DXVK 2.1 Released with HDR Support, Shader Compilation Improvements

This release also adds improvements for various video games, as well as sample rate shading for older games.
Marius Nestorby Marius Nestor0
DXVK 2.1

DXVK 2.1 Vulkan-based implementation of D3D9, D3D10, and D3D11 for Linux / Wine is now available with new features and improvements for all of you hardcore gamers out there.

The biggest new feature in the DXVK 2.1 release is HDR support. HDR can be enabled for games on systems supporting HDR10 color spaces by setting the DXVK_HDR=1 environment variable or by setting the dxgi.enableHDR = True option in DXVK’s configuration file.

However, as no major Linux desktop environment currently supports HDR, users need a Gamescope session with the --hdr-enabled option enabled. Also, HDR support is only supported with the open-source AMDGPU graphics driver and some kernel patches from the Josh Ashton‘s branch.

“D3D11 support is implemented, but not expected to work in most games as they typically require AMDAGS or NVAPI to set up HDR output, rather than using the corresponding DXGI APIs. Additionally, only Nvidia drivers are expected to work on Windows,” note the developers in the release notes.

HDR support on Linux is getting more ground every day as Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais shared on Twitter a while ago the progress made so far by developer Josh Ashton. Griffais demoed HDR support on his AMD desktop with the Halo Infinite, Deep Rock Galactic, and DEATH STRANDING DC video games.

Apart from HDR support, DXVK 2.1 also brings shader compilation improvements, a GLFW backend for native Linux builds of DXVK as an alternative to the SDL2 backend, as well as two new options (d3d9.forceSampleRateShading and d3d11.forceSampleRateShading) for enabling sample rate shading for all shaders on older games that support MSAA.

Of course, there are also the usual improvements for various games, including Red Dead Redemption 2, Ashes of the Singularity, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Cardfight!! Vanguard, Gujian 3, Resident Evil 4 HD, Saints Row: The Third, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Sonic Frontiers, and Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance.

DXVK 2.1 is available for download right now from the project’s GitHub page if you fancy compiling it from sources. Otherwise, you should install it from the stable software repositories of your GNU/Linux distribution for a better gaming experience.

Last updated 1 year ago

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