Why are there game specific fixes in graphics updates?

[KaoDome]

Every new graphics driver release, we've had Intel and NVIDIA releases recently, but regardless of the vendor, I see similar change logs and I'm always wondering about the same thing.

 

Drivers are programs that interface hardware with the OS and rest of userspace programs, right?

 

Focusing on games, for example, their graphic engines are written using APIs OSes expose that provide different operations, DX, Vulkan, etc. Those same APIs define operations and characteristics a driver has to meet and implement.

 

Why are changelogs filled with game specific fix-ups, who's at fault? Is there someone not adhering to the specs? Or conformity testing/similar thing related to all this?

 

I understand some driver code would need to be written in assembly maybe, so it could be error prone, but wouldn't the fault affect anything that depended on a feature?

 

I've never even approached anything like it; buy unlike typical software engineering these days with changes and evolving requirements, those APIs and related operations are pretty much stable, or am I wrong?

[adrynalyne]

On 15/05/2022 at 12:11, KaoDome said:

Every new graphics driver release, we've had Intel and NVIDIA releases recently, but regardless of the vendor, I see similar change logs and I'm always wondering about the same thing.

 

Drivers are programs that interface hardware with the OS and rest of userspace programs, right?

 

Focusing on games, for example, their graphic engines are written using APIs OSes expose that provide different operations, DX, Vulkan, etc. Those same APIs define operations and characteristics a driver has to meet and implement.

 

Why are changelogs filled with game specific fix-ups, who's at fault? Is there someone not adhering to the specs? Or conformity testing/similar thing related to all this?

 

I understand some driver code would need to be written in assembly maybe, so it could be error prone, but wouldn't the fault affect anything that depended on a feature?

 

I've never even approached anything like it; buy unlike typical software engineering these days with changes and evolving requirements, those APIs and related operations are pretty much stable, or am I wrong?

I think its less to do with fixes and more about the companies adding specific profiles for games to make their hardware shine the brightest. If company A performs worse than company B, even if its the fault of the game developer, compant A (the GPU vendor) gets the flack and feels the most pain from it.

[KaoDome]

On 15/05/2022 at 21:30, adrynalyne said:

I think its less to do with fixes and more about the companies adding specific profiles for games to make their hardware shine the brightest. If company A performs worse than company B, even if its the fault of the game developer, compant A (the GPU vendor) gets the flack and feels the most pain from it.

Oh... if that the case it makes sense, you can't imagine how long I've been having those questions in my mind 😅

 

Specially when logs state things like "fixing black screen at X location in Y game". I was always 🤔