Delve into the world of graphics and game development. Discuss creating stunning visuals, optimizing game mechanics, and share resources for game developers.

All subtopics
Posts under Graphics & Games topic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

How to customize shader code for visionos ?
Hello experts, I'm trying to implement a material with custom shader code, but I saw that visionOS doesn't allow you to inject custom Metal functions or use CustomMaterial like iOS/macOS, nor can you directly write Metal Shading Language (.metal) and use it through ShaderGraphMaterial. So my question is, if i want to implement your own shader code, how should i do it?
1
0
507
Jul ’25
GKLeaderboard.loadLeaderboards returns empty array
After authenticating the user I'm loading my Game Center leaderboards like this: let leaderboards = try await GKLeaderboard.loadLeaderboards(IDs: [leaderboardID]) This is working fine, but there are times when this just returns an empty array. When I encounter this situation, the array remains empty for several hours when retrying, but then at some point it suddenly starts working again. Is this a known issue? Or am I hitting some kind of quota maybe (as I do it quite often while developing my game)?. Edit: My leaderboards are grouped in sets if that makes any difference here.
1
0
529
Dec ’25
Particles rendered in the wrong order: back last instead of the back first
I've tried out a ParticleEmitter in Reality Composer Pro to produce a burst of particles that don't move (i.e. speed close to zero). When viewing from different angles, it clearly looks like the particles are rendered exactly in the wrong order, that is, front first and back last. In other words, back particles obscure front particles. I would prefer it the correct way around. I've only tried this interactively in Reality Composer Pro, not programmatically, but I assume I would get the same result. My Reality Composer Pro "File" (zipped): https://gert-rieger-edv.de/Posts/Post-1/RealityParticles.zip Screenshot: Click on the ParticleEmitter object, then on its Play button, then select the Particles tab and click on "Burst" a few times to get a few random particles. Mac Studio 2025 Apple M4 Max macOS 15.7.2 (24G325) Reality Composer Pro Version 2.0 (494.60.2)
0
0
584
Dec ’25
Game Center fetchSavedGames sometimes returns empty list of games, although it works correctly on the next tries
I have implemented the Game Center for authentication and saving player's game data. Both authentication and saving player's data works correctly all the time, but there is a problem with fetching and loading the data. The game works like this: At the startup, I start the authentication After the player successfully logs in, I start loading the player's data by calling fetchSavedGames method If a game data exists for the player, I receive a list of SavedGame object containing the player's data The problem is that after I uninstall the game and install it again, sometimes the SavedGame list is empty(step 3). But if I don't uninstall the game and reopen the game, this process works fine. Here's the complete code of Game Center implementation: class GameCenterHandler { public func signIn() { GKLocalPlayer.local.authenticateHandler = { viewController, error in if let viewController = viewController { viewController.present(viewController, animated: false) return } if error != nil { // Player could not be authenticated. // Disable Game Center in the game. return } // Auth successfull self.load(filename: "TestFileName") } } public func save(filename: String, data: String) { if GKLocalPlayer.local.isAuthenticated { GKLocalPlayer.local.saveGameData(Data(data.utf8), withName: filename) { savedGame, error in if savedGame != nil { // Data saved successfully } if error != nil { // Error in saving game data! } } } else { // Error in saving game data! User is not authenticated" } } public func load(filename: String) { if GKLocalPlayer.local.isAuthenticated { GKLocalPlayer.local.fetchSavedGames { games, error in if let game = games?.first(where: {$0.name == filename}){ game.loadData { data, error in if data != nil { // Data loaded successfully } if error != nil { // Error in loading game data! } } } else { // Error in loading game data! Filename not found } } } else { // Error in loading game data! User is not authenticated } } } I have also added Game Center and iCloud capabilities in xcode. Also in the iCloud section, I selected the iCloud Documents and added a container. I found a simillar question here but it doesn't make things clearer.
1
0
1.1k
Dec ’25
screencapturekit
I have code that captures a window and displays a cropped image. The problem is 2 fold. Kit doesn't seem to allow to modify stop and recapture image in window mode to capture a portion of the screen. So this makes me having to crop and display the cropped image via a published variable. This all works find. But seems to stop after some time. Using an M1 16gig ram. program is taking less than 100meg of mem with 40-70%cpu as the crow flies. printing captured success in debug mode and sometimes frame isn't valid so guarding against it. any ideas on how to improve my strategy?
