Project D3D9 to Vulkan

[kash01]

Off the shelf F-22 test while working on vulkan port

 

[xionx]

Off the shelf F-22 test while working on vulkan port
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Where can I get this F-22? Looking nice !

 

[kash01]

Where can I get this F-22? Looking nice !

It's just for testing and pretty much visual, flight model is a copy of deltaglider, got the model from sketchfab, using it mess with lighting and all that.

 

[xionx]

It's just for testing and pretty much visual, flight model is a copy of deltaglider, got the model from sketchfab, using it mess with lighting and all that.

Oh I see, very cool nonetheless

 

[pwnky]

Hi kash01! I would like to help you work on this project. Can you reach me out in our discord server? https://discord.gg/ntVSCZQ I'm @pwnky in there. I'm still getting used to the new codebase but I would like to help you...

 

[DaveS]

Something else that I have just noticed is that cloud shadows only cast on planetary surfaces, not any base objects or vessels. So that's another thing that needs to be looked at.

 

[Lucy]

I'd really like to have a vulkan renderer implementation as part of the core Orbiter offering - directx9 is already very obsolete, after all. However, to the best of my knowledge, work towards a functional Vulkan graphics client is pretty much limited to two separate efforts; this one, and a fairly stale branch from jarmonik that I don't think has been updated for a while now.

To be clear, here, this isn't something I currently possess the requisite knowledge to implement myself either, so I would be in a very similar position, learning on the fly as it were. But this is, I believe, an important component of modernising the simulator as a whole, and I'd like to see the development efforts consolidate into something akin to what OVP used to be (the visualisation project that gave us D3D9).

Launching into a whole new client right now would feel like undercutting the work already done here, and I'm aware of a few other people who've expressed a similar desire to get involved with the work but who feel a similar sense of intrusion because of this. I wonder, as such, what the best course of action to take here is, but the current state of affairs feels likely to lead to yet another incomplete and abandoned effort. I notice the last update on this effort was exactly a month ago.

 

[N_Molson]

I have a bit of experience in game development now and I can tell you this is the hard, technical part. Skilled people that have an in-depht knowledge of shaders are in high demand. You need to be a good (and specialized) coder, know the hardware limits and also have an understanding of aesthetics and art.

 

[Lucy]

I have a bit of experience in game development now and I can tell you this is the hard, technical part. Skilled people that have an in-depht knowledge of shaders are in high demand. You need to be a good (and specialized) coder, know the hardware limits and also have an understanding of aesthetics and art.

I don't doubt it. The problem here isn't really technical, though, it's a project management concern - there's currently no way for the technical people who can contribute to do so, because of the isolated and closed-off nature of the work being done.

 

[n72.75]

I don't doubt it. The problem here isn't really technical, though, it's a project management concern - there's currently no way for the technical people who can contribute to do so, because of the isolated and closed-off nature of the work being done.

Project management is the hardest part of most projects.

It probably needs a dedicated core group working on it that has more or less, daily communication over discord/irc, with clear idea of what the goal is and who's doing what.

 

[N_Molson]

For Space Station Designer we use a Trello board, we make tickets and we solve them one by one. It works. That and Google spreadsheets / documents, too.

 

[misha.physics]

I'm not similar with programming, coding user interface, graphic engines, etc, so unfortunately I can't help with it. But I could contribute it with stylistic suggestions regarding user interface, design, features, etc. I can test it. I'd like to help with Orbiter development (implementing new graphics engine (Vulcan?)).

Maybe I could help with managing it somehow.

I think we need to hear suggestions from @jarmonik, @Gondos, @kuddel, who used to work with Orbiter code and graphics. And other programmers, game designers, game developers, etc on the forum who expressed interest in this project and who could contribute it.

@kash01, thanks for starting this thread and your work.

Sorry, if I didn't mentioned someone.

 

[Matias Saibene]

I'm not similar with programming, coding user interface, graphic engines, etc, so unfortunately I can't help with it. But I could contribute it with stylistic suggestions regarding user interface, design, features, etc. I can test it. I'd like to help with Orbiter development (implementing new graphics engine (Vulcan?)).

Maybe I could help with managing it somehow.

I think we need to hear suggestions from @jarmonik, @Gondos, @kuddel, who used to work with Orbiter code and graphics. And other programmers, game designers, game developers, etc on the forum who expressed interest in this project and who could contribute it.

@kash01, thanks for starting this thread and your work.

Sorry, if I didn't mentioned someone.

While my computer doesn't have Vulkan, I do know a little bit of OpenGL (3.3). The day I get a new machine, don't hesitate to count on me, even if it's just for testing.

I wish you the best of luck and much success with this project!

 

[jarmonik]

The vulkan client that I am working on is about 50% complete. There's lot of background work done such as DDS de-compressor and compressor, Image loaders/savers, mesh renderer, dynamic object/buffer managers (not build-in feature in Vulkan), Orbiter API 2D surface interface and plenty of vulkan abstraction.

I am currently about to start to test vessel exterior rendering, after finding some inspiration and finishing that part then, I am ready to upload the code which should have the base structure and necessary code examples for others to help with the project.

Compared to D3D9, Vulkan is very very different in many ways, lot more complicated than I ever thought. It been giving a hard-time.

 

[kash01]

Still alive, studies an work, a lot to do so quite busy. happy to see Jaarmonik is here too. can anyone guess whats causing this? i tried some research and guesses but no luck.