X Plane 11 Vulcan! What is it? Vulcan is a new API or Application Programming Interface which allows the CPU and GPU to talk to each other. Open GL was the old API that X Plane 11 used and was very inefficient.
Why was Open GL used?
It was chosen for some important reasons but mainly because the simulator could be across many platforms. It would operate on Windows, Mac OS as well as Linux machines. In 11.50 introduced Vulcan API which was a full rewrite of the program for the most part from the bottom up.
It was a huge amount of work for Laminar Research to implement Vulcan which took about 12 months to do and then it was slowly released in beta programs. Vulcan allows the CPU and GPU to communicate more directly so multiple tasks and not just individual task can be completed simultaneously. It was being worked on for around 12 months by Laminar Research before releasing it in Beta Form to those of us game enough to test before it was released fully.
The graphic above shows X Plane 11 Vulkan Vs OPEN GL in workload and how many cores are being used. One of the main things Vulcan allows is the use of multiple cores in your CPU where Open GL really only wanted one. This is just the beginning of the performance optimization Vulcan brings to games.
What are X Plane 11
Vulkan BETA’s ?
What is a X Plane 11 Vulkan beta? A beta is a pre release of X Plane 11 Vulkan before it is released as a full game. This beta gives you the option to be part of it and be a tester or wait till it is in full release and stable. Its an incomplete game and needs testing so there will likely be bugs and issues initially. In a lot of new games you can opt in and be part of this exciting process. A guinea pig of sorts for the release of the new game or update in this case.
The advantage is you may get to access the amazing performance increases and added benefits before it gets to full release. Laminar research the creator of X Plane initially had a number of Developer builds in its initial stages and programmers looked for major issues before it went to open Beta. They went to open Beta where you have the option to be involved in the new release but this can bring tears when the beta has problems.
This is very common but the betas allow the creator to iron out bugs before releasing an update like this to the general public.
What X Plane 11 Vulkan Does Vulcan Do?
Vulcan is very much like a waiter at a busy restaurant in that it facilitates information like food orders back and forward between the kitchen or in our case the CPU and GPU. So instead of one command at a time being handled by a single waiter like in Open GL we now have many commands being helped by many waiters.
If instructions are handled simultaneously it is more efficient and creates better performance and plus less stuttering. If a GPU waits just a little to long to render a frame because the information it needs has yet to be delivered it creates micro pauses which become very annoying.
What Else has 11.50 to Offer.
X Plane 11.50 also bought a large number of airport updates to the sim with improvements and new 3D airports being added. Here is a breakdown of what has been added since the last big update, 11.40 which gave us VR support for the game.
Total airports (2-D or 3-D scenery) in the 11.50 release: 36,437
Total airports with 3-D scenery in the 11.50 release: 13,403
Airports with 3-D scenery introduced since the 11.40 release: 1,742
1,742 airports had either no scenery or 2-D-only scenery in 11.40, but have 3-D scenery in 11.50.
Airports introduced in the 11.50 release (498 total): These 498 airports did not exist at all in the 11.40 release.
X Plane 11.50 Vulcan
3rd Party Add-ons
Many 3rd party add-ons like aircraft and airports required updating from the old OpenGL release to X Plane 11 Vulkan. It’s possible that not all your add-ons have been updated and they may not be compatible with the new Vulcan API.
If you have issues with X Plane 11.50 after the update and if it keeps crashing you may need to remove your addons and add them one at a time or check the developers site for more compatibility information. I had this with a couple aircraft I downloaded from the ORG. You can also check your X Plane log file to see which item is the offending piece of software that is throwing X Plane 11 off its happy flight sim journey.
Vulcan In Action
See the benefits
x Plane 11 Vulkans introduction proved to be a massive improvement for all X Plane 11 owners bringing smoother play and less stuttering. Check out this video from the LetsFlyVFR YouTube Channel. The Vulcan API has bought smoother frames and better performance for most X Plane 11 users.
How Do I Enable Vulcan?
To enable Vulcan on your computer and your copy of X Plane 11.50 you simply need to go to the graphics menu and select the box that’s says Vulcan/Metal. You will be required to RESTART the game for the changes to take effect. The next step to enjoying all the new benefits is to start a flight.
Please be aware the first time you start a flight with Vulcan enabled the computer has to reprocess all your scenery so it will likely take a few minutes to complete. This ONLY happens the FIRST time after you enable Vulcan back in the graphics menu. Your ready to fly!
If your interested you can read all the release notes by googling X Plane 11.50 Release notes. It will be the first result.
Enable VULCAN – See the Graphics Page and tick the box as per above.
Conclusion.
X Plane 11 and the addition of the Vulcan API proved to be a real step forward in performance. Balanced with the old Open GL api and Vulcan available alongside each other it was obvious Open GL was dead as a useful API. Tee ability to schedule multiple tasks and use more of the CPU certianly proved a major step forward.
As I update these Blogs X Plane 12 is now available with Vulcan integrated at its core and Open GL gone forever. The steps forward in X Plane 12 have been incredible so If your loving X Plane 11 still and not sure about X Plane 12 your in for a surprise! Get your own copy here or as always download the DEMO here and buy it when your happy digitally .
Author.
Brendon McAliece is a multi lingual-expat who brings over three decades of flight simulator/PC building experience as well as over two decades of real world jet fighter experience as a weapons/egress technician. He holds a sport pilot certificate giving him real world flying experience. Hi travels have taken him from Europe to the Middle East, Asia and his home of Australia. He has a passion for travel, languages, Flight simulation as well as Guitaring and Coffee. You can read more in his blogs below.
Learn more @
DreamingGuitar.com – DreamingCoffee.com – LetsFlyVFR.com
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