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Dark GDK / few questions before purchase

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Kuper
16
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Joined: 25th Feb 2008
Playing: Planescape:Torment
Posted: 22nd Oct 2014 10:19
Hi guys!
Have some questions:

1)DarkGDK v1.0 is free so here http://darkgdk.com/ I can get the version 2.0?
2) Will plugins like MatrixUtils or dark dynamix work with GDK 2.0 ?
3) Is GDK 2.0 still in development? So there will be new updates , fixes and so on?
4) Is Gdk 2.0 much faster then DB Pro?

Thanks
Rudolpho
18
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Joined: 28th Dec 2005
Location: Sweden
Posted: 22nd Oct 2014 12:35
1) I'm not entirely sure since it's author has since disappeared. It's possible that his webshop from where you could order it will still work and automatically give you a copy if you purchase it, or that he is around still and just chose to hide and as such may give you the latest version if you tell him you wish to buy it.

2) Most of them will, however I never got DarkDynamix or DarkClouds to work with it if I recall correctly.

3) Not as far as we know. Its author haven't been seen for close to two years so it is assumed it turned into vapor ware. However the latest RC version that you could get if you purchased it overall worked out well.
Once it became more and more evident that it wasn't going to be finished I set about making my own version as can be seen here; however when asked about it TGC didn't think it was a good project to pursue since it broke the protection on the licensed third party dll's. It is possible that Mistrel (the DarkGDK 2.0 author) reached the same conclusion and thus ceased his project, however he did get the special "DarkGDK Developer" forum rank so you would think TGC should have been well aware of what he was doing. So it is all just speculation.

4) No, it is slightly slower than GDK 1. It will be faster than DBPro where you do things that aren't actually DBPro-related (such as heavy maths, loops and whatever else you might write in pure C++ using it).



So in conclusion, I wouldn't attempt to buy it if I were you. It is true that GDK 1 is plagued by bugs that have since been fixed in the DBPro version, as well of lacking in new features and plugin support related to that. However both the DBPro and DarkGDK source code is open source now and basically both completely based on the DarkSDK, which means you can essentially just pick the parts from the DBPro source you want and add / replace them in the DarkGDK library and rebuild it.
This is what WickedX has been doing here.
As for adding plugin support to DarkGDK you can generally do that. What you want is to call a few specific exported functions in the dll's you wish to use; I can loop up the exact names and order to call these in if you like. Basically you call Preconstructor ( if it exists), Constructor (if it exists), PassCoreData which is used to give the plugin a reference to the sGlobstruct pointer. Before closing your program you call Predestructor and Destructor (again assuming they exist). After you've passed the core data it's just a matter of calling the exported functions from the dll from your GDK project.

s_i
15
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Joined: 23rd May 2009
Location: Russia
Posted: 22nd Oct 2014 22:59 Edited at: 22nd Oct 2014 23:01
[in English]
Don't buy GDK 2.0, because it's dead and has a bunch of bugs. Use DarkGDK 1.0 with updates of WickedX: http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=209827&b=22

[in Russian]
1) Автор DarkGDK 2.0 (Mistrel) обманул нас, он предложил платную обновлённую до 2.0 версию DarkGDK собственного разлива со скидкой, но дал нам лишь забагованную версию ReleaseCandidat (RC) и сбежал с нашими деньгами. Бог ему судья. К счастью для нас, исходный код теперь открыт и DarkGDK бесплатен. Мы сообществом постепенно исправили баги и добавили новые функции. И если что находим полезное, то это оперативно добавляется в исходный код -- большое спасибо WickedX, в основном сейчас это его труд. Теперь всё О'Кей, мне нравится, я спокойно продолжаю делать свою игру-долгострой.

2) Есть множество плагинов, сделанных для DarkGDK, но MatrixUtils вроде бы среди них нет. Например, я в своей игре использую плагины: "Spark Particles" для частиц; "Cloggy's D3D for DarkGDK" для шрифтов, текста, линий. Есть на этом сайте и другие. Кроме того, есть множество примеров шейдерных эффектов Evolved's shaders , да и вообще много чего можно легко перевести с DBPro. Более того, т.к. DarkGDK основан на C++, то можно подключать почти любые куски кода на C++, например я использую оригинальные: Box2D для физики, irrKlang для аудио, ZIP_Utils для архивирования.

Нужна будет помощь по установке -- обращайся, подскажу, что смогу.
Kuper
16
Years of Service
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Joined: 25th Feb 2008
Playing: Planescape:Torment
Posted: 23rd Oct 2014 11:00 Edited at: 23rd Oct 2014 15:30
Thank you very much!
very important information for me

Спасибо.
Сам использую DBPro но хочется чтоб все работало чуть побыстрее вот и смотрю в сторону GDK
Kuper
16
Years of Service
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Joined: 25th Feb 2008
Playing: Planescape:Torment
Posted: 23rd Oct 2014 14:17 Edited at: 23rd Oct 2014 14:22
Also about speed.Here quick test: I take Shadow Mapping demo http://www.evolved-software.com/shaders/shadowing
and compile in DBPro and GDK.Loooks like Dbpro faster... shader and media files are the same.

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s_i
15
Years of Service
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Joined: 23rd May 2009
Location: Russia
Posted: 23rd Oct 2014 19:29 Edited at: 23rd Oct 2014 19:40
[in English]
Yes, you are right. My results of your example are: 733 and 880.
I for shadows use modified "Soft Shadows" There are 2 light sources (but you can do 1) and soft shadow (blurred). By the way, DarkGDK here a little faster (653...689) than DBPro (635...659) -- the projects are attached.

By the way, I use DarkGDK not due to higher/lower speed in comparison with DBPro, but because more for me facilities: (1) a huge number of examples and code snippets for C/C++ around the world; (2) better perception, because C++ code can be easily rolled into blocks. But speed -- yes, you have to test and optimize

[in Russian]
Да, ты прав. Мои результаты твоего примера: 733 и 880.
Я для теней использую переработанный "Soft Shadows" Там 2 источника света (но можно сделать и 1) и тень мягкая/размытая. Кстати, DarkGDK здесь чуть быстрее (653...689), чем DBPro (635...659) -- проекты прилагаются.

Кстати, я использую DarkGDK не из-за большей/меньшей скорости в сравнении с DBPro, а из-за большего для меня удобства: (1) огромное количество примеров и кусков кода для C/C++ во всём мире; (2) лучшее восприятие, т.к. в C++ код легко сворачивается в блоки. А скорость -- ну да, приходится всё тестировать и оптимизировать

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pipolyrix
16
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Joined: 4th Oct 2008
Location:
Posted: 30th Nov 2014 10:57
Can we use dark gdk with the newest visual studio 2015?

yes
Dar13
16
Years of Service
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Joined: 12th May 2008
Location: Microsoft VisualStudio 2010 Professional
Posted: 1st Dec 2014 15:33
Probably not. Last I heard, people have just recently gotten VS 2012 up and running(and even that might not be accurate).

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