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Whom is WebGPU for, besides Unity?

AshleysBrain 2y ago
Our browser based game engine Construct (https://www.construct.net https://www.construct.net) supports rendering with both WebGL and WebGPU.
- doctorpangloss 2y ago
  When I visit a Construct 3 Ultra Pixel Survive on Mobile Safari on the latest production iOS with either WebGPU enabled and disabled, I only see black: https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games/ultra-pixel-survive-26420/play https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games/ultra-pixel-s... Which Construct 3 game should I try on Mobile Safari? I know there are other game engines. Supporting Mobile Safari is very very hard. It has its own flavor of everything. I would never speak in absolutes about some web standard and how it will work on Mobile Safari.
  - itishappy 2y ago
    Runs great on Android!
    - doctorpangloss 2y ago
      Then you agree that WebGPU isn't for Construct, it's for Unity.
      - itishappy 2y ago
        No. How does that follow?
  - nox101 2y ago
    You realize that WebGPU has not shipped in Safari right? There's a reason it's still behind a developer flag. It's not finished.
    - doctorpangloss 2y ago
      Construct 3 doesn’t work with WebGPU disabled either. I’m sure it has official support for Mobile Safari, just not official enough to work when someone visits a Construct 3 experience. I’m not dunking on the engine. It’s just to say, well this is what graphics programming in browser is: making shit work on mobile Safari.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
dahart 2y ago
Responding to your pre-edited comment. > whom is WebGPU for? […] it’s a huge rigamarole. Where is this comment coming from? WebGPU enables compute shaders, and there are applications in anything that uses a GPU, from ML to physics to audio to … you name it. What is making you think game engines would be the only users? I bet a lot of companies are looking forward to being able to use compute shaders in JS apps and web pages. > Godot has had zero development for WebGPU support. Why would Godot be an indicator? I love Godot and their efforts, but it’s less than 1% of game engine market share, and a much smaller less well funded team. Of course they’re not on the bleeding edge. Unity is closer to 30% market share and is actively engaging with WebGPU, so it seems like you’re downplaying and contradicting a strong indicator.
- doctorpangloss 2y ago
  I edited my comment. > WebGPU enables compute shaders, and there are applications in anything that uses a GPU, from ML to physics to audio to … you name it. I know. If you have to go through a giant product like Unity for example to use WebGPU because Apple will essentially have its own flavor of WebGPU just like it has its own flavor of everything, is it really cross platform? Does Apple support Vulkan? No. It was invented for middlewares! Apple has a flag to toggle on WebGPU on iOS today. I know dude. What does that really mean? They have such a poor record of support for gamey things on Mobile Safari. No immersive WebXR, a long history of breaking WASM, a long history of poor WebGL 2 and texture compression support. Why is this going to be any different?
  - dahart 2y ago
    I’m still not sure what the point is. WebGPU is an API, is that that you mean by middleware? What’s the issue? Apple will do their own thing, and they might not allow WebGPU on Safari. What bearing does that have on what people using Linux, Windows, Firefox, and Chrome should do? And where exactly is this cross platform claim you’re referring to?
    - doctorpangloss 2y ago
      The issue is, it's likely that a company with $2 BILLION spent on product development and a very deep relationship with Apple, like Unity, will have success using WebGPU the way it is intended, and nobody else will. So then, in conclusion, WebGPU is designed for Unity, not you and me. Unity is designed for you and me. Are you getting it?
lukaqq 2y ago
Web video editor(https://chillin.online https://chillin.online), we are eagerly looking forward to the WebGPU API maturing and being extended to all major browsers, enabling faster rendering, bringing more effects, and facilitating the rendering and editing of 3D assets.
edflsafoiewq 2y ago
Devs in the future? There was a long time between when WebGL2 released and when it finally worked "everywhere" too.
nox101 2y ago
The number 1 use of WebGL is Google Maps by several orders of magnitude over any other use. At some point they'll likely switch to WebGPU making it the number 1 use of Google Maps. Google went over what this enables when they shipped it. Lots of features including being able to highlight relevant roads that change depending on what you searched for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLyZ24UcRE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLyZ24UcRE Apple maps and others also use it
pornel 2y ago
I'm new to GPU programming, and WebGPU and Rust's wgpu seem pretty nice to me (except the bindings!). The API is high-level enough that it's easy to learn. It hasn't grown deprecated parts or vendor-specific extensions yet.

Our browser based game engine Construct (https://www.construct.net https://www.construct.net) supports rendering with both WebGL and WebGPU.

doctorpangloss 2y ago
When I visit a Construct 3 Ultra Pixel Survive on Mobile Safari on the latest production iOS with either WebGPU enabled and disabled, I only see black: https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games/ultra-pixel-survive-26420/play https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games/ultra-pixel-s... Which Construct 3 game should I try on Mobile Safari? I know there are other game engines. Supporting Mobile Safari is very very hard. It has its own flavor of everything. I would never speak in absolutes about some web standard and how it will work on Mobile Safari.
- itishappy 2y ago
  Runs great on Android!
  - doctorpangloss 2y ago
    Then you agree that WebGPU isn't for Construct, it's for Unity.
    - itishappy 2y ago
      No. How does that follow?
- nox101 2y ago
  You realize that WebGPU has not shipped in Safari right? There's a reason it's still behind a developer flag. It's not finished.
  - doctorpangloss 2y ago
    Construct 3 doesn’t work with WebGPU disabled either. I’m sure it has official support for Mobile Safari, just not official enough to work when someone visits a Construct 3 experience. I’m not dunking on the engine. It’s just to say, well this is what graphics programming in browser is: making shit work on mobile Safari.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

dahart 2y ago

Responding to your pre-edited comment. > whom is WebGPU for? […] it’s a huge rigamarole. Where is this comment coming from? WebGPU enables compute shaders, and there are applications in anything that uses a GPU, from ML to physics to audio to … you name it. What is making you think game engines would be the only users? I bet a lot of companies are looking forward to being able to use compute shaders in JS apps and web pages. > Godot has had zero development for WebGPU support. Why would Godot be an indicator? I love Godot and their efforts, but it’s less than 1% of game engine market share, and a much smaller less well funded team. Of course they’re not on the bleeding edge. Unity is closer to 30% market share and is actively engaging with WebGPU, so it seems like you’re downplaying and contradicting a strong indicator.

doctorpangloss 2y ago
I edited my comment. > WebGPU enables compute shaders, and there are applications in anything that uses a GPU, from ML to physics to audio to … you name it. I know. If you have to go through a giant product like Unity for example to use WebGPU because Apple will essentially have its own flavor of WebGPU just like it has its own flavor of everything, is it really cross platform? Does Apple support Vulkan? No. It was invented for middlewares! Apple has a flag to toggle on WebGPU on iOS today. I know dude. What does that really mean? They have such a poor record of support for gamey things on Mobile Safari. No immersive WebXR, a long history of breaking WASM, a long history of poor WebGL 2 and texture compression support. Why is this going to be any different?
- dahart 2y ago
  I’m still not sure what the point is. WebGPU is an API, is that that you mean by middleware? What’s the issue? Apple will do their own thing, and they might not allow WebGPU on Safari. What bearing does that have on what people using Linux, Windows, Firefox, and Chrome should do? And where exactly is this cross platform claim you’re referring to?
  - doctorpangloss 2y ago
    The issue is, it's likely that a company with $2 BILLION spent on product development and a very deep relationship with Apple, like Unity, will have success using WebGPU the way it is intended, and nobody else will. So then, in conclusion, WebGPU is designed for Unity, not you and me. Unity is designed for you and me. Are you getting it?

lukaqq 2y ago

Web video editor(https://chillin.online https://chillin.online), we are eagerly looking forward to the WebGPU API maturing and being extended to all major browsers, enabling faster rendering, bringing more effects, and facilitating the rendering and editing of 3D assets.

edflsafoiewq 2y ago

Devs in the future? There was a long time between when WebGL2 released and when it finally worked "everywhere" too.

nox101 2y ago

The number 1 use of WebGL is Google Maps by several orders of magnitude over any other use. At some point they'll likely switch to WebGPU making it the number 1 use of Google Maps. Google went over what this enables when they shipped it. Lots of features including being able to highlight relevant roads that change depending on what you searched for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLyZ24UcRE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLyZ24UcRE Apple maps and others also use it

pornel 2y ago

I'm new to GPU programming, and WebGPU and Rust's wgpu seem pretty nice to me (except the bindings!). The API is high-level enough that it's easy to learn. It hasn't grown deprecated parts or vendor-specific extensions yet.