"Enter-The-Matrix" Using Directx9: How????

A few days ago I was looking at some of my older games to see what directx that they used. I looked at "Enter-The-Matrix" - expecting it to use directx 8.1 when I saw that it used directx 9! How? All of the games made after or at the same time of this game (e.g. C&C Generals And UT2004) used directx 8.1. This game was made long before Far Cry so how does it use directx 9?

Terminat. said:

A few days ago I was looking at some of my older games to see what directx that they used. I looked at "Enter-The-Matrix" - expecting it to use directx 8.1 when I saw that it used directx 9! How? All of the games made after or at the same time of this game (e.g. C&C Generals And UT2004) used directx 8.1. This game was made long before Far Cry so how does it use directx 9?

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DX9 was released shorty after the 9500/9700 series was launched. So about a year and a half its been out?

DX9 was around long before Far Cry. It just took more time to develop Far Cry than it took to do Enter the Matrix. And in the case of CC and UT2K4 who says that all of a sudden games switch from one DX to another? They probably just decidd to use DX8 due to it being aroung longer and more compatible.

Okay.

However a higher directx=(often)=better graphics. So how does an old GeForce MX440 play "Enter-The-Matrix" with no problems but wouldn't even be able to run Far Cry? Okay the graphics have improved over a year but the engine is the same correct?

Direct X is not an "engine" persay it is a program that helps in your graphics process linky
Engines are things like the Source engine for HL2 and the Unreal engines which are widely used. These engines may utilize DX

No the engine is completely different - FarCry was built on an entirely new game engine.

Game engine and DirectX are seperate entities.

DX versions just allow different controls and features to be used, which often allow for more efficient or more complicated effects to be utilized. Though a game can feature a certain directX version, that implies nothing about how heavily it utilizes the features that the DX version allows for.

Well some of the games may not take advantage of the graphical features of DirectX, but use the DXinput and DXsound stuffs. Just cause a game requires a given version of DirectX, DX is more than just D3d as it would seem many people tend to think.