The PC version of "Doom 2016" gets the Vulkan patch support, and it enhances the video game's whole performance. Its support could mean game developers will no longer have to rely exclusively on Microsoft's Direct X.
When the video game came out in May, graphics processing unit manufacturer Nvidia released a video of the game running on the Vulkan API. Recently, Id Software has released a new patch that will add the Vulkan support to the game, and that has made it the first major video game to get one.
With the patch installed, the video game has performed at a higher frame rate, which means everything will run a little faster than it should be. Fire rate will be more realistic to look at, reaction time will be faster, and it will be sometimes hard to catch up with the fast camera.
According to Kotaku, the new API is basically the next-generation OpenGL application programming interface. It has outclassed the Direct X, and it has higher performance, better CPU usage, and it can distribute the work among the multiple CPU cores in a better way. This will make higher end PCs have faster frame rates, while the lower end PCs will have less strain when they play a high-end video game.
The Id Software team explained to Eurogamer in a tech interview the different advantages of the new API, and its big potential of async compute. Lead programmer Billy Khan confirmed that async compute will be extensively used on the PC Vulkan version, which has AMD hardware in it. Now that they could finally code much more on the hardware, it will easier for them to make significant performance improvements, which were not possible on OpenGL or Direct X.
The publication pitted AMD Radeon RX 480 against the GTX 970 and 980, with the FCAT for performance testing and the Vulkan API installed. The results show that the RX 480 gets high changes with the API as it gains an advantage against the GTX 970 and has gotten within the margin of error with the GTX 980, which is a big achievement for the GPU. With the results from the performance test, it was clear that the new API will be a great asset for AMD's GPUs in the future.
Khan said that async compute will become a major factor in all engines across platforms, and their video game is a clear example of it. When the feature is used properly, it can make big enhancements to the performance and look of a video game. The game developer will be using the compute and async compute more in the future, he added.
Check out the video game 1080p 60 FPS gameplay with Vulkan support video below: