Multithreading in DirectX

The classical way is to put everything into one game loop (ie, not multithreading) however, with Hyper Threaded processors comeing out, I suspect that will change. It would seem logical to keep some stuff in a single thread like all graphics in one, but you could just as well move input into it''s own, and AI into multiple threads. That way, those with HT processors will get a large performance boost.

Oh yeah, if you want more info on HT processors, I suggest TomsHardware.com they wrote several informative articles on the subject.

Once you start programming multiplayer DirectPlay, you will need to consider multithreaded. If this is your first fray into multithreaded, I''d recommend this, since Microsoft already has working samples, and with DX9 you can emulate a network connection (in case you don''t have one). It will teach you quite a bit about keeping your code clean and readable. Be warned, it is tough to debug a mulithreaded app. and a very steep learning curve once you start.

If you are already a pro, then go for it. It''s not like the technology is going to go backwards any time soon and it will give you a leg up on the rest of us who do everything in a single game loop.

I find it pretty hard to get more done in multiple threads on games besides decoupling the UI from a game server (running on a separate thread and hanling the logic). For SOME games you could also put the AI into a separate thread (as a separate client). The main problem being to locate parts where Multi Threading gives you something, besides added complexity.


Regards

Thomas Tomiczek
THONA Consulting Ltd.
(Microsoft MVP C#/.NET)

I myself use multi-threading to seperate the game loop and the windows message pump.

The main thread sits in the message loop handling messages making windows happy while my game runs happiy in it''s own thread. By doing this I never have to worry about always getting back to the main part of the loop to handle messages. If I need to sit in an internal loop somewhere for some function it''s not a problem.

-Zims