Learn about the latest features in AgilitySDK 1.620 and 1.722-preview, including DirectX Dump Files, DirectX Raytracing upgrades, and more!

Learn about the latest features in AgilitySDK 1.620 and 1.722-preview, including DirectX Dump Files, DirectX Raytracing upgrades, and more!

Microsoft Overhauls DirectX 12 Ray Tracing Microsoft unveiled significant advancements on October 28. They launched the official DirectX 12 Agility SDK version 1.620 alongside the experimental version 1.722 preview. As detailed in the Microsoft developer blog, these releases deliver a comprehensive suite of updates explicitly targeting DirectX Raytracing (DXR). The experimental SDK introduces highly sophisticated features. These include Clustered Geometry, Partitioned Top-Level Acceleration Structures (PTLAS), and Indirect Acceleration Structure Building.

Microsoft Overhauls DirectX 12 Ray Tracing Microsoft unveiled significant advancements on October 28. They launched the official DirectX 12 Agility SDK version 1.620 alongside the experimental version 1.722 preview. As detailed in the Microsoft developer blog, these releases deliver a comprehensive suite of updates explicitly targeting DirectX Raytracing (DXR). The experimental SDK introduces highly sophisticated features. These include Clustered Geometry, Partitioned Top-Level Acceleration Structures (PTLAS), and Indirect Acceleration Structure Building.

## Microsoft Introduces Advanced Shader Delivery to Remedy Shader Stutter Microsoft's DirectX team announced a new feature named Advanced Shader Delivery aimed at fixing the ubiquitous problem of shader stutter in PC games. The feature will debut on the forthcoming ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds before gradually rolling out on PC. A dedicated AgilitySDK will be made available to developers after next month. ### Aims a Fix for In-Game Stuttering This feature was developed with the collaboration of Xbox and AMD to curb their impact on performance from real-time shader compilation. Rather than compiling on the user's system, shaders are precompiled and packaged in with the game download. As stated by the DirectX team: > "We have partnered with teams across Xbox and at AMD to precompile this data and distribute it at download time for key titles via the Xbox PC app. This approach not only gets you into your games faster but also prevents most instances of stutter that cause performance issues". An example would be the Avowed game from Obsidian Entertainment, in which our engineering teams observed launch times could be reduced by as much as 85%. Thus, you are not just entering your games faster-you are saving battery for running the game and not loading shaders." ### How Advanced Shader Delivery Works The system relies on a new standardized formatting for packaging shader data called State Object Database (SODB). The technical procedure follows: 1. The shader compiler is separated from the local graphics driver. 2. The game's SODB is combined with this compiler in the cloud to create a Precompiled Shader Database (PSDB). 3. This PSDB is then distributed to the user alongside the game download via the Xbox Store. 4. When the game runs, it finds the necessary shaders already available in a Windows cache, skipping the compilation step on the device. 5. The system will auto-update the cache in case of installation of newer graphics driver. ### Launch Platforms and Availability Advanced Shader Delivery will first launch on ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds. These devices are officially set for release on October 16, Leak say its priced at $549.99 and $899.99, respectively. A major caveat is that the feature will be exclusive to the Xbox PC app at first. Other storefronts such as Steam or the Epic Games Store may adopt the feature later with AgilitySDK, but that is yet to be confirmed for the time of initial launch. The unveiling of Advanced Shader Delivery gives hope for some truly technical solutions to one of the PC gaming industry's longest-standing issues.

Microsoft said Wednesday that it’s working to remove one of the frustrating headaches for PC gamers: the need to compile shaders. Microsoft said that it will release an AgilitySDK in September to solve this problem, speeding up your time from downloading a game to playing it by as much as 85 percent. If you play games on the Xbox or other consoles, you probably have no idea what we’re talking about. That’s because shaders — the instructions for rendering pixels as they move through the processing pipeline — are optimized for your specific hardware setup. An Xbox game “knows” what your console contains. Shaders for a PC game have to be optimized for each specific configuration, including the game, the GPU, and the GPU driver. Doing so requires not just downloading the game but compiling the shaders for your hardware, which you might see occurring on the game’s loading screen. While those instructions are then stored on your PC, it’s still time that you have to wait before you can play the game. That’s one of the features Microsoft is adding to the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X — since the configurations are fixed, the shaders can be downloaded as part of the game itself. Microsoft calls this “advanced shader delivery.” Microsoft wants to take that convenience and extend it to a “number of devices,” Microsoft said Wednesday, presumably targeting the PC market as a whole. ## Standardizing shaders saves time What Microsoft is doing is to collect the shader data from a game in a standardized format, known as a State Object Database, or SODB. Microsoft said that it has worked with its key hardware partners to separate the shader compiler from the graphics driver and united the game data in the SODB with the compiler in the cloud to create a Precompiled Shader Database, or PSDB. This database will be downloaded along with the game, so the game will essentially be able to “look up” what shaders it needs in the database and launch them immediately. Microsoft’s diagram of how the Precompiled Shader Database (PSDB) will work. “Now, when a game runs for the first time, it will see all the shaders it needs already available in a cache in Windows and can skip doing that compilation step on the gaming device,” Microsoft said. “If a device takes a driver update, we will detect that and update the shader cache automatically.” Right now, this feature is exclusive to the Xbox gaming store, the Xbox PC app, and AMD processors — which power the two Asus ROG Ally devices. However, Microsoft said that the AgilitySDK will be provided to other storefronts as well as game developers, so they can do the necessary work on the back end. Microsoft said the feature will also be made available to games that have already shipped, but that work is in the future. For now, Microsoft added that it is going to be working with specific devices to add this functionality, and it will share more details in September. Microsoft calls this advanced shader delivery a solution to one of the more frustrating problems that a PC gamer has, and that’s true! Downloading gigabytes and gigabytes on a slow connection can be excruciating…with an additional delay for compiling the shaders itself. One of the best features of a console is how quickly you can power it on and jump into a game. It’s great that Microsoft sees the same future for the PC.

We are pleased to announce the retail release of AgilitySDK 1.618, available on Agility SDK Downloads today! This release promotes our 1.716 features out of preview and also introduces support for the recently announced advanced shader delivery feature. Advanced Shader Delivery Advanced shader delivery is a new feature that distributes precompiled shaders when downloading a game, eliminating […]

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We are pleased to announce both a retail and preview Agility SDK release with several new features

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Microsoft maakt de sdk AgilitySDK 1.618 voor Advanced Shader Delivery beschikbaar voor ontwikkelaars. Deze DirectX 12-technologie maakt het in-game compileren van shaders overbodig door de shaders reeds gecompileerd af te leveren tijdens de installatie van een game.

Microsoft maakt de sdk AgilitySDK 1.618 voor Advanced Shader Delivery beschikbaar voor ontwikkelaars. Deze DirectX 12-technologie maakt het in-game compileren van shaders overbodig door de shaders reeds gecompileerd af te leveren tijdens de installatie van een game.