Project D3D9 to Vulkan

[kash01]

Hello everyone,

creating this thread for orbiter vulkan migration.
everyone is invited to chip in.

Currently ill be posting periodically my progress. i'm just putting pieces together. beginner coder, but want to do it right so it'll take time.


idk if the thread is necessary, mods can delete if theres a better place to post these updates and talk

 

[kash01]

Have a question, for orbiter to be fully 64 bit what doo we need? i know theres some problems with saturn moons, is there any way way to overcome/rewrite them? if a rewrite is needed, has anyone done the theoricall study? im wlling to put my free time effort to it, evem rewriting whole moons but i lack the knowledge on deep space, so a theorical study would be helpful to dive in. Is it just the moons or else too?

 

[Lucy]

idk if the thread is necessary, mods can delete if theres a better place to post these updates and talk

On the contrary I think it's an excellent idea, especially since I believe @jarmonik may have also begun looking into this project as well, so it would be a good idea to have somewhere to coordinate development.

for orbiter to be fully what doo we need?

I think you a word 64-bit? Yes, a rewrite / reimplementation of some CELBODY code will be needed, since we don't have sources for them, though that is I think a slightly different workflow from the renderer. The next release version will probably be x64 only, though, so it's sufficient to focus only there for Vulkan development, IMO.

 

[Duhza]

Hi @kash01, I am super interested in helping out as well. I've been doing my research on the code base and @jarmonik's work for baked vc.

From my quick look and based on the work @jarmonik is doing, it looks like our best bet may be to try to get some code merged in such a way that we don't touch the current renderer. That way we can start contributing to portions of the newer vulkan renderer. As far as I understand, the code is pretty intertwined so there is some effort required there.

I would love to see the code progress you've made though, I have time over the holidays to hopefully contribute

I am on discord as well, if you'd like to chat there (a bit quicker/easier)

 

[kash01]

Hi @kash01, I am super interested in helping out as well. I've been doing my research on the code base and @jarmonik's work for baked vc.

From my quick look and based on the work @jarmonik is doing, it looks like our best bet may be to try to get some code merged in such a way that we don't touch the current renderer. That way we can start contributing to portions of the newer vulkan renderer. As far as I understand, the code is pretty intertwined so there is some effort required there.

I would love to see the code progress you've made though, I have time over the holidays to hopefully contribute

I am on discord as well, if you'd like to chat there (a bit quicker/easier)

Cheers, i'll get in touch with you asap i feel like i've laid founding infrastructure. at the moment code is just pure mess, as im just a beginner programmer but im making some progress at last. I'll clean the code, organize and try to document it too. I spent past two days just getting earth textures to load correctly, with all the culling mess and much more haha.

Currently only working scenarios are the ones without delta glider, idk why(lua)? I'm testing using shuttle iss resuplly scenario. I cant promise when but i'll defintley get in touch with you, my plan is to lay foundations, have clean code,and then let the community build on it. It is in no way professional kind of work as i started by looking at every single d3d9 and trying to just make it work in vulkan.

Current progress: Was able to load texture, clouds and debug the culling, somewhow earth is oval shape, fov maybe

 

[Matias Saibene]

Cheers, i'll get in touch with you asap i feel like i've laid founding infrastructure. at the moment code is just pure mess, as im just a beginner programmer but im making some progress at last. I'll clean the code, organize and try to document it too. I spent past two days just getting earth textures to load correctly, with all the culling mess and much more haha.

Currently only working scenarios are the ones without delta glider, idk why(lua)? I'm testing using shuttle iss resuplly scenario. I cant promise when but i'll defintley get in touch with you, my plan is to lay foundations, have clean code,and then let the community build on it. It is in no way professional kind of work as i started by looking at every single d3d9 and trying to just make it work in vulkan.

Current progress: Was able to load texture, clouds and debug the culling, somewhow earth is oval shape, fov maybe

I don't know anything about Vulkan, but I do know a little about OpenGL. It might be an aspect ratio issue.

Have you tried resizing the window?

And by the way, good luck with the project; it's excellent for keeping Orbiter up-to-date with the latest technologies. Unfortunately, I think my machine is no longer compatible with Vulkan; I should check for sure. Because if my machine becomes compatible with Vulkan, I might be able to help you port the code to Linux.

 

[kash01]

On the contrary I think it's an excellent idea, especially since I believe @jarmonik may have also begun looking into this project as well, so it would be a good idea to have somewhere to coordinate development.

I think you a word 64-bit? Yes, a rewrite / reimplementation of some CELBODY code will be needed, since we don't have sources for them, though that is I think a slightly different workflow from the renderer. The next release version will probably be x64 only, though, so it's sufficient to focus only there for Vulkan development,Great, yah

Great, yes i meant 64 bit haha, corrected. Good, well, lets hope for best.

