[casual_games] DirectDraw or Direct3D

[Jonas Beckeman]

I have to disagree with Lennard: *definitely* Direct3D, because DirectDraw

* is deprecated - means you never know when MS is going to drop it. Might
not exist in the next release of DirectX. 

* doesn't support blend modes such as alpha or additive. No rotation either.

* isn't that optimized these days (HW and driver manufacturers don't care
much about it)

If you're on a really old computer with no 3D, I think you're better off
with GDI+ (you can use the strategy pattern so your framework just switches
to another dll for the actual rendering).

I used to have GDI+, D3D and DD rendering modes in my open source framework
Endogine, but I dropped DD as I didn't see any reason to keep it around.


If you want to create games that run in-browser, then you should probably
consider one of the existing frameworks, taking advantage of the install
base.
Judging by my own behavior, online demos are worth the trouble. I hardly
ever download games where I can't look at the gameplay first (a well
produced video can also work though).

/Jonas