Tag Archives: SlimDX

Issues with installing SlimDX Mar 2009 (2.0.7.41)

Apparently there’s an issue with Gorgon installing SlimDX.  When the installer runs, it is supposed to detect whether the March 2009 SP1 (v2.0.7.41) SlimDX assemblies are installed.  If they are not, then it will install SlimDX for you.  However, it has come to my attention that the Gorgon install has not been installing SlimDX.

The issue is with the March 2009 SP1 SlimDX end user runtime installer (Gorgon runs this when it installs).  Apparently it’s not working, and even though I’ve tried to download it from the SlimDX site it still refuses to run (for me) and claims that the installer is invalid.

If you’re having issues running Gorgon applications because it can’t find the v2.0.7.41 SlimDX assemblies:
“Could not load file or assembly ‘SlimDX, Version=2.0.7.41, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b1b0c32fd1ffe4f9’ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.”

Then install the SlimDX March 2009 SP1 Developer SDK from here and all should be well again.

Gorgon – 1.1.4529.31450

There’s a new version of Gorgon uploaded.  There’s not a huge amount in this release regarding the actual graphics library, just a few bug fixes.

However, there are two important changes:

  1. The project/solution files for the library source code were converted to Visual Studio 2010.  This means that in order to compile the Gorgon library, you will need Visual Studio 2010.  The library still uses .NET 3.5 SP1, so Visual Studio 2008 will continue to work when using the library assembly.
  2. Most important of all: There’s been a new library added called GSound (Gorgon Sound).  Written by ShadowDust702.  New forums have been added to reflect this new addition.

You can download Gorgon from here.

MSAA (Gorgon v2.x – Dorian)

So, to prove that I actually do work on stuff, I’ve uploaded a new video to the youtubes.  This one shows off the ability to use MSAA in the new version of Gorgon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhqrL3iVjDU

To get this effect, in v1.x of Gorgon, you’d draw a series of fading sprites (Alpha of 0 from the start position to an Alpha of 255 for the current position).  However, in this example I’ve used MSAA to simulate motion blur on a sprite.  Nifty eh?  On top of the nifty effect we also get full screen anti-aliasing, which is something the previous incarnation of Gorgon didn’t have.

Before you ask: no, motion blur will not be included as a function of the library, that’ll be up to the developer to implement.

New version of Gorgon – 1.1.4119.34319

Yep, finally.  I’ve rolled up all the updates/fixes that were in the subversion repository and put up a new version of Gorgon.  Version 1.1.4119.34319 is the latest version and you can get it from here.  You can view the change log in this forum post.

Enjoy.

Sun

So, I bet you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to lately…  You haven’t?   You selfish bastard.

 

Anyhow, I’ve gotten around to playing with this library I wrote for a bit.  I do so little programming on my own time these days and honestly, I never much cared for Gorgon (I felt it could have been better), that I haven’t bothered to try and write anything with it. That my users actually say it’s useful and well written comes as a complete shock to me. Anyway, this last week I mustered up some spare time and I created this abomination:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqPGa6P52LM

It’s not much, but it’s just a little thing I threw together to see if I could get a “bloom” type effect with a star.  I did.  And there it is.  Note how the surface of the star moves around and all that.  Neat hey?  No?  Shut up.

 

I’ve limited it to 60 FPS on purpose, but it is fairly swift.  I think at one point I was getting > 1000 FPS.  However, my vidja card is quite beefy, so take that with a grain of salt.  So… yeah…. that’s all I have to say.

Enjoy.

New version: Gorgon v1.1.3638.20767

sitelogoSo I’ve finally gotten off of my lazy ass and uploaded a new version of Gorgon.  This version contains all the bugfixes, and enhancements that have appeared in the Subversion repository over the last few months.

You can read about the changes here.

Then you’ll probably want to download it.

New version tiem! Gorgon v1.1.3436.39405

sitelogoYes, I know I spelled “time” wrong.  Yes, it’s on purpose.

I’ve uploaded  a new version of Gorgon today.  That puts the current release at version 1.1.3436.39405.  You can read what’s changed by heading on over to the forum and reading this announcment.  After you’ve become completely brainwashed by reading that you can download it.

Clearly I’m still working on Gorgon.  I probably will be until the day I expire, which given my healthy intake of McDonald’s, should be any day now.  If someone wants to lend a hand, contact me via the forums.

Edit – May 29/2009

Because I’m very dumb, I released Gorgon with a nasty bug in the Batch sprite object.  When you use the batch sprite it will complain that it can’t find the vertex declaration for PositionNormalDiffuseTexture1 or some such nonsense.  This of course just totally breaks the Batch sprite.  It’s been fixed and the new version (v1.1.3436.39405) is uploaded.

Sorry about that folks, sometimes Tape_Worm is stupid like ox.

Gorgon v1.1.3266.898

sitelogoA new version of Gorgon has been released.  The current version is now 1.1.3266.898.  This fix includes some enhancements to the sprite editor animation editing interface and several bug fixes.  You can see the change list here.

This will be the final release for Gorgon for a while.  I’m going away on vacation at the end f the week and real life (i.e. work) has become increasingly busy so I have no time to devote to Gorgon at least until later in the new year.  If someone wants to pick up the reins and take over for a bit, post a comment here or contact me through the forums.

Gorgon v1.1.3246.24958

It’s that time again.  A new version of Gorgon has been released into an unsuspecting populace to help spread terrorism and christianity at the same time.

There are multiple bug fixes, and these are detailed here.  The most fun thing is that I’ve included a new example that demonstrates how to make per-pixel lit (and bump mapped) sprites via normal maps.  It’s pretty spiffy if I do say so myself.

Other than that, the biggest change is the upgrade to the November version of SlimDX.  With this version the requirement for the Visual C++ 2008 SP1 runtimes has been dropped (about goddamn time too) and the SlimDX guys have created awesome installers for SlimDX.  The big deal about dropping the runtimes is that Gorgon no longer requires the runtimes to be distributed with its own installer and this has decreased the size of the installer (a little).  But the biggest deal comes from the SlimDX runtime installer and x64.  This installer will put SlimDX (both x64 and x86 versions if you’re on an x64 version of Windows) into the GAC.  This means that if you’re running with a project configured for AnyCPU (Project Properties->Build Tab), and you’re running on an x86 OS, it’ll use the x86 version of SlimDX automatically, and if you’re on an x64 version of Windows it’ll use the x64 version automatically.  This means there’s no longer a need to maintain two project/solution files for x86 and x64.  This is a great relief to me as it was a pain in the ass to keep updated.  Of course, this only works if both platform versions of SlimDX are installed into the GAC (e.g. if you only have the x86 version of SlimDX installed and the program is forced to compile to x64 – it’ll fail). 

Wait… what’s that?  You -want- an x64 (or x86) only version of your program?  Well, just set it to compile for x64 (or x86) instead of AnyCPU and the runtime will automatically use the x64 (or x86) version of SlimDX.  Fantastic!

So what are you waiting for?  Happiness is only a download away.

Gorgon v1.1.0.0 released from it’s beta cage to cause untold carnage.

Version 1.1.0.0 (Ionian) is now live.  This is a final release version and that means v1.1.x is now out of beta.  The list of changes are located here.

Note that since the beta, I’ve yet again changed installers.  I know some people don’t like installers (and I don’t either sometimes), but it’s really handy when I need to set up file associations, and have some sort of automated uninstall.   Plus the installers will automatically detect whether the Visual C++ 2008 SP1 runtimes are installed and install the necessary files if needed.  That’s a convienence that I appreciate.  Note that I don’t have redistributables for DirectX or .NET 3.5 SP1.  Those installers are huge, and I don’t think I’m allowed to package the web installers – nor am I able to write the install scripts required to download them (yet).  For now it just tells you that you need those packages and will abort until they’re installed.  Links to those installers are provided on the downloads page.

From this point on, I’m only going to be making small corrections to the library if a critical bug pops up.  I don’t plan on doing any other major additions or upgrades (at least, not for a while).  I’m going to focus on other projects in the coming months.  I will be keeping an eye out for bug reports on the forums and on the google code issues page so I’m not abandoning the library.  However, if there’s anyone who’d like to pick up the reins of this project and move it on to the next level, let me know via the forums and I’ll add you to the project user list. 

With that said about installers, please be sure to remove any previous version of Gorgon before installing.  If you were using the betas, this should just amount to deleting the directory you installed Gorgon into and the start menu folder by hand.

Anyway, enough of that.  Go download it and write something spiffy.