[SOLVED] Graphics API

[TechQuestion1]

Vulkan
DirectX12
OpenGL


Personally i think vulkan is the best looking and fastest API.
The Image diffence from vulkan and directX i noticed was the lightning/shaders better and more realistic colors +the FPS are higher.

Which API is future save?

 

[Frag Maniac]

It's really hard to predict what API will be the most popular in the years ahead. Vulkan shows a lot of promise in how optimized and detailed games can be made, and it even makes development faster and more efficient. Doom Eternal is a prime example of this.

That said, Vulkan is also by far the most complex to code, as it takes MUCH more code writing than other APIs. So it really comes down to how good a dev team is using it. You add the setbacks and global economic problems COVID-19 has brought, and a lot of publishers may not want to risk their dev teams learning new complex code.

Not every dev team has the expertise Id does, so we may only see a handful of teams using Vulkan as extensively as they have.

 

[TechQuestion1]

It's really hard to predict what API will be the most popular in the years ahead. Vulkan shows a lot of promise in how optimized and detailed games can be made, and it even makes development faster and more efficient. Doom Eternal is a prime example of this.

That said, Vulkan is also by far the most complex to code, as it takes MUCH more code writing than other APIs. So it really comes down to how good a dev team is using it. You add the setbacks and global economic problems COVID-19 has brought, and a lot of publishers may not want to risk their dev teams learning new complex code.

Not every dev team has the expertise Id does, so we may only see a handful of teams using Vulkan as extensively as they have.

No idea what code writing specificaly means.

I just think its "funny" how microsoft..... a bilion dollar company that owns other companies.... makes the API DX12 but Khronos Group the vounders of Vulkan just a few people, can make a better API.

Vulkan benefits to DX12 are higher FPS and better shadow/color qaulity - optimized shaders.

Really dont know what COVID19 has to do with this topic?

 

[Frag Maniac]

No idea what code writing specificaly means.

I just think its "funny" how microsoft..... a bilion dollar company that owns other companies.... makes the API DX12 but Khronos Group the vounders of Vulkan just a few people, can make a better API.

Vulkan benefits to DX12 are higher FPS and better shadow/color qaulity - optimized shaders.

Really dont know what COVID19 has to do with this topic?

An API is an Application Programming Interface. It is a software component (written in code) which defines how other components or systems use it. In gaming, it mainly defines the kind of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats used, the conventions to follow, etc.

In games the calls are called draw calls, they are instruction sets of everything drawn on screen in one frame. As far as how they're made, Vulkan differs from OpenGL in that it handles multi threading and batching is used to implement this. In other words, instead of sending instructions for one string of code at a time, it can call for multiple strings at a time.

Vulkan also has control over GPU memory (VRAM). Vulkan is also object based, whereas OpenGL works via a single global state, which is tied to a single context vs Vulkan using a command buffer. Thus OpenGL is far less detailed in what it can do, and also less optimized, as it strains the CPU more due to less efficient use of the graphics driver.

OpenGL uses error checking, but Vulkan takes it one step farther with debugging. That means Vulkan doesn't just verify there's an error, it tells you what's causing it (more below on Id's troubles despite this feature).

DirectX 12 uses multi threading too, but it appears Vulkan is more advanced and optimized overall. The tradeoff to having such a detailed API though, is when such an interface can do way more, the developers also have to write a lot more script (code) to tell it to do those things. So you need a team capable of doing that.

Even though Id is probably one of the best teams at using Vulkan, Doom Eternal released with lots of bugs that have yet to be fixed. I'm sure a lot of publishers and dev teams are watching closely to see how Id responds to these bugs and whether they're fixed.

We'll probably know a lot more in the next 2 months, but it could be longer due to COVID-19 setbacks. If you check daily news, LOTS of work in all industries is being held up due to many countries implementing social distancing and no contact distribution mandates, this includes the gaming development industry.

And for the record, Khronos didn't really found Vulkan. It started as Mantle made by AMD together with the DICE dev team. It was later donated to Khronos, and they refined it and renamed it Vulkan. It's basically AMD's brainchild though.

 

[TechQuestion1]

An API is an Application Programming Interface. It is a software component (written in code) which defines how other components or systems use it. In gaming, it mainly defines the kind of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats used, the conventions to follow, etc.

In games the calls are called draw calls, they are instruction sets of everything drawn on screen in one frame. As far as how they're made, Vulkan differs from OpenGL in that it handles multi threading and batching is used to implement this. In other words, instead of sending instructions for one string of code at a time, it can call for multiple strings at a time.

Vulkan also has control over GPU memory (VRAM). Vulkan is also object based, whereas OpenGL works via a single global state, which is tied to a single context vs Vulkan using a command buffer. Thus OpenGL is far less detailed in what it can do, and also less optimized, as it strains the CPU more due to less efficient use of the graphics driver.

OpenGL uses error checking, but Vulkan takes it one step farther with debugging. That means Vulkan doesn't just verify there's an error, it tells you what's causing it (more below on Id's troubles despite this feature).

DirectX 12 uses multi threading too, but it appears Vulkan is more advanced and optimized overall. The tradeoff to having such a detailed API though, is when such an interface can do way more, the developers also have to write a lot more script (code) to tell it to do those things. So you need a team capable of doing that.

Even though Id is probably one of the best teams at using Vulkan, Doom Eternal released with lots of bugs that have yet to be fixed. I'm sure a lot of publishers and dev teams are watching closely to see how Id responds to these bugs and whether they're fixed.

We'll probably know a lot more in the next 2 months, but it could be longer due to COVID-19 setbacks. If you check daily news, LOTS of work in all industries is being held up due to many countries implementing social distancing and no contact distribution mandates, this includes the gaming development industry.

And for the record, Khronos didn't really found Vulkan. It started as Mantle made by AMD together with the DICE dev team. It was later donated to Khronos, and they refined it and renamed it Vulkan. It's basically AMD's brainchild though.

intresting facts, where did you get all this information really?

 

[Frag Maniac]

intresting facts, where did you get all this information really?

It's a combination of what I've learned over the years gaming and what I've read. If you want to verify it there are many sites on the net that explain it in detail. Of course some of it may be too technical for the average gamer, but it IS out there just the same.

I'm not arguing your point at all, and have been excited about Vulkan for some time, but I also know it can take a while for such things to get used by a lot of devs, especially when they are more complex to write script for.