Developer Cloud Imperium Games has confirmed that it will be dropping DirectX 11 support for the Vulkan API in its upcoming space simulation title Star Citizen. Additionally, the developer is also withdrawing its plan to add support for DirectX 12 in the future.

Ali Brown, director of graphics engineering at Cloud Imperium Games, said in a post on the official Star Citizen community forums that the game is transitioning to the Vulkan API since it supports multiple platforms, including Windows 7, 8, 10 and Linux. In contrast, DirectX 12 limits its support to Windows 10 only. Brown explains:

Although Vulkan is a low-level graphics API, it is still able to use the GPU in a more effective way than previous versions of DirectX and OpenGL. As a result, the frame rates get better and the CPU usage lowers in games.

Years ago we stated our intention to support DX12, but since the introduction of Vulkan which has the same feature set and performance advantages this seemed a much more logical rendering API to use as it doesn’t force our users to upgrade to Windows 10 and opens the door for a single graphics API that could be used on all Windows 7, 8, 10 & Linux. As a result our current intention is to only support Vulkan and eventually drop support for DX11 as this shouldn’t effect any of our backers.

Brown, nevertheless, did not completely brush aside the prospect of a DirectX 12 support for Star Citizen sooner or later. He adds:

Do you agree with Cloud Imperium Games’ decision to make the switch to the Vulkan API? Share your thoughts in the comments.

DX12 would only be considered if we found it gave us a specific and substantial advantage over Vulkan. The API’s really aren’t that different though, 95% of the work for these APIs is to change the paradigm of the rendering pipeline, which is the same for both APIs.

  • How to fix DirectX Errors on Windows 10
  • Intel comes with Vulkan drivers support on Windows
  • DOOM for PC now supports Vulkan API

If the advices above haven’t solved your issue, your PC may experience deeper Windows problems. We recommend downloading this PC Repair tool (rated Great on TrustPilot.com) to easily address them. After installation, simply click the Start Scan button and then press on Repair All.

Still having issues? Fix them with this tool:

SPONSORED

  • DirectX 11Star CitizenVulkan

Email *

Commenting as . Not you?

Comment