0
0
143
Jun ’25
ARView [.showStatistics] doesn't work on Xcode Canvas
Hi, I can't see RealityKit statistics on Xcode Canvas using: arView.debugOptions = [.showStatistics] The statistics only show on a physical device, not Xcode live canvas with #Preview. Testing in Xcode 26.0.1 (17A400) on Tahoe 26.0.1 (25A362). Use case: I'm using RealityKit as a non-AR 3D engine. Xcode Canvas is useful for live iterations. Is this expected behavior? How can I see FPS on Xcode canvas? SKView for example shows all debug options on both Xcode Canvas and physical devices.
0
0
464
Oct ’25
Can a compute pipeline be as efficient as a render pipeline for rasterization?
I'm new to graphics and game design and I just wanted to know if a compute pipeline could be as efficient as a render pipeline for rasterization and an explanation on how and why. Also is it possible to manually perform rasterization with a render pipeline as in manipulate individual pixel data in a metal texture yourself but do it with a render pipeline?
0
0
113
1d
RealityKit crashes when rendering SpriteKit scene with SKShapeNode in postProcess callback
I'm converting my game from SceneKit to RealityKit. It has a SpriteKit overlay that according to Explore advanced rendering with RealityKit 2 I can add with the code below. The code runs fine if the SKScene only contains a SKSpriteNode (see the commented out line), but when I add a SKShapeNode with a fillColor instead, the app crashes with this error: -[MTLDebugRenderCommandEncoder validateCommonDrawErrors:]:5970: failed assertion `Draw Errors Validation MTLDepthStencilDescriptor uses frontFaceStencil but MTLRenderPassDescriptor has a nil stencilAttachment texture MTLDepthStencilDescriptor uses backFaceStencil but MTLRenderPassDescriptor has a nil stencilAttachment texture ' I don't know enough about low-level graphics and stencils yet to figure out a quick solution, so I would appreciate if anyone could share an easy fix or explanation of what's wrong. Thanks! class ViewController: NSViewController { var device: MTLDevice! var renderer: SKRenderer! override func loadView() { let arView = ARView(frame: NSScreen.main!.frame) view = arView arView.renderCallbacks.prepareWithDevice = { [weak self] device in guard let self = self else { return } self.device = device renderer = SKRenderer(device: MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice()!) let scene = SKScene() let shape = SKShapeNode(rectOf: CGSize(width: 10, height: 10)) shape.fillColor = .red scene.addChild(shape) // scene.addChild(SKSpriteNode(color: .red, size: CGSize(width: 10, height: 10))) renderer.scene = scene } arView.renderCallbacks.postProcess = { [weak self] context in guard let self = self else { return } let encoder = context.commandBuffer.makeBlitCommandEncoder() encoder?.copy(from: context.sourceColorTexture, to: context.targetColorTexture) encoder?.endEncoding() renderer.update(atTime: context.time) let descriptor = MTLRenderPassDescriptor() descriptor.colorAttachments[0].loadAction = .load descriptor.colorAttachments[0].storeAction = .store descriptor.colorAttachments[0].texture = context.targetColorTexture renderer.render(withViewport: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: context.targetColorTexture.width, height: context.targetColorTexture.height), commandBuffer: context.commandBuffer, renderPassDescriptor: descriptor) } } }