 

[DaveS]

Make sure you stay aware of the following graphic client issues:

"Max. resolution level (1-21)" option seems to be broken · Issue #587 · orbitersim/orbiter

The option "Max. resolution level (1-21)" on the launchpad seems to be broken. I have tiles up to level 21 and tried to set the option to be 19, 20, 21, and I always saw tiles of the maximum availa...

github.com

Fix re-entry plasma generation calculations · Issue #502 · orbitersim/orbiter

The calculations that are used to render the re-entry plasma (both particle stream and 2D texture) needs to be checked as they don't really align with actual plasma generation ranges seen in variou...

github.com

Replace exhaust/particle stream system with more accurate versions · Issue #381 · orbitersim/orbiter

Just posting this here so it isn't forgotten amidst all of the changes: https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/d3d9client-development.16787/page-288#post-582496

github.com

Some objects are visible through surface textures · Issue #383 · orbitersim/orbiter

Runways defined as objects are visible through surface textures. Expecially it's noticeable with enabled surface elevation in the mountain landscape. So, I created the *.cfg file for a base, locate...

github.com

LightEmitter visibility inconsistency · Issue #436 · orbitersim/orbiter

In MOGE, the current default for the visibility of LightEmitter is VIS_EXTERNAL, as seen visually and by calling GetVisibility(). Result: lights do not illuminate objects when view is non-external....

github.com

Improvement of exhaust rendering · Issue #318 · orbitersim/orbiter

This is something that needs attention, improvement of the exhaust rendering. It was something that was discussed last year in this thread on O-F: https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/d3d9client-d...

github.com

Mesh visibility flags · Issue #363 · orbitersim/orbiter

It seems the AddMesh() MESHVIS_EXTPASS flag "cancels" the MESHVIS_VC flag, impossibilitating the mesh from being used as a vc mesh (i.e., smaller clipping distance). This "issue" can be overcome wi...

github.com

Metal map is applied to all meshgroups · Issue #582 · orbitersim/orbiter

I created a mesh with several meshgroups and assigned a texture for one meshgroup. I created additional texture maps, namely REFL, SPEC, METAL and RGHN. In game all meshgroups are reflective. Delet...

github.com

 

[kash01]

I don't know anything about Vulkan, but I do know a little about OpenGL. It might be an aspect ratio issue.

Have you tried resizing the window?

And by the way, good luck with the project; it's excellent for keeping Orbiter up-to-date with the latest technologies. Unfortunately, I think my machine is no longer compatible with Vulkan; I should check for sure. Because if my machine becomes compatible with Vulkan, I might be able to help you port the code to Linux.

Yup, you were right, it was cuz of aspect ratio. now its back to nice sphere haha, yes, definitly making orbiter work natively on linux would be fantastic. just wanna get the foundations right and reach a workable mvp and then will hand everything to the community.

Currently fighting with this haze ring, have tried much but not getting it right, so will tackle it in the end. But i got higher res textures to work fine though luckily.

 

[kash01]

Progress

 

[kash01]

Refining and cleaning current progress. somehow the planet is being illuminated from both sides now .

 

[kash01]

visual helpers. wip obv

 

[kash01]

Celestial Sphere Progress

 

[kash01]

Huge lighting improvemnts

 

[Matias Saibene]

Huge lighting improvemnts

Wow, your progress on the project is going at warp speed!
It looks beautiful, it really does look like a blue marble.

 

[DaveS]

Just a question: Will you be implementing ambient occlusion and proper reflections?

 

[kash01]

Just a question: Will you be implementing ambient occlusion and proper reflections?

At the moment my goal is to have in vulkan what we currently do in d3d9, especially the foundations. Then in future i think it'll be ready to develop on and re-do some stuff. At the moment, this is very much experimental running in 64bit with some patches i applied to orbiter sim. I think for us to develop whole any new features, orbiter will have to run completly in 64x.

I really want to see volumetric clouds one day.

 

[kash01]

Wow, your progress on the project is going at warp speed!
It looks beautiful, it really does look like a blue marble.

ya, was lucky to have some days off, will be back to job soon so progress will take a hit.

As the work goes on, i really hope orbiter 64x is near, would help a lot for testing.

 

[n72.75]

As the work goes on, i really hope orbiter 64x is near, would help a lot for testing.

64 bit Orbiter is very usable, you just need to remove some offending 32bit celestial bodies from your sol.cfg (the moons of Mars, Uranus, and Neptune)
See: https://orbiter-forum.com/threads/64-bit-orbiter-builds-are-not-currently-useable.41937/

 

[DaveS]

At the moment my goal is to have in vulkan what we currently do in d3d9, especially the foundations. Then in future i think it'll be ready to develop on and re-do some stuff. At the moment, this is very much experimental running in 64bit with some patches i applied to orbiter sim. I think for us to develop whole any new features, orbiter will have to run completly in 64x.

I really want to see volumetric clouds one day.

Well, as long as the reflections gets done properly (in the D3D9Client, they're not, only one source of reflections for all of them, leading to incorrect behavior of reflective surfaces).