Tech

Vulcan Gaming Platform Will Make You Forget Graphic Cards

Thomas Wang
First Posted: Jun 17, 2016 05:34 AM EDT

Vulcan is a cross-platform programming interface which enhances everything that the modern graphics cards could do. This application was initially introduced by the non-profit tech organization Khonos Group during the 2015 Game Developers Conference.  According to experts in the gaming world, Vulcan is the future in terms of the evolution of open standards made popular by OpenGL, which is the successor of AMD's Mantle API                        .

The Vulcan application will bring approximately the same services the DirectX 12 is giving over its predecessor, as explained by the AMD's Senior Manager of Public Relations Antal Tungler. In addition to the graphics that look nicer and games that run faster, its advantages over the Microsoft's platform were noted in terms of great performance.

Vulcan code is a platform agnostic, beginning from a console, to PC, up to smartphone, regardless of the operating system. From a high level, it provides more control than the predecessors to the developers, including improvements in the efficiency. However, its cross-platform aspect would mean that the Vulcan games will run on Linux and Windows 8, 9 and 10, basically having the similar codebase, MIS Asia reported.

According to Khronos, Vulcan gaming will greatly benefit from the enhanced performance of the applications, which means the games will be equipped to deal with virtual reality applications that go forward and other hardware enhancements such as the high-dynamic and 4K range of monitors. In short, the games are expected to look better as they take advantage of the still developing and the current hardware.

The first game to run Vulcan was The Talos Principle of Croteam, and based on reports, AMD has worked to help transfer the code from its original iteration to Vulcan. While there are more upcoming titles,  AMD's Head of Global Technical Marketing Robert Hallock, is bound by NDA to keep mum on the specific information for now.

Nevertheless, Vulcan will make games look and run even better and would make them run on more platforms. As for the developers,  the application will provide them with endless control over the hardware as they streamline the process of transferring games to other platforms. Experts believe that Vulcan may also play a big part in the PlayStation Neo and the Project Scorpio, according to PC World.

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