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Is there any future for screensavers on macOS?
I haven't been looking at screensavers for a long time because of Apple's lack of will (or resources?) to provide a public version of the private modern SDK used by Apple for a very long time now. I'm now looking at the Screen Saver pane in System Settings (the What-If version of System Preferences in an alternate universe where all screens are in portrait mode). In macOS Sequoia, it seems like 3rd party screensavers are not welcome considering that they are relegated to the "Other" section at the bottom of the list and you have to click Show All to start seeing 3rd party screen savers. I also had a quick look at macOS Tahoe Beta 3 and it looks like that all the real screensavers are gone (3rd party and the ones from Apple: Hello, Message, Flurry, etc.) or at least it requires to be a Nobel Prize to find them (and the Search field is not useful). I tried to install a 3rd party screen saver on macOS Tahoe Beta 3, it doesn't show up in the list. To summarize: No public access to modern APIs AFAIK. UI that is hostile to 3rd party screen savers on macOS Sequoia. Apparently only screensavers that are slideshows or movies curated by Apple in macOS Tahoe b3. Hence the question: Is there any future for screen savers on macOS? Because if there's none, I won't waste my time trying to update some old screen savers.
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MTLCaptureManager.sharedCaptureManager generates corrupted .gputrace files (0KB, invalid internal structure)
Hello, I am experiencing an issue with programmatically capturing a GPU trace using MTLCaptureManager. The .gputrace file that is generated appears to be corrupted, and I'm looking for guidance or a solution. Description of the Problem: I am using MTLCaptureManager.sharedCaptureManager to capture a Metal frame and save it to disk. The generated .gputrace file is consistently reported as 0 bytes in size by the file system. Crucially, when I compress this 0-byte .gputrace file into a .zip archive, the resulting archive contains the full, expected data. After unzipping, the file can be opened and viewed correctly in Xcode. However,When inspecting the file's contents using NSFileManager in Objective-C (treating it as a directory), the internal structure is different from a .gputrace file captured directly from Xcode's Metal Debugger. capture in xcode capture in file Finally,When capturing multiple frames programmatically, the first captured frame contains valid buffer data. However, for subsequent frames (starting from the second frame), the corresponding buffer contents are all zero-filled. Frame 1: All MTLBuffer data is correctly captured and populated. Frame 2 and onward: The same MTLBuffer objects are present in the trace, but their contents are entirely 0 (i.e., the data is not captured or is corrupted). In this case, the on-screen display is normal, but the captured frame is incorrect. The frame captured directly in Xcode is also correct. Only the frame captured to a file is abnormal.
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App not showing in Game Center “All Activity” after release
Hello — I shipped an App Store build that signs in to Game Center using the Apple Unity Plugins (GameKit). The login banner appears, but my app still doesn’t show up in Game Center’s “All activity” (You started playing XXX 2d ago) What I’ve done Call await GKLocalPlayer.Authenticate(); “Game Center” is enabled for the current version in App Store Connect Confirmed: other App Store games do appear under “All Activity” on the same device/account Timeline: This is the first version that enables Game Center (not the app’s first release), and it has been about 2 hours since this build went live. Questions Is authentication alone sufficient for “Recently Played,” or is at least one Game Center component (leaderboards, achievements, activities, multiplayer) required? Is there a typical propagation delay before “Recently Played” starts showing a newly enabled app/version? Is there anything else I should configure in App Store Connect or entitlements to make “Recently Played” visible? Thanks for any help.
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New GameSave API fails, "Couldn’t communicate with a helper application."
I've been playing with the new GameSave API and cannot get it to work. I followed the 3-step instructions from the Developer video. Step 2, "Next, login to your Apple developer account and include this entitlement in the provisioning profile for your game." seems to be unnecessary, as Xcode set this for you when you do step 1 "First add the iCloud entitlement to your game." Running the app on my device and tapping "Load" starts the sync, then fails with the error "Couldn’t communicate with a helper application." I have no idea how to troubleshoot this. Every other time I've used CloudKit it has Just Worked™. Halp‽ Here is my example app: import Foundation import SwiftUI import GameSave @main struct GameSaveTestApp: App { var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { GameView() } } } struct GameView: View { @State private var loader = GameLoader() var body: some View { List { Button("Load") { loader.load() } Button("Finish sync") { Task { try? await loader.finish() } } } } } @Observable class GameLoader { var directory: GameSaveSyncedDirectory? func stateChanged() { let newState = withObservationTracking { directory?.state } onChange: { Task { @MainActor [weak self] in self?.stateChanged() } } print("State changed to \(newState?.description ?? "nil")") switch newState { case .error(let error): print("ERROR: \(error.localizedDescription)") default: _ = 0 // NOOP } } func load() { print("Opening gamesave directory") directory = GameSaveSyncedDirectory.openDirectory() stateChanged() } func finish() async throws { print("finishing syncing") await directory?.finishSyncing() } }
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Will OpenGL API and Drivers be removed after appleOS 26?
