8 ms·

This is a bit of a rambling mess, but to just make one point: the winner has been chosen. Android is implementing Vulkan, and so Vulkan it will be.

dleslie 9y ago
It will be Vulcan and Dx12. Microsoft is nothing if not a stubborn 800 lbs gorilla.
- revelation 9y ago
  Eh, not for WebGL it won't. Nobody even implements DX other than high-powered desktop GPUs. Will it live on? Sure, we will still have games and Xboxes. But if you're going to pick a standard that can work on mobile and desktop, there is no contender other than Vulkan.
  - sitkack 9y ago
    WebGL can cover 87.3% of game revenue.
    - dleslie 9y ago
      AAA titles won't favour WebGL until the platform can compete with native, hand-tuned C++.
      - sitkack 9y ago
        AAA will eventually be a sliver of total gaming revenue.
  - floatboth 9y ago
    > Nobody even implements DX other than high-powered desktop GPUs err, Intel iGPU, available in something as tiny/low-power as a LattePanda board… and all the Windows tablets…
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    1. Vulkan is an optinal 3D API on Android 7.0 and later devices. 2. Vulkan is not allowed on UWP apps 3. Even on Switch, Vulkan is not the primary 3D API.
    - vetinari 9y ago
      1. It is mandatory if the device claims to support VR mode; 2. Nobody (in Joel's on Software sense) is writing high performance 3D UWP apps anyway.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        1. Basically Google and Samsung 2. UWP requirements apply to any Windows store game and Microsoft already started to be more bully about it 3. There is hardly any Vulkan game worth playing that isn't DirectX 12 as well.
        vetinari 9y ago
        1. So basically the biggest Android vendor? 2. Both of them... If you are gamer, you are going to Steam (and Valve is not a friend of the Windows store idea). I'm not happy with this situation either, as I prefer GoG, and GoG is a distant second. 3. Doom, Wolfenstein II, F1 2017, The Talos Principle from the other side of genre spectrum or the upcoming Star Citizen. Vice versa is more true, there's no DX12 game worth playing, that's not also Vulkan game.
        pjmlp 9y ago
        1. Not everyone is rich enough to buy flaghship phones. 2. Lots of gamers just use XBox or PS4 (no Vulkan there). And on PC, not everyone uses Steam. Plus Microsoft already started to be more agressive regarding games on Windows 10, with Age of Empires remaster being the first example. 3. Well it is a matter of taste, not everyone craves for FPS, then there is also the small matter that Vulkan is not supported on XBox anyway, while DX 12 is. With much better developer tooling.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Just like Apple, Sony and Nintendo.
orbitur 9y ago
If Vulkan is the future, I wonder how mobile devs will make money if they can't target iOS.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- pjmlp 9y ago
  It is a non issue thanks middleware.

dleslie 9y ago

It will be Vulcan and Dx12. Microsoft is nothing if not a stubborn 800 lbs gorilla.

revelation 9y ago
Eh, not for WebGL it won't. Nobody even implements DX other than high-powered desktop GPUs. Will it live on? Sure, we will still have games and Xboxes. But if you're going to pick a standard that can work on mobile and desktop, there is no contender other than Vulkan.
- sitkack 9y ago
  WebGL can cover 87.3% of game revenue.
  - dleslie 9y ago
    AAA titles won't favour WebGL until the platform can compete with native, hand-tuned C++.
    - sitkack 9y ago
      AAA will eventually be a sliver of total gaming revenue.
- floatboth 9y ago
  > Nobody even implements DX other than high-powered desktop GPUs err, Intel iGPU, available in something as tiny/low-power as a LattePanda board… and all the Windows tablets…
- pjmlp 9y ago
  1. Vulkan is an optinal 3D API on Android 7.0 and later devices. 2. Vulkan is not allowed on UWP apps 3. Even on Switch, Vulkan is not the primary 3D API.
  - vetinari 9y ago
    1. It is mandatory if the device claims to support VR mode; 2. Nobody (in Joel's on Software sense) is writing high performance 3D UWP apps anyway.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      1. Basically Google and Samsung 2. UWP requirements apply to any Windows store game and Microsoft already started to be more bully about it 3. There is hardly any Vulkan game worth playing that isn't DirectX 12 as well.
      - vetinari 9y ago
        1. So basically the biggest Android vendor? 2. Both of them... If you are gamer, you are going to Steam (and Valve is not a friend of the Windows store idea). I'm not happy with this situation either, as I prefer GoG, and GoG is a distant second. 3. Doom, Wolfenstein II, F1 2017, The Talos Principle from the other side of genre spectrum or the upcoming Star Citizen. Vice versa is more true, there's no DX12 game worth playing, that's not also Vulkan game.
        pjmlp 9y ago
        1. Not everyone is rich enough to buy flaghship phones. 2. Lots of gamers just use XBox or PS4 (no Vulkan there). And on PC, not everyone uses Steam. Plus Microsoft already started to be more agressive regarding games on Windows 10, with Age of Empires remaster being the first example. 3. Well it is a matter of taste, not everyone craves for FPS, then there is also the small matter that Vulkan is not supported on XBox anyway, while DX 12 is. With much better developer tooling.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
pjmlp 9y ago
Just like Apple, Sony and Nintendo.

orbitur 9y ago

If Vulkan is the future, I wonder how mobile devs will make money if they can't target iOS.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
pjmlp 9y ago
It is a non issue thanks middleware.