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[VN1X]

I'm fairly tech savvy and have decent knowledge what goes into making games (or rather understand game/code logic and how difficult it is to make games). One thing I realized though is that I still have no clue why it is that DX11 is still the standard when DX12 has been on the market for ages now. Better yet, can we ever expect Vulkan to become the main computing API? Maybe this is a topic too technical for us GAFians but I'd love to know why we are where we are in terms of API's. Is it all down to the fact that it's because Microsoft is the biggest player on the market or is it because DirectX as an API is still heavily tied to consoles?

Wot gives.

 

[funkygunther]

Good question. One part I think has to do with Microsoft not liking to decommission anything, ever.

Another part of me was thinking it might be to do with the engines, so devs are led down a route to use DX11 because of that. Quick google tells me that UE3 didn’t have DX12 support at launch (no idea if it got added later, or just to UE4) and that Unity has some issues with it. Thats just my guess though.

 

[Rikkori]

It's simple. DX11 is good enough in most cases and it's easier to work with. Vulkan/DX12 give you more control but also requires more knowledge & work, so you only see AAA studios jumping in head-first to use them, because they have the people & resources to do so, and it's also more helpful for them because they try to achieve more so the granular control gives them the headroom to do that.

I wouldn't worry tho, DX11 is definitely on its way out.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

It's stable and everyone knows how to work with it.

DX12 probably wont take over for another few years.

 

[M1chl]

Because DX11 is high-level* and DX12 is low level* programming. So it's not just new API, but completely different. Also low and high level programming comparatively speaking.

If you remember AMD Mantle? DX12 is that level of programming, on the top of that it can assist CPU, with GPU, so GPGPU. Like make draw calls by GPU itself, etc. And so you probably not going to see DX11 vanishing for a long time.

If you want more than handful of engines.

 

[kikkis]

It's simple. DX11 is good enough in most cases and it's easier to work with. Vulkan/DX12 give you more control but also requires more knowledge & work, so you only see AAA studios jumping in head-first to use them, because they have the people & resources to do so, and it's also more helpful for them because they try to achieve more so the granular control gives them the headroom to do that.

I wouldn't worry tho, DX11 is definitely on its way out.

This and also better compatibility.

 

[bushwookie]

When it comes to this subject. I'm knowledgeable enough to grasp the bigger picture, but still dumb enough to ask potentially dumb questions.

Years back everybody was saying it was only a matter of time before Vulkan displaced DirectX as the standard API. Yet, that never seemed to play out quite that way.
Is/was Vulkan akin to Linux in that regard? Where there were many people who swore it'd replace Windows at some point, but today everyone pretty much agrees that won't really happen?

Will some derivative of DirectX be the main one for the foreseeable future, or will something else eventually come along?

 

[FloatingIslands]

Companies tend to update their technologies only when it's unavoidable.

Also, they use external programs that might not work with newer technologies yet.

 

[LordCBH]

Because DX12 was hot trash when it came out. No idea how it is now

 

[01011001]

DX11 is more stable and has better compatibility with weaker hardware, so especially esports games usually use it because they don't use any of DX12's features anyway

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Fake]

Directx 12 sucks
Microsoft
Vulkan open source

 

[M1chl]

When it comes to this subject. I'm knowledgeable enough to grasp the bigger picture, but still dumb enough to ask potentially dumb questions.

Years back everybody was saying it was only a matter of time before Vulkan displaced DirectX as the standard API. Yet, that never seemed to play out quite that way.
Is/was Vulkan akin to Linux in that regard? Where there were many people who swore it'd replace Windows at some point, but today everyone pretty much agrees that won't really happen?

Will some derivative of DirectX be the main one for the foreseeable future, or will something else eventually come along?

It mainly comes down to what are people familiar with, OpenGL was MIA for a long time and thus people kind of forgot how to work on anything else than DirectX. The documentation and familiarity is always big part of adoption.

Also people like to voice their disdain for MS, so that might be part of why you have this view on the situation. But I think that Vulkan is doing more than fine.

 

[T8SC]

All the cool kids use Glide.

 

[Dr.brain64]

12 sucks

food for thought

 

[marquimvfs]

Well, to everyone here saying that DX12 sucks, can you elaborate why? I've heard that before, but haven't figured out the reason.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Kagey K]

Because some people straight up refuse to upgrade things and get upset when they stop supporting the old shit they refuse to upgrade from.

(I know it’s more than that, but it is a part of it)

 

[Knightime_X]

$5 says they're trying to find a way to make the next DX without using 13 because its bad luck.
DX 12
DX 12 Ultimate
DX 14 because fuck logic and your graphics cards

Probably the reason why DX11 is still a thing because its not too much different from 12
*shrugs*

 

[Dr.D00p]

1 Mature feature set in developer tools.

2 DX12 feature set was/is still very heavy in certain areas, Until the 30xx cards came along we were still waiting for GPU power to catch up with its demands.

3 To keep AMD in the game, whose DX11 performance keeps it competitive with Nvidia GPU's.

 

[BadBurger]

It's stable and everyone knows how to work with it.

DX12 probably wont take over for another few years.

Pretty much this. There's lots of API's and frameworks still in use that really should have been retired years ago, but, they're stable, still supported, and it's easy to find workers who know it.

 

[Great Hair]

requires more knowledge & work

DX12 probably wont take over for another few years.

not going to see DX11 vanishing for a long time.

DirectX - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

launch date: July 29, 2015
today is: 10/17/2021

 

[SantaC]

12 sucks

food for thought

DX11 doesnt have direct storage

 

[Md Ray]

Because DX12 was hot trash when it came out. No idea how it is now

It's not as trash. But I still see DX11 providing 10-11% better perf than DX12, especially on NVIDIA hardware, in games like Watch Dogs Legion, and the latest one being Kena Bridge of Spirits.

Even compared to Vulkan, it's worse. RDR2 is a good case in point.