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Add Vulkan rendering backend (new)#7553

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notimaginative wants to merge 64 commits into
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Add Vulkan rendering backend (new)#7553
notimaginative wants to merge 64 commits into
scp-fs2open:masterfrom
notimaginative:vulkan-pr-new

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An updated version of #7233 that's current with master and includes all of the fixes from comments in that PR.

Original work by laanwj, with additions from SamuelCho, The-E, and myself.

laanwj added 30 commits June 30, 2026 11:21
Move the pure-math vertex/index generation out of `gropengldeferred.cpp`
into graphics/util/primitives so it can be reused by the Vulkan backend.
Modernize to use `SCP_vector` instead of `vm_malloc`/`vm_free` for automatic
memory management.
Replace direct `ImGui_ImplOpenGL3` calls in game code with
backend-agnostic `gr_imgui_new_frame` and `gr_imgui_render_draw_data`
function pointers, matching the pattern used by all other `gr_*`
functions. This makes it possible for the Vulkan backend
to provide its own ImGui implemantation.
`bm_close` calls `gf_bm_free_data` for each bitmap slot, which needs the
graphics backend (Vulkan texture manager, OpenGL context) to still be
alive. Move `bm_close` before the backend cleanup switch in `gr_close`.
`gr_flash_internal` used int vertices with `SCREEN_POS` (`VK_FORMAT_R32G32_SINT`)
but the default-material vertex shader expects vec4 float at location 0.
OpenGL silently converts via glVertexAttribPointer; Vulkan requires exact
type matching. Use float vertices with `POSITION2` format instead. There
should be no difference in behavior.
The `SCREEN_POS` vertex format is no longer used after the only use in
`gr_flash` was removed. Remove it entirely.
Deduplicate compressed texture block-size mapping and mip-size
calculation into two inline helpers in `ddsutils.h`, replacing
repeated inline formulas in `ddsutils.cpp` and `gropengltexture.cpp`.
Add a render system capability to indicate whether GPU timestamp query
handles can be immediately reused after reading.

When queries are not reusable, `free_query_object` returns handles to the
backend via `gr_delete_query_object` instead of the tracing free list,
letting the backend manage its own reset lifecycle. This greatly
simplifies query management for Vulkan.

Also change shutdown to discard gpu_events for backends where queries
aren't reusable (no more frames will be submitted to make them
available).
Move `output_uniform_debug_data` before `gr_reset_immediate_buffer` so
debug text is rendered while the immediate buffer still contains valid
data. The previous ordering read from a buffer that was already reset to
offset 0, which is logically wrong for any backend and a hard failure
for deferred-submission backends.
`gr_set_proj_matrix` already branches on rendering_to_texture to choose
top-left (RTT) vs bottom-left (screen) viewport origin. `gr_end_2d_matrix`
should match, but it unconditionally used the bottom-left formula. Add
the same `rendering_to_texture` branch so the viewport is restored
correctly when rendering to a texture.
Change `bool clipEnabled` to `uint clipEnabled` in the default-material
shader UBO. GLSL bool has implementation-defined std140 layout; uint is
portable and matches the SPIR-V decompiled output.

Add an else-branch writing `gl_ClipDistance[0] = 1.0` when clipping is
disabled. Without this, gl_ClipDistance is undefined and some drivers
cull geometry unexpectedly.
Memcpy from a `const void*` to `void*` is trivial enough. However, this
case was missing, resulting in a false positive compilation error.
Extract shader loading and preprocessing (include/predefine
expansion) into code/graphics/shader_preprocess.cpp, so it
can be shared with the Vulkan backend.
Bundle Vulkan headers (v1.4.309).
Bundle Vulkan Memory Allocator (v3.2.1).
ddsutils.cpp checked OpenGL-specific GLAD globals to decide whether to
decompress DXT textures. When the Vulkan backend was active these
variables were never set, so all DXT textures were decompressed to
32bpp RGBA.

