Vulkan 1.3.246 Released With VK_EXT_shader_object

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Vulkan 1.3.246 Released With VK_EXT_shader_object

Vulkan 1.3.246 has been published with one prominent new extension introduced that was started by Nintendo and worked on by several other hardware/software vendors...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Vulkan-1.3.246-VK-shader-object

[brucethemoose]

Back up, why is Activision working on Vulkan? Do their Android games use it?


And Nintendo... for the Switch? New hardware? Or maybe Android too.

[-MacNuke-]

And Nintendo... for the Switch? New hardware?

The Nintendo Switch already supports Vulkan.

[brucethemoose]

The Nintendo Switch already supports Vulkan.

But does anyone actually use it? From the Yuzu devs in 2019:

The Nintendo Switch has an Nvidia GPU and games can use either OpenGL or NVN API (Nvidia proprietary API), to communicate with the GPU and render visuals. (Games might use Vulkan, but we are yet to see any games using it)

https://yuzu-emu.org/entry/yuzu-vulkan/

Hence I find it odd that Nintendo would be contributing a new Vulkan feature if Switch devs arent really using it.

[bearoso]

This would be a massive, huge, change to Vulkan. I can't possibly emphasize how big. This is like adding a opengl-simple layer to the API.

I'm positive it's an April Fools' joke.

[Linuxxx]

Back up, why is Activision working on Vulkan? Do their Android games use it?


And Nintendo... for the Switch? New hardware? Or maybe Android too.

AFAIK, Call of Duty Mobile on Android does have a Vulkan renderer, however it's being developed in China without any active contribution by Activision.

As for Nintendo, the successor to the Switch will most likely feature a Tegra SoC with an Ampere GPU, which will be significantly faster at executing Vulkan code than the current Maxwell one used by the Tegra X1.

[-MacNuke-]

But does anyone actually use it?

Does it matter that much? Nintendo is a Khronos Member since 2015. While it may be a bit surprising that they started the extension, it does not come totally out of the blue. But I don't think that the next Switch will be using more Vulkan since there is enough budget for a more optimized special API like NVN for the first Switch.

[karolherbst]

This would be a massive, huge, change to Vulkan. I can't possibly emphasize how big. This is like adding a opengl-simple layer to the API.

I'm positive it's an April Fools' joke.

it's very real tho

[Rccero]

But does anyone actually use it? From the Yuzu devs in 2019:

https://yuzu-emu.org/entry/yuzu-vulkan/

Hence I find it odd that Nintendo would be contributing a new Vulkan feature if Switch devs arent really using it.

That statement might be outdated.

A year later, Nintendo released Mario 3D All Stars (remaster pack of Mario 64, Sunshine and Galaxy).
They run on an emulator that relies on Vulkan.

Turok 2 and Doom 64 also use Vulkan (I start seeing a pattern here)

edit: ...and The Talos Principle and presumably Undead Horde 2.

Although Vulkan isn't the recommended API for development (NVIDIA's NVN, specific for that hardware, will always be the more efficient than a general API like Vulkan), it's a decent choice for ports and quick developments. It makes sense Nintendo supports and gets involved on open APIs that help their consoles receive more ports, although they prefer to use their own tools for their own first party games.

[Quackdoc]

i've actually found zink to be quite useful when debugging various opengl applications