DX9(EX), DX10, XP, Vista, OpenGL, etc.

**sapi** · 01-26-2007, 04:22

Driving this just a tad off topic, i'll give a quick hand to those who're getting into bblean.

Basically, my goal was to have a minimalistic interface which still had everything i needed.

This is what i came up with.

I'm running a custom version of one of the default styles (linky) using calibiri as the default font. If you dont' have it, it comes with the microsoft office 2007 compatibility pack, which you can grab from their website. It's the new office default font and i love it :D

The most useful plugins are, imo, bbiconbox (which provides the clickable icons that run down the right hand side of my screen) and bbsysmonplus (which i run using the below script for the strFormat option, the results of which can be seen in the bottom right of the above image).

Code:

%NU on %NW \nUptime: %UH \n \n CPU: %CP (%CN) \n RAM: %RP (%RU) \n SWAP: %SP (%SU) \n \n IP: %NP \n Down: %ID/s \n Up: %IU/s \n \n Apps C:\ \n %DFC/%DTC (%DPC) \n \n Games D:\ \n %DFD/%DTD (%DPD)  \n \n Data E:\ \n %DFE/%DTE (%DPE)

Other useful programs include bbrssreader [rss reader] (left of the image), bbcmdex [in effect a run dialog] (needs some work in the config file to position correctly but it's worth it; bottom left of the image), bbcalander [have a guess!] and bbedgemenu [allows you to bring up the bblean menu by right clicking on the edge of the screen] (useful but clashes with rts games if you're not careful).

You can grab all the plugins from here and there's a useful list of them, with descriptions, here

It's also essential to use the extension bsetroot, which allows you to apply custom wallpapers. Open the style file in a text editor (i highly recommended Notepad++) and edit the file to the path of the background you want. For example,

Code:

rootcommand:                        bsetroot -full "backgrounds\Rearguard_by_strangelet.jpg"

Good luck - it's well worth it!

**Big King Sanctaphrax** · 01-26-2007, 13:28

Wow, this looks pretty cool. Rather confusing, but interesting.

What program do I need to edit the menu.rc file?

**caravel** · 01-26-2007, 14:23

I've tried blackbox on XP before, but I've never seen that much of a performance increase. I've never tried bblean though, looks very good. I've used both fluxbox and blackbox on Linux in the past.

**sapi** · 01-27-2007, 02:06

Originally Posted by Big King Sanctaphrax

Wow, this looks pretty cool. Rather confusing, but interesting.

What program do I need to edit the menu.rc file?

Normal notepad will do it but notepad++ will do it much better.

Originally Posted by sapi

Code:

%NU on %NW \nUptime: %UH \n \n CPU: %CP (%CN) \n RAM: %RP (%RU) \n SWAP: %SP (%SU) \n \n IP: %NP \n Down: %ID/s \n Up: %IU/s \n \n Apps C:\ \n %DFC/%DTC (%DPC) \n \n Games D:\ \n %DFD/%DTD (%DPD)  \n \n Data E:\ \n %DFE/%DTE (%DPE)

One thing i forgot to mention - do not use the discspace (%DF/%DT/%DP) commands on optical drives, as it can damage the hardware thanks to constant read access.

**Xiahou** · 01-27-2007, 02:56

On a related note, I'm hoping against hope that Microsoft's foisting of Vista & DX10 on us will spark a resurgence of OpenGL. Instead of being closed like Direct3D, would allow for games to be easily ported to virtually any platform.

I know, it probably won't happen- but I can hope.

**sapi** · 01-27-2007, 05:22

No chance, especially with dx10 looking the way it does

**Xiahou** · 01-27-2007, 06:41

John Carmack is apparently in no hurry to jump on DX10 or Vista:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

On the topic of DX10, Carmack said that there’s nothing at the moment motivating him to move to the new API just yet for Quake Wars, citing that he’s quite satisfied with DX9 and the Xbox 360. “DX9 is really quite a good API level … Microsoft has done a very, very good job of sensibly evolving it at each step--they’re not worried about breaking backwards compatibility--and it’s a pretty clean API,” he said. “I especially like the work I’m doing on the 360, and it’s probably the best graphics API as far as a sensibly designed thing that I’ve worked with.”

Gamers often look to Carmack to tell the fortunes of PC gaming hardware. His opinions on hardware can sway hardcore gamers to purchase one hardware choice over another. Those in awe of the potential offered by DX10 may want to hold off on that shiny graphics card purchase, as Carmack says that there isn’t a huge need for new hardware just yet, as current hardware is more than adequate. “All the high-end video cards right now -- video cards across the board --are great nowadays,” he said. “Personally, I wouldn’t jump at something like DX10 right now. I would let things settle out a little bit and wait until there’s a really strong need for it.”

Those wishing to take the plunge into DX10 will also have to do so while upgrading to Windows Vista. Carmack, however, isn’t all that excited about upgrading to the new OS: “We only have a couple of people running Vista at our company. It’s again, one of those things that there is no strong pull for us to go there. If anything, it’s going to be reluctantly like, ‘Well, a lot of the market is there, so we’ll move to Vista.’”

Carmack then said that he’s quite satisfied with Windows XP, going as far to say that Microsoft is ‘artificially’ forcing gamers to move to Windows Vista for DX10. “Nothing is going to help a new game by going to a new operating system. There were some clear wins going from Windows 95 to Windows XP for games, but there really aren’t any for Vista. They’re artificially doing that by tying DX10 so close it, which is really nothing about the OS ... They’re really grasping at straws for reasons to upgrade the operating system. I suspect I could run XP for a great many more years without having a problem with it,” he said.

link

Edit: Wtf is wrong with spoil tags?