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Graphics requirements

Slipstream draws everything with Vulkan, so it needs a graphics card and a driver that support Vulkan 1.3. If yours doesn't, Slipstream shows a message at startup saying what it found and what is missing, then closes. This page explains that message and how to fix it.

The minimum

A Vulkan 1.3 driver, plus a handful of features that every current desktop driver has:

  • drawing many objects from one GPU-built list (multi-draw indirect, with draw counts and instance offsets);
  • large texture arrays the GPU indexes itself (descriptor indexing / "bindless" textures);
  • GPU pointers to buffers (buffer device address) and timeline semaphores;
  • dynamic rendering and synchronization2 (core in Vulkan 1.3);
  • anisotropic filtering and cube map arrays.

Ray tracing, variable rate shading and the other extras are optional: Slipstream turns them on only when the card supports them.

Which cards qualify

Roughly, with current drivers:

Windows Linux
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 / 900 series (Maxwell) or newer same (NVIDIA driver 510 or later)
AMD Radeon RX 400 / 500 series (Polaris) or newer any GCN Radeon (HD 7000 and newer) with a current Mesa (RADV)
Intel 6th-gen Core (Skylake, HD / UHD Graphics 500 / 600) or newer same, with a current Mesa (ANV)
Apple not supported

Not enough, whatever the driver:

  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 600 / 700 (Kepler): their last driver (the 470 series) stops at Vulkan 1.2.
  • AMD Radeon HD 7000, R7 / R9 200 and 300, Fury on Windows: AMD's final driver for these stops at Vulkan 1.2. On Linux the open-source RADV driver supports them.
  • Intel 5th-gen Core (Broadwell) and older.

See also the table on Installing.

Updating your driver

Most "Vulkan 1.2" messages on a qualifying card mean the driver is old. Update it:

Windows

  • Intel: use the Intel Driver & Support Assistant, or download Intel's graphics driver for your processor generation from intel.com. 6th to 10th-gen Core processors use Intel's separate "6th - 10th Gen" driver (version 31.0.101.2xxx); a driver like 26.20.100.xxxx is years old and only has Vulkan 1.2. Some laptops only accept the driver from the laptop maker's support page; if Intel's installer refuses, check there.
  • NVIDIA: nvidia.com/drivers, or the NVIDIA app.
  • AMD: amd.com/support, or AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition.

Windows Update often installs an older driver than the vendor's own page offers.

Linux

Update your distribution's graphics stack: Mesa for Intel and AMD (RADV / ANV), or the NVIDIA driver package for NVIDIA. On most distributions a normal system update does it; make sure the Vulkan driver package for your GPU is installed (for example vulkan-intel, vulkan-radeon, mesa-vulkan-drivers or nvidia-utils). Long-term-support releases may need a newer Mesa from a backports source.

Laptops and computers with two GPUs

Many laptops have a built-in Intel or AMD GPU and a second, dedicated NVIDIA or AMD GPU. Slipstream uses the best GPU that meets the requirements and skips one that doesn't, so an outdated built-in GPU driver doesn't stop it from running on the dedicated one. If the message lists only the built-in GPU:

  • make sure the dedicated GPU is enabled (in the BIOS / UEFI, or the laptop maker's GPU switch utility) and its driver is installed;
  • on Linux, check that the NVIDIA or AMD Vulkan driver for the dedicated GPU is installed.

Finding your Vulkan version

  • Slipstream's log: Slipstream.log (see Installing) has one line per GPU starting with Vulkan requirements: (search for it). It lists the GPU, its driver version, its Vulkan version and anything that is missing.
  • vulkaninfo: run vulkaninfo --summary (Linux: from the vulkan-tools package; Windows: from the Vulkan SDK). apiVersion must be 1.3 or higher.
  • GPU-Z (Windows): the Vulkan entry on the Advanced tab shows the version.

Still stuck? Ask on Discord or report a bug with your Slipstream.log attached.