Diligent Engine - v2.5.2

This release introduces an API for packaging render state objects (shaders, pipeline states, resource singatures, render passes) into archives. An object archive contains data optimized for run-time loading performance (shaders are compiled into optimized byte code and patched to match resource signatures, if necessary; internal pipeline resource layouts are initialized; all objects are verified for compatibility and correctness etc.). One archive may contain data for multiple backends (e.g. Direct3D12, Vulkan, OpenGL).

The two key new interfaces are IArchiver that packs resource states into an archive, and IDearchiver that unpacks the states from the archive at run time.

This release also introduces Diligent Render State Notation, a JSON-based language that describes shaders, pipeline states, resource signatures and other objects in a convenient form, e.g.:

{
    "Shaders": [
        {
            "Desc": {
                "Name": "My Vertex shader",
                "ShaderType": "VERTEX"
            },
            "SourceLanguage": "HLSL",
            "FilePath": "cube.vsh"
        },
        {
            "Desc": {
                "Name": "My Pixel shader",
                "ShaderType": "PIXEL"
            },
            "SourceLanguage": "HLSL",
            "FilePath": "cube.psh",
        }
    ],
    "Pipeleines": [
        {
            "GraphicsPipeline": {
                "DepthStencilDesc": {
                    "DepthEnable": true
                },
                "RTVFormats": {
                    "0": "RGBA8_UNORM_SRGB"
                },
                "RasterizerDesc": {
                    "CullMode": "FRONT"
                },
            },
            "PSODesc": {
                "Name": "My Pipeline State",
                "PipelineType": "GRAPHICS"
            },
            "pVS": "My Vertex shader",
            "pPS": "My Pixel shader"
        }
    ]
}

Render state notation files can be parsed and loaded dynamically at run time. Alternatively, an application can use a packaging tool to preprocess pipeline descriptions (compile shaders for target platforms, define internal resource layouts, etc.) into archives off-line.

Among other improvements are bug fixes, pipeline state cache support and samplers with unnormalized coordinates.