0
0
68
23h
打开显示HUD图形后,应用崩溃
hi everyone, 我们发现了一个和Metal相关崩溃。应用中使用了Metal相关的接口,在进行性能测试时,打开了设置-开发者-显示HUD图形。运行应用后,正常展示HUD,但应用很快发生了崩溃,日志主要信息如下: Incident Identifier: 1F093635-2DB8-4B29-9DA5-488A6609277B CrashReporter Key: 233e54398e2a0266d95265cfb96c5a89eb3403fd Hardware Model: iPhone14,3 Process: waimai [16584] Path: /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/CCCFC0AE-EFB8-4BD8-B674-ED089B776221/waimai.app/waimai Identifier: Version: 61488 (8.53.0) Code Type: ARM-64 Parent Process: ? [1] Date/Time: 2025-06-12 14:41:45.296 +0800 OS Version: iOS 18.0 (22A3354) Report Version: 104 Monitor Type: Mach Exception Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS) Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x000000014fffae00 Crashed Thread: 57 Thread 57 Crashed: 0 libMTLHud.dylib esfm_GenerateTriangesForString + 408 1 libMTLHud.dylib esfm_GenerateTriangesForString + 92 2 libMTLHud.dylib Renderer::DrawText(char const*, int, unsigned int) + 204 3 libMTLHud.dylib Overlay::onPresent(id<CAMetalDrawable>) + 1656 4 libMTLHud.dylib CAMetalDrawable_present(void (*)(), objc_object*, objc_selector*) + 72 5 libMTLHud.dylib invocation function for block in void replaceMethod<void>(objc_class*, objc_selector*, void (*)(void (*)(), objc_object*, objc_selector*)) + 56 6 Metal __45-[_MTLCommandBuffer presentDrawable:options:]_block_invoke + 104 7 Metal MTLDispatchListApply + 52 8 Metal -[_MTLCommandBuffer didScheduleWithStartTime:endTime:error:] + 312 9 IOGPU IOGPUNotificationQueueDispatchAvailableCompletionNotifications + 136 10 IOGPU __IOGPUNotificationQueueSetDispatchQueue_block_invoke + 64 11 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_client_callout4 + 20 12 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_mach_msg_invoke + 464 13 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_lane_serial_drain + 368 14 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_mach_invoke + 456 15 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_lane_serial_drain + 368 16 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_lane_invoke + 432 17 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_lane_serial_drain + 368 18 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_lane_invoke + 380 19 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_root_queue_drain_deferred_wlh + 288 20 libdispatch.dylib _dispatch_workloop_worker_thread + 540 21 libsystem_pthread.dylib _pthread_wqthread + 288 我们测试了几个不同的机型,只有iPhone 13 Pro Max会发生崩溃。 Q1:为什么会发生这个崩溃? Q2:相同的逻辑,为什么仅在iPhone 13 Pro Max机型上出现崩溃? 期待您的解答。
1
0
279
Jul ’25
MatchMaker VC not showing existing matches after upgrade.
Updated my app to include turn-based matches. Beta testing through FlightTest and all was well between iOS 18.x and 26.2 devices. One beta tester upgraded to 26.2 during beta testing and now when the MatchMaker VC is opened, it does not show existing matches. Worse, he can create new matches and play his turn, but the new match won't even show up in MMVC, even after opponent takes turn. My app has been reviewed and is ready for release, but I'd like to know how to solve this before I release. He has tried re-installing the app, including an updated FlightTest version that is the same as the about-to-be-released reviewed version.
6
0
651
2h
Metal Shader inside Swift Package not found?
