DXUT is to DirectX exactly what GLUT is to OpenGL. A basic framework that simplifies the initialization and control process of the library. It’s made by Microsoft (no MS jokes here - the DirectX team actually rules) and therefore it follows the official way of how a DirectX applications should be, meaning that by using it you have all those safety and checking during DirectX initialization.
When I was programming Titan Explorer back in 2006, it was actually my first native DirectX application to date and I didn’t have a clue about DXUT. Just the fact I could program DirectX using C++ just like professionals do was making me happy enough. What I’ve done in Titan Explorer’s engine (‘areiadne’ for short) was essentially implementing a few of those stuff available in DXUT on my own. Of course my code was simpler and generally less safe than Microsoft’s. Since then I’ve always wanted to build my engine on it but I never had a good reason.
Since I’m writing this whole demo game from scratch, now it’s the best time to do it. The fail of using the previous version of areiadne to create the gameplay prototype has brought up fundamental design problems that involve the core code as well. In fact it’s nothing that hard to do and I’m going to start immediately after this, hoping to have the new areiadne core (probably areiande2) ready in a few hours.
