbus]

As far as I remember, the important parts of DirectX (for nowadays) are:

1. As everyone said, Direct3D
2. The new Direct2D
and the DirectX Tool Libraries
(4. Maybe DirectInput, but I already read an article by Microsoft, that it is depricated, and everything should be handled through usual Window messages [I don´t get why, because exclusive access does not work with Window Messages, does it??])


Everxthing else works (for backwards compatibility), but is not recommended for future use...