Hello everyone! I am trying to wrap a ViewModifier inside a Swift Package that bundles a metal shader file to be used in the modifier. Everything works as expected in the Preview, in the Simulator and on a real device for iOS. It also works in Preview and in the Simulator for tvOS but not on a real AppleTV. I have tried this on a 4th generation Apple TV running tvOS 26.3 using Xcode 26.2.0. Xcode logs the following: The metallib is processed and exists in the bundle. Compiler failed to build request precondition failure: pipeline error: custom_effect-fg2a5cia7fmha4: error: unresolved visible function reference: custom_fn Reason: visible function not loaded Compiler failed to build request precondition failure: pipeline error: custom_effect-fg2a5cia7fmha4: error: unresolved visible function reference: custom_fn Reason: visible function not loaded Compiler failed to build request precondition failure: pipeline error: custom_effect-fg2a5cia7fmha4: error: unresolved visible function reference: custom_fn Reason: visible function not loaded Compiler failed to build request precondition failure: pipeline error: custom_effect-fg2a5cia7fmha4: error: unresolved visible function reference: custom_fn Reason: visible function not loaded Compiler failed to build request precondition failure: pipeline error: custom_effect-fg2a5cia7fmha4: error: unresolved visible function reference: custom_fn Reason: visible function not loaded Compiler failed to build request precondition failure: pipeline error: custom_effect-fg2a5cia7fmha4: error: unresolved visible function reference: custom_fn Reason: visible function not loaded Contents of Package.swift: import PackageDescription let package = Package( name: "Test", platforms: [ .iOS(.v17), .tvOS(.v17) ], products: [ .library( name: "Test", targets: [ "Test" ] ) ], targets: [ .target( name: "Test", resources: [ .process("Shaders") ] ), .testTarget( name: "TestTests", dependencies: [ "Test" ] ) ] ) Content of my metal file: #include <metal_stdlib> using namespace metal; [[ stitchable ]] float2 complexWave(float2 position, float time, float2 size, float speed, float strength, float frequency) { float2 normalizedPosition = position / size; float moveAmount = time * speed; position.x += sin((normalizedPosition.x + moveAmount) * frequency) * strength; position.y += cos((normalizedPosition.y + moveAmount) * frequency) * strength; return position; } And my ViewModifier: import MetalKit import SwiftUI extension ShaderFunction { static let complexWave: ShaderFunction = { ShaderFunction( library: .bundle(.module), name: "complexWave" ) }() } extension Shader { static func complexWave(arguments: [Shader.Argument]) -> Shader { Shader(function: .complexWave, arguments: arguments) } } struct WaveModifier: ViewModifier { let start: Date = .now func body(content: Content) -> some View { TimelineView(.animation) { context in let delta = context.date.timeIntervalSince(start) content .visualEffect { view, proxy in view.distortionEffect( .complexWave( arguments: [ .float(delta), .float2(proxy.size), .float(0.5), .float(8), .float(10) ] ), maxSampleOffset: .zero ) } } .onAppear { let paths = Bundle.module.paths(forResourcesOfType: "metallib", inDirectory: nil) print(paths) } } } extension View { public func wave() -> some View { modifier(WaveModifier()) } } #Preview { Image(systemName: "cart") .wave() } Any help is appreciated.
0
0
269
4d
RealityKit game keeps using ~65% CPU even with empty scene
I'm trying to convert my game from SceneKit to RealityKit. I noticed that even when the scene is static (nothing moves), RealityKit keeps using CPU. In SceneKit, CPU goes down to 0% with a static scene. With this simplest of games, RealityKit keeps using about 65% CPU: class ViewController: NSViewController { override func loadView() { view = ARView(frame: NSScreen.main!.frame) } } Is this expected or a bug? I created FB22125047.
0
0
60
2d
Metal recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize vs actual RAM on iPhone (LLM load fails)
Context I’m deploying large language models on iPhone using llama.cpp. A new iPhone Air (12 GB RAM) reports a Metal MTLDevice.recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize of 8,192 MB, and my attempt to load Llama-2-13B Q4_K (~7.32 GB weights) fails during model initialization. Environment Device: iPhone Air (12 GB RAM) iOS: 26 Xcode: 26.0.1 Build: Metal backend enabled llama.cpp App runs on device (not Simulator) What I’m seeing MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice().recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize == 8192 MiB Loading Llama-2-13B Q4_K (7.32 GB) fails to complete. Logs indicate memory pressure / allocation issues consistent with the 8 GB working-set guidance. Smaller models (e.g., 7B/8B with similar quantization) load and run (8B Q4_K provide around 9 tokens/second decoding speed). Questions Is 8,192 MB an expected recommendedMaxWorkingSetSize on a 12 GB iPhone? What values should I expect on other 2025 devices including iPhone 17 (8 GB RAM) and iPhone 17 Pro (12 GB RAM) Is it strictly enforced by Metal allocations (heaps/buffers), or advisory for best performance/eviction behavior? Can a process practically exceed this for long-lived buffers without immediate Jetsam risk? Any guidance for LLM scenarios near the limit?
