{"id":4265,"date":"2021-04-20T09:50:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T16:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/?p=4265"},"modified":"2021-04-21T15:02:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T22:02:20","slug":"directx-gsl2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/directx\/directx-gsl2021\/","title":{"rendered":"DirectX at Game Stack Live 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

With DirectX, we help game developers build and deliver their games, by bringing in the latest and greatest features across hardware, ensuring their games will run on a large gamer base across PC and Xbox, and providing the greatest tools and support \u2013 this has been the mission of the DirectX team in the past 25 years!<\/p>\n

At Game Stack Live 2021<\/a> today, we continue to evolve DirectX and share our latest work that helps game developers deliver the new generation of gaming graphics. <\/p>\n

DirectStorage for PC<\/h2>\n

Originally an Xbox innovation, DirectStorage is positioned to bring wait-free gaming and bigger, more detailed game worlds to your gaming experience. Since we announced<\/a> DirectStorage was coming to PC last September, Microsoft and our gaming industry partners have been working together to build and deliver this technology into PC game developers\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n

From a completely new programming paradigm that bridges super-fast NVMe storage devices with your GPU, to innovations in the Windows Storage stack and GPU decompression technologies, these are the foundational pieces that will bring truly next-gen gaming to PC.<\/p>\n

In our DirectStorage talk at GSL, we dive deeper into how DirectStorage works and what you as a game developer can do to join us on the journey. Please stay tuned for the presentation video if you have missed the talk.<\/p>\n

DirectX 12 Agility SDK<\/h2>\n

The DirectX 12 Agility SDK is an exciting new update that will accelerate DirectX innovation, expand the reach of DirectX 12 Ultimate<\/a> and all our latest features. For gamers, we are talking about games supporting bleeding-edge features sooner than ever.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, the DirectX 12 Agility SDK is a way for developers to access the newest DirectX 12 features, features even newer than what\u2019s on a given Windows 10 device, without requiring an OS upgrade. Best of all, close to every gamer machine today supports the Agility SDK! <\/p>\n

For more, check out our GSL talk, our announcement blog<\/a> and download page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HLSL and Shader Model 6.6<\/h2>\n

High-level Shader Language (HLSL), the shader language for DirectX, is at the forefront of innovation in gaming on both Windows and Xbox. We have released regular updates to unlock new hardware features, enhance the language, and improve developers experience. <\/p>\n

In the latest HLSL advancement – Shader Model 6.6, we introduce a series of new features that grant developers increased flexibility to enhance and expand existing rendering approaches and devise all new ones. New features include expanded atomic operations, dynamic resource binding, derivatives and samples in compute shaders, and more! You can find details about Shader Model 6.6 at https:\/\/aka.ms\/SM66<\/a><\/p>\n

Shader Model 6.6 is available to all Windows game developers today via the latest DX Shader Compiler<\/a>. And remember to get the updated runtime through DirectX 12 Agility SDK<\/a> before running shaders compiled as 6.6.<\/p>\n

PIX on Windows<\/h2>\n

PIX is the essential tool that helps developers debug, profile, and optimize their DX12 games on both PC and Xbox. It includes a series of tools, among which GPU capture is most commonly used: it records all the D3D12 API calls made by the game. These calls can later be replayed, which enables a range of debugging and analysis features. While game developers found very useful, they also sent us the feedback that the overhead of the previous GPU capture significantly reduced the fps of game play, making it more challenging to capture the right frame at the right time. To address this feedback, we completely rewrote the capture layer so AAA games, previously running at a single-digit FPS with GPU capture, now run at fully playable FPS.<\/p>\n

Besides performance improvement, we also introduce other updates based on developer\u2019s feedback about reliability and usability. Please see https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/pix\/<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n

High Dynamic Range and Auto HDR on Windows<\/h2>\n

High dynamic range (HDR) unlocks an entirely new range of colors versus standard displays, making your games come to life like never before. HDR support is a table stake for this generation’s most immersive and graphically rich games.\nWe first shipped HDR for Windows in 2017, and have seen incredible progress across the ecosystem:<\/p>\n