Hi, I am a Multimedia and Graphics researcher and I am wondering if OpenGL API and drivers will be removed after appleOS 26? macOS 26 iOS 26 iPadOS 26 visionOS 26 I am asking this because most of the libraries I use depends on OpenGL. Like CGAL, libigl, immediate mode ui, nanovg, nanogui, bullet physics. Transitioning from Vulkan and metal while using and learning those libraries is just not viable. I would like to ask you that. I am the sole developer and I just want to ask you that. Regards.
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moveCharacter reports collision with itself
I'm running into an issue with collisions between two entities with a character controller component. In the collision handler for moveCharacter the collision has both hitEntity and characterEntity set to the same object. This object is the entity that was moved with moveCharacter() The below example configures 3 objects. stationary sphere with character controller falling sphere with character controller a stationary cube with a collision component if the falling sphere hits the stationary sphere then the collision handler reports both hitEntity and characterEntity to be the falling sphere. I would expect that the hitEntity would be the stationary sphere and the character entity would be the falling sphere. if the falling sphere hits the cube with a collision component the the hit entity is the cube and the characterEntity is the falling sphere as expected. Is this the expected behavior? The entities act as expected visually however if I want the spheres to react differently depending on what character they collided with then I am not getting the expected results. IE: If a player controlled character collides with a NPC then exchange resource with NPC. if player collides with enemy then take damage. import SwiftUI import RealityKit struct ContentView: View { @State var root: Entity = Entity() @State var stationary: Entity = createCharacter(named: "stationary", radius: 0.05, color: .blue) @State var falling: Entity = createCharacter(named: "falling", radius: 0.05, color: .red) @State var collisionCube: Entity = createCollisionCube(named: "cube", size: 0.1, color: .green) //relative to root @State var fallFrom: SIMD3<Float> = [0,0.5,0] var body: some View { RealityView { content in content.add(root) root.position = [0,-0.5,0.0] root.addChild(stationary) stationary.position = [0,0.05,0] root.addChild(falling) falling.position = fallFrom root.addChild(collisionCube) collisionCube.position = [0.2,0,0] collisionCube.components.set(InputTargetComponent()) } .gesture(SpatialTapGesture().targetedToAnyEntity().onEnded { tap in let tapPosition = tap.entity.position(relativeTo: root) falling.components.remove(FallComponent.self) falling.teleportCharacter(to: tapPosition + fallFrom, relativeTo: root) }) .toolbar { ToolbarItemGroup(placement: .bottomOrnament) { HStack { Button("Drop") { falling.components.set(FallComponent(speed: 0.4)) } Button("Reset") { falling.components.remove(FallComponent.self) falling.teleportCharacter(to: fallFrom, relativeTo: root) } } } } } } @MainActor func createCharacter(named name: String, radius: Float, color: UIColor) -> Entity { let character = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateSphere(radius: radius), materials: [SimpleMaterial(color: color, isMetallic: false)]) character.name = name character.components.set(CharacterControllerComponent(radius: radius, height: radius)) return character } @MainActor func createCollisionCube(named name: String, size: Float, color: UIColor) -> Entity { let cube = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateBox(size: size), materials: [SimpleMaterial(color: color, isMetallic: false)]) cube.name = name cube.generateCollisionShapes(recursive: true) return cube } struct FallComponent: Component { let speed: Float } struct FallSystem: System{ static let predicate: QueryPredicate<Entity> = .has(FallComponent.self) && .has(CharacterControllerComponent.self) static let query: EntityQuery = .init(where: predicate) let down: SIMD3<Float> = [0,-1,0] init(scene: RealityKit.Scene) { } func update(context: SceneUpdateContext) { let deltaTime = Float(context.deltaTime) for entity in context.entities(matching: Self.query, updatingSystemWhen: .rendering) { let speed = entity.components[FallComponent.self]?.speed ?? 0.5 entity.moveCharacter(by: down * speed * deltaTime, deltaTime: deltaTime, relativeTo: nil) { collision in if collision.hitEntity == collision.characterEntity { print("hit entity has collided with itself") } print("\(collision.characterEntity.name) collided with \(collision.hitEntity.name) ") } } } } #Preview(windowStyle: .volumetric) { ContentView() }
