Talk:DirectX Versions

Is it possible to force the game to run at a particular DirectX level? I've got a DX9 card and I'd like to see what things look like at lower rendering qualities... --Cargo Cult 10:26, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

mat_dxlevel 70/80/81/90 --TomEdwards 10:28, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

I found some excellent example pictures for comparisons between versions in HL2, but I don't know if we're allowed to use them directly. (Maybe just link?) Here's another page with a list of technical version differences. --AndrewNeo 10:45, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

I've been taking some comparison screenshots (cheers Tom for the console command!) which I'll be uploading later - thought I'd say just so that nobody tries duplicating effort or whatever... :-) --Cargo Cult 12:30, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

Added some screenshots and tidied up the rest of the page a bit. Should it be switched to using thumbnails, or separate pages for each comparison? I've still got some other shots I can use. --Cargo Cult 15:56, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

A fit of boredom made me create the following animation. It's a bit ... huge, though, at ~450kB. Oops! --Cargo Cult 16:31, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

Excellent work Cargo, but I'm wondering if replacing all the separate images with animations like the above might better demonstrate the changes between each version of DirectX. There are some subtle differences between each image that are more clear in the animation than on the actual page. --Graham 19:40, 7 Jul 2005 (PDT)

I'll need to look into optimising the GIFs a bit more before doing that, but I agree it could be a useful change. Something I'm impressed by is how HL2 still looks rather nice even when the graphics quality is turned down - there's some lovely artwork beneath those shaders. :-) --Cargo Cult 01:35, 8 Jul 2005 (PDT)

mat_dxlevel 95

What's it do? --—Pon ^(talk) 02:40, 27 Sep 2005 (PDT)

• SM3, I think. --AiusEpsi 04:53, 26 Nov 2005 (PST)

DirectX 10

There is a new DirectX version in town. Does it affect the shading in any way? I've heard that Shader Model 3.0 is mainly about speeding up the rendering process, with few visual differences, but I've also heard of something called "refraction mapping" or something like that. Is Half-Life 2 too old for having this shading method? --Andreasen 04:28, 27 Aug 2007 (PDT)

You need to build a game for DX10 before it can take any advantage of it. --TomEdwards 14:08, 27 Aug 2007 (PDT)

Actually, the wikipedia says this about the Source engine: "An upgraded rendering path is in development for future Source engine games on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, including support for DirectX 10." The engine is, as always, in constant development. --Andreasen 16:34, 27 Aug 2007 (PDT)

Gabe newell said DX10 will only be used for "accelerating some mimics" in this article: http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94869 Solokiller 00:53, 28 Aug 2007 (PDT)

I see. I suspected that. According to that article, there is bigger difference between Episode One, Two and Three, than the versions of DirectX. --Andreasen 04:53, 28 Aug 2007 (PDT)

dx level 98?

I've tried it myself in Team Fortress 2. It shows up as Direct X 9.8 in Advanced video options, although it doesn't actually render the game besides the main menu. So what's the point of it being there? --JakeB 11:42, 11 Jul 2008 (PDT)

Do you have a DX10 graphics card? --TomEdwards 11:49, 11 Jul 2008 (PDT)

Yep 8600GT 256mb, runs CoH's DX10 mode 100% perfectly. --JakeB 15:39, 11 Jul 2008 (PDT)

Edit: Friend tried it out with a nVidia 8800 GTS 640mb. Doesn't work for him either. --JakeB 15:54, 11 Jul 2008 (PDT)

Actually if I run it from the console it works, although if i force it, it doesn't. --JakeB 16:45, 11 Jul 2008 (PDT)

Edit: Actually I can't seem to get it to run in dx 9.8 mode, it reverts to 95 if i do it via console. My friend somehow got it stuck on dx 9.8 mode on his, and it's running fine. --JakeB 16:56, 11 Jul 2008 (PDT)

Model Bumpmaps in DX8?

In everything I have, I run DX9 SM3, and it works fine, but Garry's Mod crashes when I run above DX8.1. Of course, in DX8 it can be expected that there would be no bump-mapping on models... except one. Strangely, I noticed one model had bump-mapping. Specifically, the Halo 3 Master Chief NPC's model, included with the Halo 3 Vehicles pack. --SkyNinja 07:35, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

DX12 screenshots

can somebody please confirm the DX12 screenshots? no engine branches i know run DX12 by default and to me the screenshots look like DX9 SM3 Nullspeak (talk) 04:33, 4 June 2018 (UTC)

Bit late, AFAIK there is the Chaos Source Engine that Portal 2 Community Edition uses, which has DX11. No 12 though. Where'd you get DX12 from? --ClikOnVDC (talk) 14:20, 17 July 2021 (PDT)

Apex Legends is the only Source game that supports DirectX 12 (or more accurately, Direct3D 12). It's usually looks almost the same as D3D11/DX11, just with performance differences. --kr0tchet (talk) 01:22, 26 September 2023 (PDT)

Also another thing, Portal with RTX (and same goes to other RTX Remix games) uses DX7 (DX8 level is also supported by RTX Remix, does work (tested on old CSS version) but not used in Portal RTX by default), then converted to Vulkan for the ray-tracing part, and outputs as DX12 afterwards. --leonidakarlach (talk) 20:42, 24 June 2024 (PDT)

Portal 2 PS3

While poking around with the PS3 Portal 2 port for unrelated reasons, I came across references to a "dxlevel 97":

This likely isn't DirectX at all, but I still think it is worth documenting. No further information on this dxlevel at the moment. ClikOnVDC (talk) 09:02, 6 July 2024 (PDT)

DXLevel 97 is also present in the PC version of Portal 2 aswell, I think it's most likely used on Mac or Linux version only or even PS3 as you mentioned since it probably might work the same as dxlevel 98 on X360 (both has setting.preferzprepass set to "1". It used to be documented here but it was removed by User:SirYodaJedi. --leonidakarlach (talk) 22:41, 6 July 2024 (PDT)

Should the screenshot comparisons be moved to a subpage?

They're taking up half the page, and I'm not sure how this might be affecting the loading speed on slower internet connections.
— SirYodaJedi (talk) 10:50, 3 November 2024 (PST)