Khronos Group, the developers of OpenGL, have released information on the new Vulkan project they are working on. It is meant to be for gamers, and is supposedly going to have many of the same advantages API’s like DirectX 12 and Mantle have.
Khronos Group, who have developed OpenGL for quite a long time now, are focusing on making the new Vulkan API much better for gaming than previous versions of OpenGL. They are doing this by implementing many of the same improvements to efficiency as other API’s have done, as well as making Vulkan much easier for developers to get down to the metal hardware optimizing done.
This means that every ounce of performance that can possibly be squeezed out of your GPU hopefully will be, leading to better frame-rates and smoother gaming.
Cross-platform Graphics API
There is one thing in particular that makes this API so interesting the fact that Vulkan, being a OpenGL variant, will be an open-standard, cross-platform API that you will be able to use for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and BSD based Operating Systems. This means that indie-developers, and also major developers of video games, could use Vulkan to have cross-platform games. This could mean that Triple-A titles, and a majority of indie-games, will most likely be able to use Vulkan as an API, and have the game(s) be cross-platform across Linux, Mac, Windows, and so on. This could open up a huge opportunity for Steam Machines, and other Linux-based PCs to flourish, with all the new games that could come out for Linux.
Lastly, the new API is promised to have constant support and updates, something OpenGL has not had in quite a long time. Vulkan also supports a wide variety of new features, like SLI/Crossfire support, new streamlined API elements that mean less GPU overhead.
Vulkan- A new OpenGL for a new era of gaming! With all of the improvements that Vulkan has, all that remains is to see how well supported Vulkan will become. Perhaps it will be the new API we all use, or perhaps it will simply fade away.
