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JEMC said:

Guys, the days of PC gaming as we know it, might be numbered.

PC Gaming Shakeup: Ashes of the Singularity, DX12 and the Microsoft Store

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/PC-Gaming-Shakeup-Ashes-Singularity-DX12-and-Microsoft-Store

It's a looong read, so here are a few excerpts

"For the NVIDIA platform, tested using a GTX 980 Ti, the game seemingly randomly starts up with Vsync on or off, with no clear indicator of what was causing it, despite the in-game settings being set how I wanted them."

"Testing the Radeon R9 Fury X proved even more confusing. Try as I might, I could not get Vsync to turn off with Ashes of the Singularity, regardless of what the settings menu claimed I had asked for."

"So what is going on? Is AMD screwing things up? Is FCAT simply an outdated tool that is not properly measuring what it is supposed to? As it turns out, neither of those assertions is true.

What we are seeing is the first implications of a new pipeline for graphics and compositing. WDDM 2.0 (Windows Display Driver Model) is a very big shift from what existed previously with WDDM 1.3. The days of exclusive fullscreen gaming may be on the way out as Microsoft shifts developers and hardware vendors into a standard path through the OS compositor rather than bypassing it."

"Microsoft is pushing DX12 games (and maybe not just those sold in the app store) to render through a standardized pipeline that uses the Windows compositing engine. In fact, from what I can tell, any game that is sold through the Windows App Store will be required to do so. Rendering through the Windows compositing engine is very similar to running in the borderless windowed mode that we have today"

And more.

If all this is true, we should start praying to make Vulkan the API of choice!

Meanwhile at MS:

Joking aside, I'm actually rooting for Vulkan all the way, DX 12 so far was touted as being efficient and giving huge returns for PC gaming, so far we're looking at DX 12 games needing much higher end hardware (which goes against DX 12 being "efficient") and we aren't getting huge returns and even then the main issue is the one you've brought up and that alone is enough to cause worry. I can't see MS going back on DX 12 in such a way that they would try to undo something they thought was a great idea (which it's the worst idea possibly imagined).

In the end I don't care for DX 12 games and I'll still be able to play Ashes on Windows 7, I'll stick with Vulkan supported titles.



Mankind, in its arrogance and self-delusion, must believe they are the mirrors to God in both their image and their power. If something shatters that mirror, then it must be totally destroyed.