AMD Is Hiring Two More Open-Source Linux GPU Driver Developers

[artivision]

The stupid "three years" claim from the Steam folks can be safely disregarded now. Imagination Technologies demonstrated their Vulkan driver this month. They said that preview drivers might already become available at the end of this year.

+The actual driver time +Vulkan learn time by graphics engine devs +Actual Vulkan shader material creation (helicopters for example) +time to learn from game companies +creation of the first Vulkan game = 3years.

[chithanh]

@artivision
It's not 1999 when you programmed a game to a specific API. The middleware is what needs to support Vulkan.

Plus, given the similarity between Mantle and Vulkan, and the fact that Mantle games are already released, three years is unreasonably pessimistic.

[justmy2cents]

+The actual driver time +Vulkan learn time by graphics engine devs +Actual Vulkan shader material creation (helicopters for example) +time to learn from game companies +creation of the first Vulkan game = 3years.

and in which year do you live? 1980s? you only need vulkan in Source 2, UE4 and Unity 5 and you covered >90% of new games without relearning curve

[chithanh]

It's not that easy, game developers will still have to do some work to adapt their games. AMD themselves chose HLSL for Mantle in order to facilitate faster porting of DX11 games. Khronos replaced HLSL with SPIR-V for obvious portability reasons.

But three years is way too much to be a reasonable estimate, as was pointed out in the other thread about Vulkan (when it was still called OpenGL next):

OpenGL next is moving full speed ahead after AMD giving Khronos group access to Mantle. Mr Geldreich left Valve around that time and that probably implies that he lost his Khronos membership around that time as well. If that is true then he is probably unaware of what happened after AMD's move. With all that said his 3+ estimate is not based on facts but it's a personal opinion based on a incomplete picture.

[haagch]

+The actual driver time

"- The day The Khronos Group releases the Vulkan specifications is when they plan to open-source their Intel Linux driver. "

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=LunarG-Vulkan-AMA

Driver support will arrive very quickly.

+Vulkan learn time by graphics engine devs

Fair enough, but many have already got experience with Mantle and supposedly it's relatively similar.
It's also reasonable to assume AAA engine developers are already working with the vulkan specification. Like Valve for example.

+Actual Vulkan shader material creation (helicopters for example) +time to learn from game companies +creation of the first Vulkan game = 3years.

You mean, the first that has been developed from the ground up to use vulkan?

The first AAA game that renders using vulkan has already been shown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hth4u65zfc

[duby229]

of course of course but i am not allowed(by law) to perform a bachelor.

think about that.

Hold on, I need to know more. Why aren't you allowed to get a degree? You are located in Germany right? Just apply to a college or technical school. I don't see a reason legally why you can't get a CS degree.

[chithanh]

I don't see a reason legally why you can't get a CS degree.

In Germany, you need a so-called "Hochschulzugangsberechtigung" in order to be allowed to study at public universities. This you get as part of graduating from the secondary school type "Gymnasium". It is also possible to have foreign graduation certificates recognized or participating in adult education classes after graduating from school. Another way is to get a subject-specific "fachgebundene Studienberechtigung" after working in a field for a certain time, or visiting specialized secondary schools.

Usually the only reason why someone would not be allowed to enrol is that they have no qualifying school degree or that they already failed a university degree.

[duby229]

In Germany, you need a so-called "Hochschulzugangsberechtigung" in order to be allowed to study at public universities. This you get as part of graduating from the secondary school type "Gymnasium". It is also possible to have foreign graduation certificates recognized or participating in adult education classes after graduating from school. Another way is to get a subject-specific "fachgebundene Studienberechtigung" after working in a field for a certain time, or visiting specialized secondary schools.

Usually the only reason why someone would not be allowed to enrol is that they have no qualifying school degree or that they already failed a university degree.

I was a rebellious kid and dropped out of high school, but later got my GED and followed that up with an Associates CNS, and then a Bachelors CS. I guess if I was living in Germany I wouldn't have been able to get either of my degrees. That's really kind of stupid from a high level perspective.

[chithanh]

This is what I mean with adult education. In Germany it is called "zweiter Bildungsweg" and consists of either "Abendgymnasium" for students who are otherwise employed, or "Kolleg" for full-time students. After graduating from there, you can study at a university.

[duby229]

This is what I mean with adult education. In Germany it is called "zweiter Bildungsweg" and consists of either "Abendgymnasium" for students who are otherwise employed, or "Kolleg" for full-time students. After graduating from there, you can study at a university.

So in my case as a high school drop out, and working a full time job, I would have had to complete "zweiter Bildungsweg"? And then I would have been able to get my degrees?

Sorry for asking, I have little knowledge of other countries customs. But I do think it is interesting, so thank you for taking the time to try and explain it to me.