0
0
576
Oct ’25
ScreenCaptureKit recording output is corrupted when captureMicrophone is true
Hello everyone, I'm working on a screen recording app using ScreenCaptureKit and I've hit a strange issue. My app records the screen to an .mp4 file, and everything works perfectly until the .captureMicrophone is false In this case, I get a valid, playable .mp4 file. However, as soon as I try to enable the microphone by setting streamConfig.captureMicrophone = true, the recording seems to work, but the final .mp4 file is corrupted and cannot be played by QuickTime or any other player. This happens whether capturesAudio (app audio) is on or off. I've already added the "Privacy - Microphone Usage Description" (NSMicrophoneUsageDescription) to my Info.plist, so I don't think it's a permissions problem. I have my logic split into a ScreenRecorder class that manages state and a CaptureEngine that handles the SCStream. Here is how I'm configuring my SCStream: ScreenRecorder.swift // This is my main SCStreamConfiguration private var streamConfiguration: SCStreamConfiguration { var streamConfig = SCStreamConfiguration() // ... other HDR/preset config ... // These are the problem properties streamConfig.capturesAudio = isAudioCaptureEnabled streamConfig.captureMicrophone = isMicCaptureEnabled // breaks it if true streamConfig.excludesCurrentProcessAudio = false streamConfig.showsCursor = false if let region = selectedRegion, let display = currentDisplay { // My region/frame logic (works fine) let regionWidth = Int(region.frame.width) let regionHeight = Int(region.frame.height) streamConfig.width = regionWidth * scaleFactor streamConfig.height = regionHeight * scaleFactor // ... (sourceRect logic) ... } streamConfig.pixelFormat = kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA streamConfig.colorSpaceName = CGColorSpace.sRGB streamConfig.minimumFrameInterval = CMTime(value: 1, timescale: 60) return streamConfig } And here is how I'm setting up the SCRecordingOutput that writes the file: ScreenRecorder.swift private func initRecordingOutput(for region: ScreenPickerManager.SelectedRegion) throws { let screeRecordingOutputURL = try RecordingWorkspace.createScreenRecordingVideoFile( in: workspaceURL, sessionIndex: sessionIndex ) let recordingConfiguration = SCRecordingOutputConfiguration() recordingConfiguration.outputURL = screeRecordingOutputURL recordingConfiguration.outputFileType = .mp4 recordingConfiguration.videoCodecType = .hevc let recordingOutput = SCRecordingOutput(configuration: recordingConfiguration, delegate: self) self.recordingOutput = recordingOutput } Finally, my CaptureEngine adds these to the SCStream: CaptureEngine.swift class CaptureEngine: NSObject, @unchecked Sendable { private(set) var stream: SCStream? private var streamOutput: CaptureEngineStreamOutput? // ... (dispatch queues) ... func startCapture(configuration: SCStreamConfiguration, filter: SCContentFilter, recordingOutput: SCRecordingOutput) async throws { let streamOutput = CaptureEngineStreamOutput() self.streamOutput = streamOutput do { stream = SCStream(filter: filter, configuration: configuration, delegate: streamOutput) // Add outputs for raw buffers (not used for file recording) try stream?.addStreamOutput(streamOutput, type: .screen, sampleHandlerQueue: videoSampleBufferQueue) try stream?.addStreamOutput(streamOutput, type: .audio, sampleHandlerQueue: audioSampleBufferQueue) try stream?.addStreamOutput(streamOutput, type: .microphone, sampleHandlerQueue: micSampleBufferQueue) // Add the file recording output try stream?.addRecordingOutput(recordingOutput) try await stream?.startCapture() } catch { logger.error("Failed to start capture: \(error.localizedDescription)") throw error } } // ... (stopCapture, etc.) ... } When I had the .captureMicrophone value to be false, I get a perfect .mp4 video playable everywhere, however, when its true, I am getting corrupted video which doesn't play at all :-
1
0
461
4w
Xcode Metal Capture crash when using MTLSamplerState
The sample code just draw a triangle and sample texture. both sample code can draw a correct triangle and sample texture as expected. there are no error message from terminal. Sample code using constexpr Sampler can capture and replay well. Sample code using a argumentTable to bind a MTLSamplerState was crashed when using Metal capture and replay on Xcode. Here are sample codes. Sample Code Test Environment: M1 Pro MacOS 26.3 (25D125) Xcode Version 26.2 (17C52) Feedback ID: FB22031701
