Would getting an old DirectX 8.0 game running on newer Windows, with a newer GPU, show me the same thing? Is it true that newer DirectX versions emulate older version instruction, and if so, 'might look and feel different' because it's kinda being emulated? Is there a solid way to determine a game's D3D platform version? Which could just be 'sure it will still work on an older card, you just won't see everything we programmed the game to do.' But they still don't say which DirectX version it's really intended for.

Instead it usually lists minimum supported cards. How does one determine what DirectX version a game was designed for? Games don't typically list 'this was designed by developers using DirectX 8.0'. I found 2 other threads with valuable information. So if I wanted to taste life before DirectX 9.0c, is it just a simple matter of installing the older card, install Windows XP, and don't upgrade it beyond DirectX 8.1 and try a game? And if so, what is a DirectX 8.0 - 8.1 specific game? What works of art are out there that cherished 8.0 - 8.1 ?

Does it make any sense to purposely downgrade to a Geforce 4 card to try and see what life was like before DirectX 9 showed up? Geforce 4 is listed as a DirectX 8.0 supported chip.

Directx 8.1