October 2005 DirectX SDK is available!

The DirectXR Team is pleased to announce the release of the DirectX 9.0 SDK October 2005 Update! The October Update includes the first public release of the XInput SDK.  This SDK will allow game developers to fully support Xbox 360 Controller for Windows.  To download or learn more about this release please visit http://msdn.com/directx/sdk.  

Features added in the October 2005 DirectX SDK update

- XInput

XInput is an API that allows applications to receive input from the Xbox 360 controller for Windows. Controller rumble effects and voice input and output are supported.

For a quick start guide to using the XInput API, see "Getting Started With XInput", and the "XInput Reference". Four XInput Samples are available in the Sample Viewer. See "XInput Frequently Asked Questions" for answers to commonly-asked questions about XInput.

- Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT Beta)

XACT is an audio design tool and associated API that allow application designers and audio content designers to work together to bring vibrant sounds to games.

To access the XACT documentation, click the Start Menu, choose All Programs, Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK Update (October 2005), and select "Microsoft Audio Creation Tool Documentation".

To get started using the XACT design tool, click click the Start Menu, choose All Programs, Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK Update (October 2005), Utilities, and select "Microsoft Audio Creation Tool".

- Managed DirectX for Whidbey (Beta)

Included with the October 2005 DirectX SDK is the first support for the 2.0 Common Language Runtime in Managed DirectX. This assembly addresses the issues users were having with using Managed DirectX in Visual Studio 2005. It also includes new features designed to take full advantage of the features included in the 2.0 CLR such as generics.

To use the new assembly, load up Visual Studio 2005 (Beta 2 or later), and after creating a new project add a reference to "Microsoft.DirectX.dll" You may see multiple versions of this assembly depending on any past DirectX SDK's you've installed, so add the reference to the one with the version 2.0.900. The namespaces you'll find in this assembly are:

    o Microsoft.DirectX - Which includes all of the common math structures, as well as the new GraphicsBuffer class which replaces the GraphicsStream class from the original Managed DirectX

    o Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D - Direct3D and D3DX functionality

    o Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound - DirectSound functionality

    o Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput - Direct Input functionality

    o Microsoft.DirectX.XInput - The newly released XInput functionality
 

Besides support for the 2.0 CLR, this updated assembly has a number of new additions which we would love feedback on, including better performance, and a cleaner API.  Feedback can be given on the MSDN public forums for DirectX and Windows Game Development.  You can also offer feedback to directx@microsoft.com.

Note: Managed DirectX for Whidbey is an early beta; complete samples and documentation will be provided in a later release of the DirectX SDK.

- Samples and Tools

    o The DirectX Ops tool (see DirectX Ops (dxops.exe)) can accept an expression string, which contains a series of script commands, files and optional arguments. Each expression is built from one or more script commands. See "DirectX Ops Script Commands".

    o EffectEdit and Mesh Viewer are no longer shipped with the SDK. The equivalent functionality for these tools can be achieved by using the new DirectX Ops (dxops.exe) and DirectX Viewer (dxviewer.exe) tools.

    o Graphics Card Capabilities: A new chart containing a collection of the capabilities exposed by current drivers on a wide range of graphics hardware available on the market today is available in the SDK. To view it, use the DirectX SDK Sample Browser and search for "Graphics Card Capabilities".

Technical Article Updates

The article introducing the gaming experience on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 has been updated with a new section to help you make your application accessible using the Media Center interface. Two new corresponding samples, MCELauncher and MediaCenterGame, have been added to illustrate this. For more information see: "Installing Games on Windows XP Media Center Edition".

 




Answer this question

October 2005 DirectX SDK is available!

  • Carina S

    In the readme it says:
    Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D - Direct3D and D3DX functionality.

    Have you checked that out

  • vbtricks

     The ZMan wrote:
    The original question was regarding 2.0.900 (the .net 2.0 beta assemblies) which only has one reference to add: Microsoft.DirectX

    I heard back from Tom. About 40% of D3DX is missing from the assembly. Its unintentional due to a build error. So no cause for mass panic yet.

     

    lol, the SDK is released with 40% missing from d3dx.
    now that shows a good testing process :S

    Hope there will be a "DirectX SDK - October Again" release with this fixed, kind of need AllocateHierarchy etc

    Generic.GraphicsBuffer< T > is kwel


  • JohnMathewmathan

    Which bug was this Cursor flying off the end



  • Sandeep M S

    It would seem I'm wrong - I looked for the first 5 or 6 alphabetically...
    AllocateHierarchy, AnimationController, AnimationOutput, AnimationRootFrame

    None of which seem to exist in the new DLL and seemed to match what people were seeing.

    However a more random sampling e.g. BaseMesh, Base Effect, RenderToEnvironmentMap shows that some do exist in the new DLL. I guess I will await Tom's wisdom in the morning.



  • santosh kumar gupta

    > XACT is an audio design tool and associated API that allow application
    > designers and audio content designers to work together to bring
    > vibrant sounds to games.

    Seems that the XMA audio compression is not working. Anyone else have similar problems with the new XACT tool

    *Audio data seems to compress but nothing is audible after compression.

  • Whyer

    From the README file (also found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/sdk/):

    Note: Managed DirectX for Whidbey is an early beta; complete samples and documentation will be provided in a later release of the DirectX SDK.

    You can find more details about participating in Managed DirectX beta discussions at http://msdn.com/directx/beta (this page should be activated within a few hours of this post).


  • IONtheFROG

    After doing some analysis on the new assemblies its looking like it doesn't include any of the D3DX stuff which is all of the items on your list. I'm awaiting confirmation from Tom.

  • Microsoft_hates_me

    Concerning the new Whidbey dll: it claims to possess the functionality of DirectX, Direct3D, Direct3DX, I am curious if significant functionality has been lost.  For example, are the following classes removed from the API (because I cannot find them in the new 2.0.900 assembly):

    Frame
    AllocateHierarchy
    MeshContainer
    AnimationRootFrame
    MeshData
    SkinInformation
    BoneCombination
    AnimationController

    I understand that the API has changed significantly and functionality has moved to different classes etc (such as the GraphicsStream->GraphicsBuffer), and I am very excited to use the obvious improvments, but I cannot do that if my code is all broken.  I have looked at the 3 new Whidbey-converted samples, but the amount of documentation is FAR too small for me to diagnose these problems.  Another documentation file concerning just the differences between the Whidbey and non-Whidbey versions would be very useful.

  • Kristijan_M

    aye
  • Frank Hodgkinson

    Is there still plans on fixing the managed sampleFramework textbox control, I do understand that it is prob not on the top ten list of things to do with the sdk but was just wondering.
    thanks

  • pdb2

    AWESOME!

    Question: Can I use examples of the SDK for writing own tutorials in my own language Or is there a copyright on those.

  • Chao Gao

    The original question was regarding 2.0.900 (the .net 2.0 beta assemblies) which only has one reference to add: Microsoft.DirectX

    I heard back from Tom. About 40% of D3DX is missing from the assembly. Its unintentional due to a build error. So no cause for mass panic yet.

  • tanging

    Read the EULA in the SDK.  Here's a thread on it:
    http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/ShowPost.aspx PostID=80379


  • Roar

    When I add reference to Microsoft.DirectX, Microsoft.Direct3D, Microsoft.Direct3DX.

    next:
    using Microsoft.DirectX;
    using Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D;
    using Direct3D=Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D;

    Now I can use those functions...



  • October 2005 DirectX SDK is available!