0
0
67
1w
Metal 4 (validation / debug layer): residency set requirement mismatch for memoryless attachments
Setup: MSAA rendering using a memoryless texture as the color attachment (render_image) and a "normal" texture as the resolve attachment (resolve_image). MTL_DEBUG_LAYER / API validation is enabled for this. When trying to add the memoryless texture to a residency set, I get the following error: -[MTLDebugResidencySet validateResource:], line 114: error 'residency sets do not support memoryless resources. Which is as expected and identical to Metal 3. However, if I don't add it to the residency set, I then get the following error when committing to the command queue: -[MTL4DebugCommandQueue commit:count:options:], line 67: error 'Commit With Options Validation Attachment texture (Label: render_image) used in command buffer (at index 0) is not added to any residency set on the command buffer or command queue. So which way around is actually correct in Metal 4? Either way, this makes the use of memoryless textures/attachments impossible right now when validation is enabled. FWIW: when disabling all validation, either way seems to work just fine. Tested on: M1 Max, macOS 26.3, Xcode 26.2 & 26.4b2
0
0
31
1w
How to get accurate Mouse/Trackpad deltas on macOS when using CGWarpMouseCursorPosition?
I am working on a remote control application for macOS where I need to maintain two "virtual" cursors: Remote Cursor: Follows the remote user's movements. Local Cursor: Follows the local user's physical mouse/trackpad movements. To move the system cursor (for the remote side), I use CGWarpMouseCursorPosition as follows: void DualCursorMac::UpdateSystemCursorPosition(int x, int y) { CGPoint point = CGPointMake(static_cast<CGFloat>(x), static_cast<CGFloat>(y)); // Warp the cursor to match remote coordinates CGWarpMouseCursorPosition(point); } Meanwhile, I use a CGEventTap to monitor local physical movements to update my local virtual cursor's UI: CGEventRef Mouse::MouseTapCallback(CGEventTapProxy proxy, CGEventType type, CGEventRef event, void *refcon) { if (remoteControlMode) { // We want to suppress system cursor movement but still read the delta const int deltaX = static_cast<int>(CGEventGetIntegerValueField(event, kCGMouseEventDeltaX)); const int deltaY = static_cast<int>(CGEventGetIntegerValueField(event, kCGMouseEventDeltaY)); NSLog(@"MouseTapCallback: delta:(%d, %d)", deltaX, deltaY); // Update local virtual cursor UI based on deltas... return nullptr; // Consume the event } return event; } The Problem: When CGWarpMouseCursorPosition is called frequently to update the system cursor, it interferes with the kCGMouseEventDeltaX/Y values in the Event Tap. Specifically, if the local user moves the trackpad slowly (expecting deltas of 1 or 2), but a "Warp" occurs simultaneously (e.g., jumping the cursor from (100, 100) to (300, 300)), the deltaX and deltaY in the callback suddenly spike to very large values. It seems the system calculates the delta based on the new warped position rather than the pure physical displacement of the trackpad. This makes the local virtual cursor "jump" erratically and makes it impossible to track smooth local movement during remote control. My Question: Is there a way to get the "raw" or "pure" physical relative movement (delta) from the trackpad/mouse that is independent of the system cursor's absolute position or warping? Are there alternative APIs (perhaps IOKit or different CGEvent fields) that would allow me to get consistent deltas even when the cursor is being warped programmatically?
0
0
190
2w
Display 17 PROseries
Dear colleagues, when will you add the ability to manually adjust the display's color temperature? Everyone is familiar with the color rendering issue on the 17 series. Many complain about the display's yellowish tint. I'm one of those people, with a G9N panel, but I can't get whites right; there's a persistent yellow tint. TrueTone only solves this problem under cool, white lighting conditions. So, the display might work as intended, but how can I make it work consistently? If there were a way to manually adjust TrueTone, many users wouldn't be so upset when buying a new device, fearing the display would be yellow. I'd like users to be able to choose their preferred color, warm or cool, and have a scale to adjust it! This would solve the yellowish tint issue on 17 series displays! Thank you.
0
0
45
1w