Using raw vertex information for sprites rather than SpriteBatch in XNA

Posted by The Communist Duck on Game Development See other posts from Game Development or by The Communist Duck
Published on 2011-06-26T13:19:10Z Indexed on 2011/06/26 16:31 UTC
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XNA

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shaders

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sprites

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vertex

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spritebatch

I have been wondering whether using SpriteBatch is the best option. Obviously for prototyping or small games it works well. However, I've been wanting to apply techniques such as shaders and lighting to my game. I know you can use shaders to some extent with SpriteSortMode.Immediate, but I'm not sure if you lose power using that.

The other major thing is that you cannot store your vertex data in the graphics memory with buffers.

In summary, is there an advantage of using VertexTextureNormal (or whatever they're called) structs for vertex data for 2D sprites, or should I stick with SpriteBatch, provided I wish to use shaders?

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