Name: Anonymous 2007-07-15 13:34 ID:W4CMBdWH
Remember the days of trying to game on Windows 9x? You'd have games, each with their own version of DirectX, and they'd freely overwrite each other on installation without even asking you. Before you knew it, your graphical capabilities were FUBAR.
Then for a while, things calmed down. Games asked you if you wanted to install DirectX, and the installer even told you if it was really necessary or not. Beautiful.
But now, it looks like we're back to DX just barging in like it owns the place. Unless you've got experience with registry tweaking, recovering from a corrupt DX installation is virtually impossible.
Why hasn't the program's design philosophy changed, I have no fucking idea. I mean, how complicated would it be to make it plugin-based? You get a standard core of DX files from MS, then the programs you install plug their own bank of files in only for whenever they run, instead of overwriting the core. This way no program steps on each other's toes.
Then for a while, things calmed down. Games asked you if you wanted to install DirectX, and the installer even told you if it was really necessary or not. Beautiful.
But now, it looks like we're back to DX just barging in like it owns the place. Unless you've got experience with registry tweaking, recovering from a corrupt DX installation is virtually impossible.
Why hasn't the program's design philosophy changed, I have no fucking idea. I mean, how complicated would it be to make it plugin-based? You get a standard core of DX files from MS, then the programs you install plug their own bank of files in only for whenever they run, instead of overwriting the core. This way no program steps on each other's toes.