| Microsoft DirectX 8.1 (Visual Basic) |
The PointSprites sample shows how to use the new Microsoft® Direct3D® point sprites feature. A point sprite is a forward-facing, textured quad that is referenced only by (x,y,z) position coordinates. Point sprites are most often used for particle systems and related effects.
Not all cards support all features for point sprites. For more information on point sprites, see Point Sprites.
Source: (SDK root)\Samples\Multimedia\VBSamples\Direct3D\PointSprites
Executable: (SDK root)\Samples\Multimedia\VBSamples\Direct3D\Bin
The following table lists the keys that are implemented.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F2 | Prompts you to select a new rendering device or display mode. |
| ALT+ENTER | Toggles between full-screen and windowed modes. |
| ESC | Exits the application. |
Without the Direct3D support, point sprites can be implemented with four vertices that are oriented each frame towards the eyepoint, much like a billboard. With Direct3D, however, you can refer to each point sprite just by its center position and a radius. This saves on processor computation time and on bandwidth when uploading vertex information to the graphics card.
In this sample, a particle system is implemented using point sprites in which each particle is implemented using multiple alpha-blended point sprites, giving the particle a motion-blur effect.
This sample uses common Microsoft DirectX® code that consists of programming elements such as helper functions. This code is shared with other samples on the DirectX SDK. You can find the common source code in (SDK root)\Samples\Multimedia\VBSamples.