Tuesday, April 16th 2019

No Man's Sky Updated to Support Vulkan Renderer API

by
Raevenlord
 Discuss (37 Comments)
I've written my fair share of articles on No Man's Sky, since the game's concept is one of the more interesting in recent years (for me; editor liberties, can we call it?). The game may have excelled more in concept than in execution, but a series of updates have brought the game close to what was promised. Now, developer Hello games has brought about an update that brings a more subtle change: the game's API has been updated from OpenGL to Vulkan. The "behind the curtains" update has brought about improved performance across the spectrum of graphics cards that support that API renderer (in particular AMD users, as the patch notes themselves spell out), and, expectedly, an easier coding time for the developers. Improved HDR support was also coded into the game. The full patch notes follow, as well as Hello Games' words on this change.
"As part of our optimisation work, we have added Vulkan support to the game. We have been able to do this not only for Beyond, but for the current live version of the game. As such, we wanted to release this to you as soon as possible.

Final Vulkan support will bring many PC players an immediate performance improvement, but it also helps us increase our options as we continue to make significant engine changes. It is only one portion of a large body of work that will see technical improvements for all players on all platforms."
No Man's Sky PC Vulkan Patch Release Notes
  • OpenGL has been replaced by Vulkan. Many players, particularly players with AMD graphics cards, should see a performance improvement
  • Revised HDR support, updated output curve in line with advances in HDR calibration
  • Adaptive and Triple-Buffered V-Sync are now selectable from Graphics Settings
  • Players with more than one GPU can now select which is used from Graphics Settings
  • Changing the following settings no longer require restarting:
  • Window Mode
  • Resolution
  • V-Sync
  • Shadow Detail
  • Reflection Quality
  • The 'LOADING SHADERS' load step has been removed, improving the loading experience.
  • Crash data is gathered via Steam to help us track down and fix issues.
Source: DSOGaming

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37 Comments on No Man's Sky Updated to Support Vulkan Renderer API

#26
bug
lexluthermiesterAh, but there's another cost/benefit. Entity reputation. Outfits like EA have little market respect which is why, even with their new battle-royal game, they are hurting financially. The gaming market has figured them out and doesn't trust them. With NMS, they had a bad start but strived to make things right had have. The public is forgiving them and the game has gained success. The dev house has gain a lot of insight and experience and understands what it is to make the right effort at the right time and how important reputation is. Long term player loyalty support goes a long way to drive success. Which is why I'm still an Nintendo geek. They are not perfect but they make the investments that count and drive quality over quantity.
This doesn't contradict what I said before: for an enthusiast spending more effort for better results is pretty much a given; for a bean counter, not so much. NMS had no bean counters (or at least it wasn't run by bean counters) ;)
Posted on Reply
#27
lexluthermiester
bugNMS had no bean counters (or at least it wasn't run by bean counters) ;)
Neither was Maxis or Westwood or any number of other companies that created masterpiece level games. This is evidence that bean-counters need to be kept out of the decision making process.
Posted on Reply
#28
bug
lexluthermiesterNeither was Maxis or Westwood or any number of other companies that created masterpiece level games. This is evidence that bean-counters need to be kept out of the decision making process.
They're useful for keeping tabs on things and making sure development doesn't last forever in some cases. But when a company is publicly traded and depends on investors more than customers, that's when things change.
Posted on Reply
#29
lexluthermiester
bugThey're useful for keeping tabs on things and making sure development doesn't last forever in some cases.
True and that's what they're there for.
bugBut when a company is publicly traded and depends on investors more than customers, that's when things change.
This is why a company's charter needs to be structured in a way that investors have a limited say in the goings on within the company they wish to invest in.

But hey, we are way off topic..
Posted on Reply
#30
Prima.Vera
vega22Ogl died with 4, Vulcan is Ogl 5 in all but name.
There's no Vulcan for Professional market. On there, OpenGL is still the king.
Posted on Reply
#31
bug
Prima.VeraThere's no Vulcan for Professional market. On there, OpenGL is still the king.
Weird, you'd think professional rendering software is the prime candidate for wanting to extract everything it can from the hardware. Maybe it's not the CPU that's the bottleneck there?
Posted on Reply
#32
vega22
Prima.VeraThere's no Vulcan for Professional market. On there, OpenGL is still the king.
Sorry I don't understand what you're saying.
Posted on Reply
#33
lexluthermiester
vega22Sorry I don't understand what you're saying.
I think what they're saying is that in the professional market, Vulcan has little presence and OpenGL is still king. I'm not sure I would completely agree with that, however it does have some merit.
Posted on Reply
#34
vega22
Ah, that makes some sense.

Not sure I would agree either given some of the biggest and oldest names in the games business have Vulcan titles out. I'm looking at doom, quake and tomb raider to name a few.

I think the issue it has is that it's new and takes a little bit more work to get the same/better effects Vs workflow people already know. Forcing people out of their comfort zone, to learn new things is never easy as people are lazy by nature. We all take the easy route even when we know there are other ways.
Posted on Reply
#35
bug
vega22Ah, that makes some sense.

Not sure I would agree either given some of the biggest and oldest names in the games business have Vulcan titles out. I'm looking at doom, quake and tomb raider to name a few.

I think the issue it has is that it's new and takes a little bit more work to get the same/better effects Vs workflow people already know. Forcing people out of their comfort zone, to learn new things is never easy as people are lazy by nature. We all take the easy route even when we know there are other ways.
You must be thinking of a different professional market. We here are referring to those building the CAD and 3D modelling applications that are used in computer simulation and building game assets.
AutoCAD, CATIA, Maya, 3ds max and the likes.
Posted on Reply
#36
vega22
bugYou must be thinking of a different professional market. We here are referring to those building the CAD and 3D modelling applications that are used in computer simulation and building game assets.
AutoCAD, CATIA, Maya, 3ds max and the likes.
That would make a lot of sense in a thread about a video game updating to the latest open standard xD
Posted on Reply
#37
bug
vega22That would make a lot of sense in a thread about a video game updating to the latest open standard xD
Hey, welcome to the internet forums :D
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