Do I need for modern games DirectX 12

1. Publisher
2. x64 (aka andi)

Do you like modern computer games? If so, you probably know a word like DirectX.

At its core, DirectX is a set of standardized interfaces that facilitate the development of applications (not necessarily gaming) to work with computer components. Previously, device manufacturers - whether they are a video card or a sound card - acted, as they say, “who is in that much.” Game developers had to independently deal with the principle of work and add support to their projects.

If you look at the system requirements of early-mid-90s games, you can come across something like this: VGA video adapter, Sound Blaster compatible sound card. If the developer introduced support for other standards or devices, they were also indicated.

On the one hand, such an approach made it possible to squeeze the maximum with proper optimization, on the other - to deal with the specifics of the work of each “piece of iron” dubious pleasure. But there was a third party: the released Windows 95 imposed too many restrictions on access to components and speed in particular. This forced developers to continue to release games under DOS.

Microsoft did not want to put up with it. This is how DirectX came about.

Now the developers did not need to think about the principles of the implementation of some things. There was a standardized interface that instructed devices to do certain things uniformly. The programmer did not think about the intricacies of implementation, he just sent the data and got what he expected.

In general, everything was fine. Until Windows 10 appeared. From this moment on, Microsoft took up the systematic extermination of everything “dissident”. New processors are officially supported only in this system. New version of DirectX 12 too. Even the updated browser Edge works only under the “ten”. And the blue dream of the Redmond Giant was the simple desire to see all new games run only under DirectX 12 (read, Windows 10).

In June 2016, after the release of a four-line AMD video card, fans of the company started to beat the market as quickly as possible with games like “DX12 only”. And all because the NVidia graphics cards proved to be worse. And now, 2 years have passed, without a quarter. What we have?

Most importantly, Microsoft has done a great job of imposing its new system on users. According to various sources, the share of Windows 10 ranges from 34 to 43.5%. Another popular operating system, Windows 7, has a 41.6% share.

From a business point of view, it is obvious that it is not profitable to create software products just for a new axis - this is a loss of at least half of the audience. Therefore, some developers do not bother with DirectX 12 at all - why, if the interfaces are backward compatible and Windows 10 perfectly drafts projects for the good old DirectX 11?

Some developers still add support for their games DX12, but here you need to understand that this is support, and not a full development. And this support sometimes either does nothing, or, on the contrary, degrades performance.

At the moment, the number of games that support DirectX 12 is less than 30 pieces. A game that supports only DX 12, can be counted on the fingers. These are projects where the publisher is Microsoft. List of all ugliness there is here .

Most notable is Quantum Break. It was supposed to be the first game that runs only on DirectX 12, and at first it was. Then the game came out in the Steam service, for it "brought" support for DirectX 11 and ... suddenly, the game began to work 20–33% faster! At the same resolution, with the same settings - and such a significant increase in performance.

There is no need to be 7 years old in the forehead to figure out what interface the game was originally designed for. Obviously, DirectX 12 decided to screw at the end at the insistence of the publisher. But it happened as in a joke: “well, I didn’t hurt it.”

So what do we have now? Do we need modern games DX 12?

While it is possible to unequivocally assert that it is absolutely not necessary. If you are, of course, not a fan of a particular game from the table.

List of gaming exclusives for DirectX 12:

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x64 (aka andi)

Comments: 2846 Publications: 395 Registration: 02-04-2009