Graphics API

Intermediate

Graphics APIs are responsible for performing basic rendering operations. They differ in platform availability and have their own benefits and drawbacks.

Supported graphics APIs

Stride has support for the following APIs:

Direct3D11

Available on platforms: Windows

Direct3D is a graphics API developed by Microsoft. Stride's implementation for version 11 is the most mature, which is why it's used as the default on Windows.

Direct3D12

Available on platforms: Windows

Version 12 of Direct3D is the newest release of the API. Currently, Stride's implementation for it isn't as stable as the one for 11, which is why it isn't used by default.

Vulkan

Available on platforms: Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, iOS

Vulkan is a modern graphics API that provides great performance benefits and control over how rendering is performed. It's used as the default on non-Windows platforms.

Changing the graphics API

Note

Currently all non-Windows platforms can only use Vulkan, as Direct3D is Windows-exclusive.

Game Studio
Manual

In the Solution explorer select the Windows platform package (the one that ends with .Windows).
In the Property grid find a property named Graphics API and change it to your desired value.

You can manually change the graphics API by adding the following line to the PropertyGroup of the platform package's .csproj file:

<StrideGraphicsApi>NameOfGraphicsAPIHere</StrideGraphicsApi>

The following values are supported:

Direct3D11
Direct3D12
Vulkan

Changing the editor API

Game Studio's graphics API is set independently from the game. To change it, go to Edit > Settings > Environment > Graphics API (editor only). The new api will be used after editor restart.

You can also force the usage of a specific API from the command line by passing the --graphics-api ApiNameHere flag or setting the environment variable STRIDE_GRAPHICS_API to your desired value.

Checking the API at runtime

You can check which API your project is using from GraphicsDevice.Platform.

public override void Update()
{
    DebugText.Print($"Graphics API: {GraphicsDevice.Platform}", new(50, 50));
}

Building the engine with a different API

When building the engine from source code, it will only contain support for your OS's default graphics API. To build all APIs, set StrideGraphicsApiDependentBuildAll to true in build parameters.

msbuild -p:StrideGraphicsApiDependentBuildAll=true ./build/Stride.sln

To only build selected APIs, set the StrideGraphicsApis property to your desired values.

Powershell
Bash

msbuild -p:StrideGraphicsApis=`"Api1`;Api2`" ./build/Stride.sln

msbuild -p:StrideGraphicsApis=\"Api1\;Api2\" ./build/Stride.sln

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