Unreal Engine 5.8 Adopts Microsoft Tech To Slay PC Shader Stutter
Shader compilation stutter remains one of the most notorious issues in modern PC gaming. With the upcoming Unreal Engine 5.8, Epic Games is taking a significant step toward solving this problem by adding support for Microsoft's DirectX Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD).
Understanding DirectX ASD
It is important to distinguish shader compilation stutter from other performance issues like traversal or PSO creation stutters. Shader stuttering occurs when a game hitches while loading a new asset or effect for the first time. While consoles avoid this by shipping pre-compiled shaders tailored to fixed hardware, the PC platform's diversity—ranging from different GPU architectures to varying driver versions—has made this a persistent challenge.
DirectX ASD was originally introduced for handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally to provide feature parity with Steam Deck's Vulkan Shader Pre-Caching. While initially limited to specific AMD RDNA-based integrated graphics, the technology has since expanded to desktop GPUs from all three major vendors, as well as Intel and Qualcomm integrated graphics on recent-generation hardware.
The Impact on Gaming
Engine-level support for ASD in Unreal Engine could be a game-changer. Games built on Unreal Engine 5.8 and later could potentially bypass both the frustrating in-game stutters and the lengthy, often incomplete, shader pre-compilation phases that have become a staple of modern PC releases.
However, there are caveats to keep in mind:
- Driver Requirements: Per Unreal Engine documentation, ASD is only available on a limited set of recent drivers.
- Redundancy: Developers are still advised to include bundled PSO (Pipeline State Object) caches as a fallback.
- Store Availability: Currently, ASD is only available via the Windows and "Xbox" Stores. Microsoft has stated that support for Steam and the Epic Games Store is planned for the future.
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