Question 1

How does gfx-portability compare to MoltenVK for macOS?

Accepted Answer

gfx-portability is an open-source alternative that also supports DirectX 12 on Windows, while MoltenVK is proprietary and Metal-focused. Both translate Vulkan, but gfx-portability offers more platform flexibility and is built on gfx-hal, though it may have different stability levels.

Question 2

How to use gfx-portability with the Vulkan loader on macOS?

Accepted Answer

Build the libportability-icd and create an ICD json file, then set the VK_ICD_FILENAMES environment variable to point to it, as per the ICD provider instructions in the README. This allows it to work like a standard Vulkan driver.

Question 3

What is the performance overhead of gfx-portability compared to native Vulkan?

Accepted Answer

Benchmarks show good performance with apps like Dota2, but as a translation layer, it may introduce minor latency or overhead, especially for features not directly mapped to Metal or DX12. Real-world results vary by application.

Question 4

Is gfx-portability stable enough for production games or emulators?

Accepted Answer

No, it's labeled as a prototype, so while it works for testing and development, it may have instability or missing features that make it risky for critical production deployments without extensive testing.

Question 5

Can gfx-portability run all Vulkan applications without modification?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily; compatibility depends on the Vulkan extensions and features used. Applications relying on unsupported extensions may fail or require workarounds, as indicated by the limited extension lists in the code.

Question 6

How to build gfx-portability for Windows with DirectX 12 support?

Accepted Answer

Use cargo build with the dx12 feature: 'cargo build --manifest-path libportability/Cargo.toml --features dx12', as specified in the dynamic linking instructions. Ensure dependencies like Rust and DX12 SDK are installed.

gfx-portability

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