Microsoft DirectX 8.0 (Visual Basic)

What Are Point Sprites?

Support for point sprites in Microsoft® Direct3D® for Microsoft DirectX® 8.0 enables the high-performance rendering of points (particle systems). Point sprites are generalizations of generic points that enable arbitrary shapes to be rendered as defined by textures.

Point sprites are not supported in the fixed-function geometry pipeline. To use point sprites, programmable vertex processing must be used.