Microsoft Tackles PC Gamers Shader Compilation Woes With Advanced Shader Delivery Microsoft is taking aim at one of the most frustrating experiences for PC gamers, the long wait times for shader compilation, with a new system called Advanced Shader Delivery. The technology is being introduced first for ASUS ROG Xbox Ally handhelds and games available through the Xbox app. For many players, the excitement of launching a new, highly anticipated game is often dampened by a compiling shaders screen and a progress bar that moves incredibly slowly. This initial setup process can sometimes take over an hour, particularly for those using older computers or slower processors. This pre-compilation step has become more common in large games to prevent performance issues later. When games do not perform this shader compilation ahead of time, the process happens during actual gameplay. This can cause noticeable and annoying stuttering as the system struggles to compile the necessary shaders on the fly while also trying to run the game. Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery solution seeks to eliminate both the long wait and the in-game stuttering by handling the entire compilation process in advance. The compiled shaders are then stored in the cloud, ready for players to download. The main challenge with this approach is that shader compilation is highly dependent on the specific hardware and drivers of a user’s system. With the vast number of possible graphics card and driver combinations, creating a pre-compiled shader set for every common setup for each game would result in an enormous database. This method is similar to how consoles handle shaders, but on consoles, the hardware variations are minimal, often requiring only two or three different shader versions. This is precisely why Microsoft is starting the rollout with the ASUS ROG Ally handheld, which has only two hardware configurations, making the initial implementation much more manageable. The Agility SDK from Microsoft for game developers already includes support for Advanced Shader Delivery, meaning developers can start integrating the technology into their new titles now. However, the widespread adoption of such new technologies typically takes a considerable amount of time. The slow adoption of Microsoft’s Direct Storage technology serves as a recent example. Designed to drastically reduce game load times, Direct Storage was released three years ago but is still only used by a small number of major game titles. Given this precedent, it could be many years before Advanced Shader Delivery becomes a common feature in popular games, especially on platforms outside of the Xbox ecosystem like Steam.
