Star Citizen will now be developed on the Vulkan API exclusively
Star Citizen will now be developed on the Vulkan API exclusively
It has now been announced that Star Citizen will now be developed on the Vulkan API exclusively, with plans to drop DirectX 11 support and cease all development of a DirectX 12 version.
RSI see this as a logical step forward for the title, as the API will support Windows 7, 8 and 10 as well as Linux, making all game optimisations for this API applicable to every OS. This will also take away the need for Windows users to upgrade to Windows 10, maximising the game’s potential user base while also giving all players the chance to use the game on a modern graphics API.
Below is a comment from Ali Brown, the director of graphics engineering at RSI.
Years ago we stated our intention to support DX12, but since the introduction of Vulkan which has the same feature set and performance advantages this seemed a much more logical rendering API to use as it doesn’t force our users to upgrade to Windows 10 and opens the door for a single graphics API that could be used on all Windows 7, 8, 10 & Linux.As a result our current intention is to only support Vulkan and eventually drop support for DX11 as this shouldn’t effect any of our backers. DX12 would only be considered if we found it gave us a specific and substantial advantage over Vulkan. The API’s really aren’t that different though, 95% of the work for these APIs is to change the paradigm of the rendering pipeline, which is the same for both APIs.
When Star Citizen is released it many be the first game to use the Vulkan API exclusively, potentially opening the game up to higher levels of optimisation.
You can join the discussion on Star Citizen’s use of the Vulkan API on the OC3D Forums.
Star Citizen will now be developed on the Vulkan API exclusively
It has now been announced that Star Citizen will now be developed on the Vulkan API exclusively, with plans to drop DirectX 11 support and cease all development of a DirectX 12 version.
RSI see this as a logical step forward for the title, as the API will support Windows 7, 8 and 10 as well as Linux, making all game optimisations for this API applicable to every OS. This will also take away the need for Windows users to upgrade to Windows 10, maximising the game’s potential user base while also giving all players the chance to use the game on a modern graphics API.
Below is a comment from Ali Brown, the director of graphics engineering at RSI.
Years ago we stated our intention to support DX12, but since the introduction of Vulkan which has the same feature set and performance advantages this seemed a much more logical rendering API to use as it doesn’t force our users to upgrade to Windows 10 and opens the door for a single graphics API that could be used on all Windows 7, 8, 10 & Linux.As a result our current intention is to only support Vulkan and eventually drop support for DX11 as this shouldn’t effect any of our backers. DX12 would only be considered if we found it gave us a specific and substantial advantage over Vulkan. The API’s really aren’t that different though, 95% of the work for these APIs is to change the paradigm of the rendering pipeline, which is the same for both APIs.
When Star Citizen is released it many be the first game to use the Vulkan API exclusively, potentially opening the game up to higher levels of optimisation.
You can join the discussion on Star Citizen’s use of the Vulkan API on the OC3D Forums.