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Compute kernel fails to compile when calling texture.read()
If I compile a compute kernel with a call to texture.read(), it fails with the following error: "Error Domain=AGXMetalG13X Code=3 "Encountered unlowered function call to air.get_read_sampler" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Encountered unlowered function call to air.get_read_sampler}." This error occurs on both macOS and iOS 26 Beta 5, but not when running on a simulator or in a playground. It does not occur on a macOS Sequoia VM. It occurs whether I use the old metal 3 or new metal 4 compilation method. A workaround would be to use a sampler, but according to the feature tables, all platforms support reading from textures of all formats. Below is a minimal example which produces the error: let device = MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice()! let library = device.makeDefaultLibrary()! let computeFunction = library.makeFunction(name: "compute_test")! do { let pipeline = try device.makeComputePipelineState(function: computeFunction) debugPrint(pipeline) } catch { debugPrint("Metal 3 failed with error:\n\(error)") } #import <metal_stdlib> using namespace metal; kernel void compute_test(uint2 gid [[thread_position_in_grid]], texture2d<float, access::read> in [[texture(0)]], texture2d<float, access::write> out [[texture(1)]]) { out.write(in.read(gid), gid); } I filed feedback FB19530049.
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How to detect which entity was tapped?
Hi, I'm rewriting my game from SceneKit to RealityKit, and I'm having trouble implementing the following scenario: I tap on the iPhone screen to select an Entity that I want to drag. If an Entity was tapped, it should then be possible to drag it left, right, etc. SceneKit solution: func CGPointToSCNVector3(_ view: SCNView, depth: Float, point: CGPoint) -> SCNVector3 { let projectedOrigin = view.projectPoint(SCNVector3Make(0, 0, Float(depth))) let locationWithz = SCNVector3Make(Float(point.x), Float(point.y), Float(projectedOrigin.z)) return view.unprojectPoint(locationWithz) } and then I was calling: SCNView().hitTest(location, options: [SCNHitTestOption.firstFoundOnly:true]) the code was called inside of the UIPanGestureRecognizer in my UIViewController. Could I reuse that code or should I go with the SwiftUI approach - something like that: var body: some View { RealityView { .... } .gesture(TapGesture().onEnded { }) ? I already have this code: @State private var location: CGPoint? .onTapGesture { location in self.location = location } I'm trying to identify the entity that was tapped within the RealityView like that: RealityView { content in let box: ModelEntity = createBox() // for now there is only one box, however there will be many boxes content.add(box) let anchor = AnchorEntity(world: [0, 0, 0]) content.add(anchor) _ = content.subscribe(to: SceneEvents.Update.self) { event in //TODO: find tapped entity, so that it could be dragged inside of the DragGesture() } Any help would be appreciated. I also noticed that if I create a TapGesture like that: TapGesture(count: 1) .targetedToAnyEntity() and add it to my view using .gesture() then it is not triggered.
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Float8 and Float16 "Reserved_Name__Do_not_use"
I am developing a macOS terminal app, running on an M4 Pro, and using Metal. I am not able use float8 or float16, both reporting Variable has incomplete type 'float16' (aka '__Reserved_Name__Do_not_use_float16'). Based on the system I should be able to use these. Either it is because it is also compiling to Intel, which they are not allowed, or something else. Either way I have not been able to figure out how to get past this. IIs there a compiler setting I need to set to make this work? if so which one and what setting do I need? I only want to run this on M processes, on the latest version of OS so not interested in Intel version or backward compatibility.
Topic: Graphics & Games SubTopic: Metal Tags:
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Regression: RealityKit spatial audio crackles and pops on iOS 26.0 beta 5 (FB19423059)
RealityKit spatial audio crackles and pops on iOS 26.0 beta 5. It works correctly on iOS 18.6 and visionOS 26.0 beta 5. The APIs used are AudioPlaybackController, Entity.prepareAudio, Entity.play Videos of the expected and observed behavior are attached to the feedback FB19423059. The audio should be a consistent, repeating sound, but it seems oddly abbreviated and the volume varies unexpectedly. Thank you for investigating this issue.
