Summary

Now you should understand how to get started with a basic Direct3D 11.1 application in Windows 8. We've covered the creation of the application, including how to create the new modern window, and how to initialize Direct3D with all of its individual parts.

We have also covered the graphics pipeline; how each stage works together to produce the final image. From there we looked at all of the components we created, such as the device, context, swap chain, render target, and depth stencil. We then looked at how to apply those to start creating frames to display. By clearing the screen, we ensured that there is a fresh slate for the images and effects we want to draw later, and then we presented those frames, looking at how to specify regions of the screen to optimize for performance when you only change part of the screen.

Next steps

Now we have a running Direct3D app that displays a nice single color (or nothing at all), ready to start rendering textures and other objects onto the screen. In the next chapter we'll start drawing images and text to the screen before we can move on to creating a game.

This chapter skipped over some smaller topics such as lost devices and the correct way to resize the screen; however, the generated code provides all of this. I'd encourage you to take a look at the rest of the code in Direct3DBase.cpp; it has plenty of comments to help you understand the rest of the code.