Forspoken will be the first (or one of the first) games to utilize DirectStorage on PC

[Remij 4,745]

https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/breaking-down-the-world-of-athia-the-technologies-of-forspoken-presented-by-amd/886052

 

Quote

This session will cover the collaboration between AMD and Luminous Production on their upcoming title: Forspoken. This partnership resulted in the implementation of various AMD technologies into the game, including screen-space ambient occlusion, screen-space reflections, raytraced shadows and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution. Along with a short presentation of those techniques, this talk will detail the process to integrate them into the Luminous Engine and how AMD and Luminous Productions worked hand in hand to optimize it across a wide range of AMD GPUs. Forspoken is also supporting the new Microsoft DirectStorage API. A part of the session will be dedicated to its addition to the game highlighting the challenges the studio faced and the benefits it is bringing to the title.

Takeaway
The audience will learn about various AMD FidelityFX effects and how it can benefit their games.
The audience will also be presented with DirectStorage in a real case scenario and get some advice to integrate it into their future projects.

 

Their implementation will be detailed at GDC later this month.

 

So DirectStorage must be ready to leave developer preview then, considering that the game releases in May.  That's actually earlier than I expected, and I figured that one of MS' own games would be the first to utilize it.  Kinda interesting that it's a PS5/PC exclusive title getting the technology first, and not some MS game.. (although that could still potentially change)

 

I mean the game looks alright and you move through the world at a pretty fast clip, so maybe it is pushing the PS5 SSD tech more than the average game?

 

 

Anyway we actually have a pretty good idea now how DirectStorage will work on PC. 

 

1. Less CPU overhead -- DirectStorage will utilize a new API called "I/O Rings", a new path which allows batched I/O requests for asynchronous reads rather than the serial reads traditional I/O utilizes.

2. GPU based decompression  --   GPU decompression EXTREMELY FAST.... CPU decompression SLOW

3. Windows 11 storage stack -- As I mentioned above, they improved the ability to issue requests from storage, but they're also improving efficiency/latency by being able to bypass the Windows File Stack/Volume Stack.  This new API is called "BypassIO".. It allows games to skip File stack filters, Volume stack filters, as well as the storage stack filters, which add a ton of latency to every request.  This basically gives the data a direct, efficient path from Storage to VRAM now.

 

Essentially before:

Storage >>>>>>>>>> slow CPU copy >>>>>>>>>>> RAM >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> slow CPU decompression and copy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> VRAM

 

Now:

Storage >>> fast CPU  copy >>> RAM >>> fast copy >>> fast GPU decompression >>> VRAM