Virtualizing the GraphicsDevice in XNA Game Studio 2.0

re: Virtualizing the GraphicsDevice in XNA Game Studio 2.0

Cygon — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:31:22 GMT

Is there any chance to entertain the user while XNA is recreating its graphics device resources behind the scenes? (something like a progress bar or just a 'please wait' message.)

Or will this process be reasonably fast (say, below 5 seconds) even with massive amounts or graphics device resources (~400 MB)?

re: Virtualizing the GraphicsDevice in XNA Game Studio 2.0

ShawnHargreaves — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:40:03 GMT

The process will be reasonably fast unless your app has been swapped out to disk (but in that case switching back to it could take a while regardless of the graphics resources, because all your code and data is swapped out, too).

There's no way to hook this process. That would be a major can of worms since the graphics device is in a confusing, badly defined and constantly changing state while this is happening! It's hard enough for us to keep everything straight internally, let alone allowing third parties to render using some subset of the device at the same time :-)

re: Virtualizing the GraphicsDevice in XNA Game Studio 2.0

OmegaThree — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:16:20 GMT

Tip: if you're running a windowed app, you could throw a (modal, buttonless) dialog box notifying the user that the device is being reset. At least let the user know his/her system hasn't frozen.

re: Virtualizing the GraphicsDevice in XNA Game Studio 2.0

OmegaThree — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:16:55 GMT

That was for the initial poster and future visitors, not Shawn.

re: Virtualizing the GraphicsDevice in XNA Game Studio 2.0

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:15:30 GMT

Revising for a test and couldn't find a decent explanation on LoadGraphicsContent anywhere...this was fantastic and really helpful for an absolute beginner!

THANK-YOU :D