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Low Power Mode on MacOS 26 Tahoe + Vsync fullscreen limits application to 30 fps
I'm experiencing a specific issue where when using any of the MacOS 26 Tahoe betas with Low Power Mode enabled and using Vsync in fullscreen, my application framerate gets limited to a hard 30 fps. I have not experienced this on any older OS. For example Low Power Mode on 13.6 Ventura with Vsync fullscreen lets my application run at full 60 fps without issues. Is this a bug or a change in behavior of Low Power Mode on Tahoe? My application is 3D, runs at 60 fps and is sensitive to tearing, so I need Vsync and it is mostly utilized in fullscreen. And Low Power Mode is a default for many Macs, so default experience on Tahoe currently is a halved 30 fps. However there also seems to be inconsistencies of on which machines this happens, but older OSes are always fine.
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CIBumpDistortion filter not working on my view
I'm trying to apply a CIBumpDistortion Core Image filter to a view that contains a UILabel (my storyLabel). The goal is to create a visual bump/magnifying glass effect over the text. However, despite my attempts, the filter doesn't seem to render at all. The view and the label appear as normal, with no distortion effect. I've tried adjusting the filter parameters and reviewing the view hierarchy, but without success. I also haven't been able to find clear documentation or examples for applying this filter to a UIView's layer. // // TVView.swift // Mistery // // Created by Joje on 31/07/25. // import CoreImage import CoreImage.CIFilterBuiltins import UIKit import AVFoundation final class TVView: UIView { // propriedades animacao texto private var textAnimationTimer: Timer? private var fullTextToAnimate: String = "" private var currentCharIndex: Int = 0 // propriedades video estatica private var player: AVQueuePlayer? private var playerLayer: AVPlayerLayer? private var playerLooper: AVPlayerLooper? var onNextButtonTap: () -> Void = {} // MARK: - Subviews // imagem da TV private(set) lazy var tvImageView: UIImageView = { let imageView = UIImageView() imageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false imageView.image = UIImage(named: "tvFinal") imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit return imageView }() // texto que passa dentro da TV private(set) lazy var storyLabel: UILabel = { let label = UILabel() label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false //label.backgroundColor = .gray label.textColor = .red label.font = UIFont(name: "MeltedMonster", size: 30) label.textAlignment = .left label.numberOfLines = 0 label.text = "" return label }() private(set) lazy var nextButton: UIButton = { let button = UIButton(type: .system) button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false //button.backgroundColor = .darkGray button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(didPressNextButton), for: .touchUpInside) return button }() // MARK: - Lifecycle override init(frame: CGRect) { super.init(frame: frame) backgroundColor = .black setupVideoPlayer() addSubviews() setupConstraints() } override func layoutSubviews() { super.layoutSubviews() playerLayer?.frame = tvImageView.frame.insetBy(dx: tvImageView.frame.width * 0.05, dy: tvImageView.frame.height * 0.18) setupFisheyeEffect() } private func setupFisheyeEffect() { // cria o filtro guard let filter = CIFilter(name: "CIBumpDistortion") else {return print("erro")} storyLabel.layer.shouldRasterize = true storyLabel.layer.rasterizationScale = UIScreen.main.scale // define os parametros filter.setDefaults() // centro do efeito let center = CIVector(x: storyLabel.bounds.midX, y: storyLabel.bounds.midY) filter.setValue(center, forKey: kCIInputCenterKey) // raio de distorção filter.setValue(storyLabel.bounds.width, forKey: kCIInputRadiusKey) // intensidade de distorção filter.setValue(7, forKey: kCIInputScaleKey) storyLabel.layer.filters = [filter] } required init?(coder: NSCoder) { fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented") } // MARK: - Button actions @objc private func didPressNextButton() { onNextButtonTap() } @objc private func animateNextCharacter() { guard currentCharIndex < fullTextToAnimate.count else { textAnimationTimer?.invalidate() return } let currentTextIndex = fullTextToAnimate.index(fullTextToAnimate.startIndex, offsetBy: currentCharIndex) let partialText = String(fullTextToAnimate[...currentTextIndex]) storyLabel.text = partialText currentCharIndex += 1 } public func updateStoryText(with text: String) { textAnimationTimer?.invalidate() storyLabel.text = "" fullTextToAnimate = text currentCharIndex = 0 textAnimationTimer = Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 0.12, target: self, selector: #selector(animateNextCharacter), userInfo: nil, repeats: true) } // MARK: - Setup methods private func setupVideoPlayer() { guard let videoURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "static-video", withExtension: "mov") else { print("Erro: Não foi possível encontrar o arquivo de vídeo static-video.mov") return } let playerItem = AVPlayerItem(url: videoURL) player = AVQueuePlayer(playerItem: playerItem) // LINHA COM POSSIVEL ERRO playerLooper = AVPlayerLooper(player: player!, templateItem: playerItem) playerLayer = AVPlayerLayer(player: player) playerLayer?.videoGravity = .resizeAspectFill if let layer = playerLayer { self.layer.addSublayer(layer) } player?.play() } private func addSubviews() { self.addSubview(storyLabel) self.addSubview(tvImageView) self.addSubview(nextButton) } private func setupConstraints() { NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ // TV Image tvImageView.