Interesting take. I wonder if the amount of platform dependent bugs is generally that low for games. I’m a developer, but not a game developer. I would assume that platform dependent stuff comes into play a lot more, when using shiny new tech like direct storage, which is probably used more by AAA titles and less by indie games?
I have dabbled in basic GPU programming. I think Linux’s GPU wrappers are definitely less user-friendly than Windows’. There’s a reason why most games on Linux are Windows games with wrappers.
That’s not entirely Linux’s fault; a lot of it is manufacturers having their own libraries and tools for things that are done though generic and stable APIs on Windows. There’s also the shitty drivers Nvidia barfs out all over your Linux distro, that doesn’t help much. Debugging a proprietary game is one thing, but playing a game of “game bug, nvidia bug, or Linux bug” is more annoying. Proprietary vendors just don’t seem to test their software very well on desktop Linux.
The difference is money. Vulkan is an incredibly terse spec compared to dx12. You’d think that would make it much more consistent to work with, but really, it’s all it can do to keep up with msft and IHVs who pour money into coaxing AAA devs to use dx12. Then, even when the app gets something wrong and causes issues for end users, the IHV just makes a special case in the driver to correct it, because having a big important dx12 title run correctly on their hw is important to sell units.
Meanwhile, the same IHVs barely bother to support anything beyond the basic vulkan requirements, because it doesn’t gain them anything to do more. If a vulkan game experiences issues, IHVs don’t care because it won’t sell well anyway.
Interesting take. I wonder if the amount of platform dependent bugs is generally that low for games. I’m a developer, but not a game developer. I would assume that platform dependent stuff comes into play a lot more, when using shiny new tech like direct storage, which is probably used more by AAA titles and less by indie games?
I have dabbled in basic GPU programming. I think Linux’s GPU wrappers are definitely less user-friendly than Windows’. There’s a reason why most games on Linux are Windows games with wrappers.
That’s not entirely Linux’s fault; a lot of it is manufacturers having their own libraries and tools for things that are done though generic and stable APIs on Windows. There’s also the shitty drivers Nvidia barfs out all over your Linux distro, that doesn’t help much. Debugging a proprietary game is one thing, but playing a game of “game bug, nvidia bug, or Linux bug” is more annoying. Proprietary vendors just don’t seem to test their software very well on desktop Linux.
The difference is money. Vulkan is an incredibly terse spec compared to dx12. You’d think that would make it much more consistent to work with, but really, it’s all it can do to keep up with msft and IHVs who pour money into coaxing AAA devs to use dx12. Then, even when the app gets something wrong and causes issues for end users, the IHV just makes a special case in the driver to correct it, because having a big important dx12 title run correctly on their hw is important to sell units.
Meanwhile, the same IHVs barely bother to support anything beyond the basic vulkan requirements, because it doesn’t gain them anything to do more. If a vulkan game experiences issues, IHVs don’t care because it won’t sell well anyway.
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