Replace the GLAD checks with gr_is_capable() queries for the new
CAPABILITY_S3TC and existing CAPABILITY_BPTC, making ddsutils
backend-agnostic. Add the S3TC capability handler to the OpenGL backend.
Extract shader type tables (filenames, descriptions) and
variant tables (type, flag, define, description) into shared
code/graphics/shader_types.{h,cpp}.

Also move FXAA quality preset defines into shader_types so both
backends can share a single implementation.
Implement a Vulkan 1.1 renderer that replaces the previous stub with a
fully functional backend, mostly matching the OpenGL backend's rendering
capabilities.

Core rendering infrastructure:

- `VulkanMemory`: Custom allocator with sub-allocation from device-local and
  host-visible memory pools
- `VulkanBuffer`: Per-frame bump allocator for streaming uniform/vertex/index
  data (persistently mapped, double-buffered, auto-growing)
- `VulkanTexture`: Full texture management including 2D, 2D-array, 3D, and
  cubemap types with automatic mipmap generation and sampler caching
- `VulkanPipeline`: Lazy pipeline creation from hashed render state, with
  persistent VkPipelineCache
- `VulkanShader`: GLSL shader loading. Shader code and metadata are
  shared with OpenGL, with differences guarded by preprocessor
  conditions
- `VulkanDescriptorManager`: 3-set descriptor layout (Global/Material/PerDraw)
  with per-frame pool allocation, auto-grow, and batched updates
- `VulkanDeletionQueue`: Deferred resource destruction synchronized to
  frame-in-flight fences

Design choices:

- Two frames in flight with fence-based synchronization
- Asynchronous texture upload, no `waitIdle` in hot path
- Single command buffer per frame; render passes begun/ended as needed
  for the multi-pass deferred pipeline
- Per-frame descriptor pools
- All descriptor bindings pre-initialized with fallback resources (zero
  UBO + 1x1 white texture) so partial updates never leave undefined state
- Streaming data uses a bump allocator (one large VkBuffer per frame)
- Pipeline cache persisted to disk for fast startup on subsequent runs
- Use VMA (Vulkan Memory Allocator) for buffer management

Some notable Vulkan vs OpenGL differences are:

- Depth range is [0,1] not [-1,1]: shadow projection matrices adjusted,
  shaders that linearize depth need isinf/zero guards at depth boundaries
  where OpenGL gives finite values
- In Vulkan, all shader outputs must be initialized. Leaving them
  uninitialized can result in random corruptions, while
  OpenGL allows leaving them in some cases
- Swap chain is B8G8R8A8: screenshot/save_screen paths swizzle to RGBA
- Vulkan render target is "upside down", y-flip for render target is
  handled through negative viewport height, as is common
- Texture addressing for AABITMAP/INTERFACE/CUBEMAP forced to clamp
  (OpenGL's sampler state happens to do this implicitly)
- Render pass architecture requires explicit transitions between G-buffer,
  shadow, decal, light accumulation, fog, and post-processing passes
  (OpenGL just switches FBO bindings)
Include shadows.sdr unconditionally in main-v.sdr and main-f.sdr
(was guarded by #ifndef VULKAN / #ifdef OPENGL). Add shadowUV[4]
and shadowPos varyings to Vulkan's VertexOutput. Add shadow_map
sampler to Vulkan's fragment declarations. Remove #ifndef VULKAN
guard around forward shadow getShadowValue() call. Unify shadow
depth write to use VARIANCE_SHADOW_SCALE_INV for both backends.
Write the real shadow map texture to Global Set 0 Binding 2 during
model draw calls (was always fallback). Enables forward-pass shadows
for the Vulkan backend.
Cloak effect: declare sFramebuffer (scene color copy) at Set 1
Binding 5 in the Vulkan model fragment shader. The texture was
already bound by VulkanDraw.

