Version 2.9

This release rolls up various development happening over the last months.

d3d12core.dll split

Some games started assuming that the DLLs were laid out similar to AgilitySDK, where
d3d12.dll is just a loader, and d3d12core.dll contains the real implementation.
vkd3d-proton now implements this split as well. It is possible that various scripts must be updated
to accomodate both DLLs now. Once d3d12.dll is installed in a prefix,
only d3d12core.dll needs to be updated, as d3d12.dll is just a trivial shim either way.

Performance improvements

• Greatly reduce system memory requirements on the first run of an application.
  SPIR-V code was held in memory "just in case" it had to be recompiled later, but this is no longer the case.
• Use VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_libraries to avoid shader compilation stutter in some extreme edge cases.
• Improve performance with certain bad occlusion query patterns in e.g. Elden Ring.
• Improve CPU performance of VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer even further with vendor-specific "ultra-fast" paths.
  • Our microbenchmark for single descriptor copies are now significantly faster than native D3D12 drivers on both RADV and NVIDIA.
  • Intel performance numbers are TBD, but we expect a win there as well.
• Improve VRAM oversubscription behavior when
  VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory is supported. (NVIDIA contribution, thanks!)
  This allows us to implement Evict and MakeResident APIs in a useful way.
  VK_EXT_memory_priority is also used for static priorities as a fallback.

Features

• Add VK_EXT_image_sliced_view_of_3d to support sliced 3D UAVs.
• Improve DXR 1.1 support with VK_EXT_pipeline_library_group_handles.
• Implement VK_EXT_fragment_shader_interlock. Completes FL 12.1.
• Move to Vulkan 1.3 as minimum version.
• D3D11on12 interoperability interfaces are now supported.
  It is compatible with DXVK 2.2, which actually implements 11on12.

Legacy swapchain removal

The old swapchain implementation is now gone.
DXVK 2.1 is required as we now share common code.
This means that there is no fallback for pre-2.1 DXVK versions or Wine DXGI anymore.

Native Linux swapchain support

The new swapchain can support Linux native surfaces.
The demo applications in demos/ with functional swapchain now builds on Linux as well.

Driver workarounds

• KHR_present_wait is currently disabled on NVIDIA drivers due to a bug that would occur on some PRIME setups.
  This is supposed to be fixed in the latest beta drivers, and this workaround will eventually be removed
  when we have a confirmed major version that fixes the issue.
• Workaround RADV bug causing memory bloat in shader caches. Can save several 100s of MBs of memory,
  which is important on certain memory hungry titles to avoid instability.
• Workaround NVIDIA bug with concurrent queue submissions using timeline semaphores.
  Fixed a bunch of inexplicable Xid 109 CTX_SWITCH_TIMEOUT errors in many different games.

Bugfixes and game workarounds

Various bugfixes for games as usual. Listing individual games is becoming impractical at this point,
and it's best to refer to other sources for compatibility information with specific games.
As usual, a bunch of fixes in dxil-spirv to fix shader bugs.

Misc

• On Wine, use winevulkan.dll rather than vulkan-1.dll if available.
  Works around some games that hook Vulkan despite using D3D12.
• Improve compatibility with games relying on certain AgilitySDK details.
• Improve build system compatibility with different widl versions.
• VKD3D_CONFIG=dxr now enables DXR 1.1 as well. dxr11 is kept for compat.
• Fix HDR Metadata MinLuminance value.
• Add VKD3D_LIMIT_TESS_FACTORS to work around excessive tessellation. Enabled for Wo Long.
• (Developers) Improve debugging support with more detailed breadcrumb information.
• (Developers) Insert more actionable information in captures and logs.
• (Developers) Log directly to Wine when available. Makes PROTON_LOG=1 more reliable.
• (Developers) Set thread names on Win32 build as well.
• (Developers) Use native Linux calling convention instead of ms_abi.