GeeXLab 0.16.0.2 Released for Windows and Linux (64-bit)

1 – Release Highlights

A new update of GeeXLab is ready for your pixel hacking cravings. GeeXLab 0.16.0.2 is available only for Windows 64-bit and Linux 64-bit. This new version comes with an improved Vulkan renderer as well as the support of live-coding of GLSL shaders from a file.

 
Thanks to my devbox with a GeForce GTX 1070 + Radeon R9 290X, I could code and test the Vulkan plugin on both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs at the same time. Now Vulkan demos of the code sample pack work properly on NVIDIA GeForce, AMD Radeon and Intel HD Graphics GPUs. What’s more, I also improved the speed of the renderer by a better use of Vulkan synchronization primitives. The renderer is still far from perfect, there are some cases that cause the renderer to crash but it’s on the right way.

EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW + MSI Radeon R9 290X

 
Another important change in the Vulkan renderer is the support of render targets. Post processing filters and other effects based on render targets are now available in Vulkan (postfx code samples have been added in the code sample pack).

code sample: vk/10-postfx-02.xml

 
The Vulkan renderer has been compiled with latest Vulkan headers v1.0.51 and is available for Windows and Linux.

GeeXLab 0.16.x adds a new command line parameter to select the GPU for Vulkan or Direct3D 12 demos. So far, the GPU selection was done in the XML file (gpu_index attribute of the window xml node). Now you can force a Vulkan demo to use a particular GPU.

The first GPU:

GeeXLab /gpu_index=0

The second GPU:

GeeXLab /gpu_index=1

 
The other main change is the live-coding of GLSL shaders from a file. Now Lua/Python scripts and GLSL shaders support live-coding from files. In short, it’s your favorite text editor that is the main tool to live-code scripts or GLSL shaders. I will explain how to live-code from files in the next article.

2 – Downloads

The latest version of GeeXLab as well as code sample packs can be downloaded from THIS PAGE.

3 – Changelog

Full changelog from beginning of time is available HERE.

Version 0.16.0.2 - 2017.06.17
-----------------------------
+ added a new command line param to select the GPU for Vulkan (or Direct3D 12) 
  demos: /gpu_index=x
! [WINDOWS] Vulkan plugin recompiled with latest Vulkan API headers (v1.0.51).
- [WINDOWS] removed from Tools menu entries related to network live updaters.
  Network live updaters tools are still available but in the nettools/ folder.
! [WINDOWS] GPU Shark utility moved to gpushark/ sub-folder. For some very 
  obscure reasons, GPU Shark utility no longer works in the root 
  folder of GeeXLab. But it works fine from the sub folder gpushark/.
* fixed a minor bug in the Lua kx framework for Vulkan. 
+ added support of live-coding of GLSL shaders by editing the source 
  code of a shader with any text editor.
+ added delay between two reloads of script files for live-coding of scripts.
! improved the performance of the Vulkan renderer.
! improved the support of AMD GPUs in the Vulkan renderer.
* fixed a bug in the Vulkan renderer in the creation of swapchain that led 
  to a crash on NVIDIA GPUs.
+ added an automatic call to wait_for_gpu after all INIT scripts. 
  Usefull with Vulkan or Direct3D 12 renderers.
+ added support of render targets in the Vulkan renderer.
! updated gh_texture.create_2d_from_rt() internals.
! [WINDOWS] updated the GPU monitoring plugin with NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030.