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: centerXAnchor), tvImageView.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: centerYAnchor), tvImageView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalTo: widthAnchor), // TV Text storyLabel.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: tvImageView.centerXAnchor, constant: -50), storyLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: tvImageView.centerYAnchor, constant: -25), storyLabel.widthAnchor.constraint(equalTo: tvImageView.widthAnchor, multiplier: 0.35), storyLabel.heightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: tvImageView.heightAnchor, multiplier: 0.42), //TV Button nextButton.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: tvImageView.centerYAnchor, constant: -25), nextButton.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.centerXAnchor, constant: 190), nextButton.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 100), nextButton.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 160) ]) } } #Preview{ ViewController() }
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Warning code: 00000006 will affect background survival
Our APP has integrated 3D function, in order to reduce the memory occupation of the APP in the background, we will uninstall the 3D after the APP enters the background. However, the uninstall also causes problems. When the uninstall process is executed in the background, the app will briefly trigger the background GPU rendering error warning with the error warning code: OGPUMetalError: Insufficient Permission (to submit GPU work from background) (00000006:kIOGPUCommandBufferCallbackErrorBackgroundExecutionNotPermitted) Execution of the command buffer was aborted due to an error during execution. Insufficient Permission (to submit GPU Work from background) (00000006: kIOGPUCommandBufferCallbackErrorBackgroundExecutionNotPermitted) excuse me this warning system will tighten APP permissions background?​ For example, limit or shorten the background survival time of the APP. In addition, will the background refresh function fail, resulting in the failure of Bluetooth Ibeacon activation?
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Metal 4 & Acceleration Structures
I have really enjoyed looking through the code and videos related to Metal 4. Currently, my interest is to update a ReSTIR Project and take advantage of more robust ways to refit acceleration Structures and more powerful ways to access resources. I am working in Swift and have encountered a couple of puzzles: What is the 'accepted' way to create a MTL4BufferRange to store indices and vertices? How do I properly rewrite Swift code to build and compact an Acceleration Structure? I do realize that this is all in Beta and will happily look through Code Samples this Fall. If other guidance is available earlier, that would be fabulous! Thank you
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RealityKit and USDZ: Winding Order Issue with Negatively Scaled Meshes
Hi all, I've encountered a potential issue with how the winding order of geometry is handled when their transformations involve negative scaling. I created a simple test asset, a single triangle, to demonstrate this. The triangle's vertices are defined in a counter-clockwise ("right-handed") winding order, and its transform has a negative scale on the X-axis. According to the OpenUSD specification, this negative determinant in the transformation matrix should effectively reverse the winding order of the geometry: However, any given gprim's local-to-world transformation can flip its effective orientation, when it contains an odd number of negative scales. This condition can be reliably detected using the (Jacobian) determinant of the local-to-world transform: if the determinant is less than zero, then the gprim's orientation has been flipped, and therefore one must apply the opposite handedness rule when computing its surface normals (or just flip the computed normals) for the purposes of hidden surface detection and lighting calculations. When I view the asset in tools like Blender or Preview on macOS, it behaves as expected. The triangle's effective orientation is flipped to CW. However, when the same asset is viewed in Reality Composer Pro or with QuickLook on iOS, its effective orientation remains CCW. In other words, the triangle faces the opposite direction. My questions for the community and Apple are: Is this behavior in RealityKit a known issue? If this is a known issue, is there official guidance for DCC tools on how to export USDZ assets to ensure they appear correctly in the Apple ecosystem? Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
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