Lightshaft cockpit mask: declare cockpit sampler at texture array
element 1 in Vulkan lightshaft shader. Currently samples a white
fallback (no cockpit depth isolation yet), matching existing Vulkan
behavior but unifying the shader code.
Cleaner, and avoids accidentally leaving holes
This is implemented differently in different places. And was missing in
others.
Replace the bare texture view getters with ready-made structures.
SamuelCho and others added 17 commits June 30, 2026 11:47
m_fillmode is set from gr_set_fillmode()  but is usually just used to reset the fill mode state outside of the rendering backends so we should be using the material fill mode internally instead.
…clean-up of transparency geometry processing code.

Temporarily(?) reduced alpha channel transparency geo pass threshold from 0.95f to 0.75f due to certain models (MVP 4.7.3 Triton) having the entire diffuse texture with alpha values less than 1.0f which ended up putting the entire geometry into the transparency pass. Somehow looked fine in OpenGL but we have to do this for Vulkan. For now?
…tices exceed the unsigned short maximum. Restored the original alpha threshold for transparent geo.
…when it should instead be resuming either the swapchain or scene framebuffer render pass. Fixes shadows when rendering directly to swapchain (techroom, mission briefings).
…e eShaderReadOnlyOptimal to match the scene render pass final layout.
…d number of color attachments when resuming the scene render pass.
…load. Instead of using the load scene render pass after shadow maps, create a resume scene render pass.
…ass.

Turns out we did need to bind a deferred render pass after shadow maps. I made a grave assumption thinking vulkan_scene_texture_begin() only bound the scene texture but actually, it selectively binds based on if deferred lighting is enabled or not.
…tProcessing

refactor: modularize lighting and fog logic into standalone VulkanDeferredLighting and VulkanFog subsystems
refactor: modularize G-buffer and MSAA logic into VulkanDeferredGBuffer subsystem
refactor: modularize bloom logic into standalone VulkanBloom subsystem
refactor: modularize VulkanPostProcessing with self-contained shadow and distortion subsystems
refactor: centralize post-processing context and streamline resource management
refactor: texture upload logic and centralize mip-level calculations
Uses rsync to copy files with copy_file_to_target() on non-Windows platforms
in order to preserve symlinks. The standard cmake method of file copying
doesn't, which duplicates files, thereby making packaged builds larger than
necessary.
 - enable Vulkan renderer by default
 - remove Vulkan SDK install from workflows
 - bump prebuilt version
@notimaginative notimaginative added this to the Release 26.2 milestone Jun 30, 2026
@notimaginative notimaginative added graphics A feature or issue related to graphics (2d and 3d) Waiting for Stable Marks a pull request that is to be merged after the next stable release, due to a release cycle vulkan Issues and Features related to the vulkan render backend labels Jun 30, 2026
@notimaginative

notimaginative commented Jun 30, 2026

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Known issues remaining:

  1. LOTS of debug spew. A graphics coder should probably go over all of the debug spew to determine what is actually useful going forward and either remove the rest or lock it behind a nprintf(("vulkan", ...))

  2. Lines render differently between the Vulkan and OpenGL backends. This affects briefings as well as the starfield

vk_bug_lines
  1. A texture flicker (z fighting??) can be seen when ships move, particularly noticeable when ships are rendered without a light source (Lab)
vk_bug_tex_flicker.mp4
  1. Texture corruption can sometimes be seen in missions. This is most easily reproduced within the first minute or so playing massive_battle2.fs2
vk_bug_tex_corrupt.mp4
  1. Major rendering issues when MSAA is enabled. This has been seen on both Mac and Linux, though it presents a bit differently on each platform (WARNING: Bright flashing lights! DO NOT WATCH if you are sensitive!!)
vk_bug_msaa.mp4
  1. Full nebula missions appear to lack of fog and poofs are colored strangely (limited testing so far)

@The-E The-E mentioned this pull request Jun 30, 2026
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4 participants