I read that DX8 support is now available, but I just can't seem to make the Pixel Shading work properly. Can anyone help me with this problem?

DX8 support is in beta and not in an official release. Here is the text from the Forecast link below:

quote:

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DIRECTX 8.1 CONVERSION (in beta test)
Required for the implementation of pixel and vertex shaders. The DX8.1
3D card drivers and hardware detection is also more reliable, and the
DirectPlay 8 network system is known to work better through routers or
firewalls. The better instruction set of DX 8 allows a rendering
pipeline optimization that results in up to 30% higher frame rates in
some cases. On that occasion, small improvements like 32 bit sprites
and an improved shadow system will be implemented.

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The following features are not in beta yet, but are planned:

quote:

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HARDWARE LIGHTING (priority: high)
At the moment, A5 renders pixel-based lighting by software, instead of
using the lighting hardware of newer 3D cards. Hardware pixel-based
lights offer more flexibility for setting materials and light effects,
but only work with new 3D cards and are limited to a low number of
lights, like 8. We'll implement hardware lighting as an alternative,
but will keep the software lighting for compatibility reasons.

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quote:

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VERTEX AND PIXEL SHADERS (priority: medium)
Providing an interface for controlling texture rendering on a vertex
and pixel basis, using a special machine code language. Supported by
new 3D cards. Hard to use for non-programmers, but can produce
impressive effects.

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Once the conversion to DirectX 8.1 is complete you should be able to do create your own vertex and pixel shaders through the SDK since it gives you a pointer to the direct3D device.