SDL2 Lands Long-Sought Geometry Render API

[phoronix]

Phoronix: SDL2 Lands Long-Sought Geometry Render API

While not making it for last week's SDL 2.0.16 release, merged on Wednesday to the SDL2 development code is an "SDL_GeometryRender" interface that stems from feature requests going back nearly a decade for this graphics API independent triangle rendering API...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=SDL2-Render-Geometry

[AJenbo]

Does this not work with the Vulkan backend?

[reavertm]

No Vulkan backend, as written in merge request.

[Cape]

Meh... seems easier to just write a vertex shader in GLSL... or am I missing something?

[timofonic]

No Vulkan, no fun. Please fix it...

[furtadopires]

There's a joke about how hard is to drawn a triangle in Vulkan, maybe the lack of support can be related to it.

[reavertm]

It's not simple in OpenGL either. Well, it is simple but still involves setting up depth buffer, color buffer, lighting model, projection matrix, modelview matrix, at minimum. It was like this in old, "convenient" OpenGL (1.2). Vulkan requires much much more preparation apparently. Pointless API imho. This is graphic engine's job.

[quikee]

It's not simple in OpenGL either. Well, it is simple but still involves setting up depth buffer, color buffer, lighting model, projection matrix, modelview matrix, at minimum. It was like this in old, "convenient" OpenGL (1.2). Vulkan requires much much more preparation apparently. Pointless API imho. This is graphic engine's job.

But now someone can recreate the game "Elite" and doesn't need to depend on any specific API - just SDL.

[Ironmask]

The reason Vulkan is so powerful is specifically because it's so low-level, you essentially have to be a graphics engineer to use it. It's not like OpenGL or older Direct3D versions, it's not made for your average joe in his garage, it's made to be an industry standard created by a committee and for corporations, kind of like the USB driver spec. This is why almost no open source project supports Vulkan, it's just way too complex. What's much more approachable to small and independent projects is to target a simpler but less performant wrapper API over Vulkan. Which already exists, it's called OpenGL.

[Sethox]

The reason Vulkan is so powerful is specifically because it's so low-level, you essentially have to be a graphics engineer to use it. It's not like OpenGL or older Direct3D versions, it's not made for your average joe in his garage, it's made to be an industry standard created by a committee and for corporations, kind of like the USB driver spec. This is why almost no open source project supports Vulkan, it's just way too complex. What's much more approachable to small and independent projects is to target a simpler but less performant wrapper API over Vulkan. Which already exists, it's called OpenGL.

There are well documented for the Vulkan API, both offical and development aspect for it, both free and not. But then again, everything is hard when you actually don't know and easy when you do know. And the more you know....