DirectX 8.0 SDK (Downloadable from

Microsoft Visual C++ 6 (SP5)

General knowledge of Windows programming

General knowledge of C++ and Object-Oriented programming

Welcome to my DirectX tutorials. This is the first in a number of tutorials that should at least help you on the way to make Windows games using Microsoft DirectX 8. I have decided to write these tutorials for two reasons. Firstly, I'm a complete beginner when it comes to DirectX. So, the idea is that as I learn, I can write a short tutorial that should reinforce my knowledge. Secondly, the SDK isn't the most helpful thing in the world for complete beginners starting out in game development. Also, there isn't a great deal of stuff out there on the Internet for beginners and DirectX 8, so this should help. One other thing, as I said, I am a beginner. So, if you spot something that is incorrect in these tutorials then please let me know by emailing me at: COM

What is COM? Well, the Component Object Model is basically a library of methods. You can create COM objects in your program and then call the methods that they expose to you. Methods are grouped together in collections of related methods. These collections are known as Interfaces. You could think of a COM object as a library of functions arranged by subject. DirectX provides a whole host of these libraries that will enable you to create 3D games. The best part is, that DirectX takes care of a lot of the hard stuff for you, so it is pretty easy to get something simple up and running.

There is a lot more to COM than that, for a full description take a look in the SDK. All you really need to worry about is that you release all of your COM objects/interfaces before your program terminates. You should make sure that you release them in the reverse order to that which you created them. For example: