Microsoft DirectX 12’s AgilitySDK, featuring advanced shader delivery, is now out of preview, helping to address shader compilation issues.
Shader Compilation Stutters & Loading Times Are A Pain For PC Gamers, But Microsoft’s Latest AgilitySDK For DirectX Is Going To End Them Once & For All
Modern-day PC gamers have been somewhat disappointed with the recent optimization trends for their beloved platform. Most, if not all, games are a mess with poor optimization that can only run at a decent framerate with high-end hardware. Or, if even the top-of-the-line hardware is not enough, most developers are focusing on pushing upscaling technologies to compensate for their poor optimizations at launch. It takes a series of patches, sometimes a year past the release, for the game to reach a stable or playable state.
One of the problems affecting PC games is Shader Compilation stuttering and longer loading times in games that are caused by pre-compilation of shaders. These issues are mostly common with Unreal Engine 5-based titles, and while some UE5 titles seem to have showcased good levels of optimizations, it then boils down to just how much effort developers are putting in. With deadlines getting shorter as devs get pushed by publishers, leading to intense crunch periods and even less time for optimizations, these issues have become a headache for PC gamers.
However, Microsoft looks keen to address these issues through its DirectX API, and for that reason, the latest AgilitySDK 1.618, which features Advanced Shader Delivery, is finally out of preview. Why this release is so important is that it should finally resolve shader compilation-related issues.
According to the DirectX Developer Blog, the Advanced Shader Delivery feature within AgilitySDK 1.618 will distribute precompiled shaders when the game is being downloaded. This would help eliminate in-game shader compilation stutter and long loading times, bringing console-quality experience to the PC Gaming platform on Windows.
Advanced shader delivery is coming on October 16th to the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds and we’re happy to share some of the tooling that allowed us to enable this first step towards solving long load times and stutter in games for players. Gamers who own these devices receive precompiled shaders at download time on select titles to start gaming faster. In today’s blog, we will focus on the other side of the equation: game development.
Our vision is for game developers to programmatically capture and generate a new type of asset from pipeline state object inputs, called a State Object Database (SODB), in their game engine during the development process. This is better than our temporary solution of manual capture because game engines can collect the full set of shaders in a title, nearing a 100% shader cache hit rate. Studios will then take this more complete SODB and package it with their game, Downloadable Content (DLC), or updates. This will ultimately result in future titles having support for advanced shader delivery on day one for the fastest and smoothest gaming experience on Windows. This also allows Windows to support console-like load times across the hardware ecosystem.
Today Xbox is leading the industry with support in the Xbox app, but in the future, any storefront can compile the SODBs to Precompiled Shader Databases (PSDBs) and distribute them. All of the functionality to support this is built into Windows 11 with DirectX and anybody delivering games on the platform is empowered to enable this scenario for their customers.
Starting October 16th, the Advanced Shader Delivery feature will first be rolled out on the ROG Xbox Ally handheld. Precompiled shaders will be added for select games while they are being downloaded. While the feature will eventually roll out across all Windows 11 devices and platforms, firstly, it will be rolled out on the Xbox App, but other storefronts such as Steam, EGS, etc, will also be able to compile SODBs (State Object Databases) to Precompiled Shader Databases and distribute them to their users.
This release introduces 3 important pieces related to advanced shader delivery:
- State Object Database (SODB) Authoring and Collection Tools
- Offline compilers from our hardware partners
- Game Installer Registration APIs
Furthermore, the Microsoft DirectX AgilitySDK will also enable offline compilers to precompile shaders, eliminating the use of local hardware resources such as GPUs. Several IHVs already have offline compilers ready for game developers to utilize.
AMD:
AMD compiler plugin support is available in the AMD Software: AgilitySDK Developer Preview Edition 25.10.07.01 Sept 25 Update: https://www.amd.com/en/resources/support-articles/release-notes/RN-RAD-MS-AGILITY-SDK-25-10-07-01.html
Intel:
Intel is excited to partner with Microsoft in providing a console-like shader compilation experience to gamers on PC. Game developers can look for our offline compiler and driver support in November later this year.
Qualcomm:
The advanced shader delivery feature marks a significant breakthrough in elevating the gaming experience. We’re excited about its potential and are actively collaborating with our ecosystem partners to bring this capability to Adreno GPUs. Stay tuned as we work to bring this innovation to life.
Nvidia:
“By collaborating with Microsoft to implement support for advanced shader delivery, NVIDIA is equipping game developers with tools to improve game load times and deliver a stutter-free experience for gamers.” – Henry Lin, Director of Product Management, Gaming & AI at NVIDIA.
So it looks like we are finally going to see proper action against shader compilation stutters and loading times. We hope developers put in extra effort towards utilizing the latest DirectX AgilitySDK features to provide PC gamers with a better experience.
Source link
