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Please Note: The benchmarks were re-done here, as Feral had an OpenGL performance regression which caused Vulkan to look at lot better than it was.

Mad Max [Feral Store, Steam] from Feral Interactive has been updated with a public beta as the Linux version is now able to use Vulkan and it brings some mighty performance changes.

Note: The beta does not support SteamOS currently, only normal desktop Linux distributions. Vulkan is only available in the Linux version, it is not in the Windows version.

To access the Beta, you need the password "livelongandprosper". Enter that into the games Betas tab on Steam to get in on the action. Once done, select "vulkan_beta." to update to it. See more info on this post from Feral.

First up, here’s a small comparison video that shows the very clear difference (Very High preset):
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This is one of the few areas in the game where you can basically guarantee all affects (weather, AI) being the same. So it’s a good point to compare for a video.

I’ve tested it out myself privately before release and I’m really impressed with the difference it makes. It’s night and day in some areas the performance jump is quite impressive! Every part of the game feels massively smoother. I didn’t notice it before, but in the OpenGL version even moving the camera is slower than in the Vulkan version.

Places that previously dropped to 60FPS and below have been sailing at over 100FPS for me, keeping the action amazingly smooth. This is especially important for all the car chases and general combat on foot, previously some of the battles were a real struggle, but now it’s effortless.

You can turn Vulkan off to go back to OpenGL using the "Use Vulkan" tickbox in the Advanced section of the Feral launcher. I'm impressed by how solid the switching is after going back and forth too many times to count I haven't had an issue.

Note: If you turned off the Feral launcher, you can bring it back by holding down CTRL while it loads.

Here’s a few random screenshots showing again how the performance really is different (OpenGL left, Vulkan right - noted in each picture).
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As you can see, no matter the area, weather, lighting and so on Vulkan destroys OpenGL in Mad Max.

Driver support: It works across NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, but there are some specific bits to be aware of. You can read about them on this post from Feral.

I should note, that the amount of difference you see will of course depend on what CPU and GPU combination you have. Lower-end CPU/GPU combinations will still see an improvement, but it likely won’t be as drastic as what I see here.

New benchmark mode
Feral have also put in a benchmark mode for the Linux version, which you can access by doing “--feral-benchmark” in their advanced launcher options. It will take whatever your in-game settings are for the benchmark. This is a unique feature for the Linux version, as the Windows version does not have a proper benchmark mode.

Warning: If you plan to play it through, you should be aware the benchmark uses cut-scenes from late in the game and may spoil a scene or two for you.

You will find the benchmark output in time and dated folders inside ”.local/share/feral-interactive/Mad Max/VFS/User/AppData/Roaming/WB Games/Mad Max/FeralBenchmark”.

Each single run of the benchmark takes about five minutes, so you might want to go make a coffee while it runs.

Benchmarks
These benchmarks show how some of the worst performing parts of the game perform differently on Vulkan. Not all of the game will see such an increase.
OpenGL Vulkan Mad Max: Camp - Hollow PointAntergos Linux, 1080p, i7 5960x, 980ti NormalHighVery High Vulkan 239OpenGL 113Vulkan 162OpenGL 65Vulkan 145OpenGL 47 2391131626514547 04896144192240 Average FPS

OpenGL Vulkan Mad Max: Stronghold – Tyrant’s LashAntergos Linux, 1080p, i7 5960x, 980ti NormalHighVery High Vulkan 79OpenGL 50Vulkan 68OpenGL 35Vulkan 59OpenGL 34 795068355934 01632486480 Average FPS

OpenGL Vulkan Mad Max: Cutscene - Hope, Glory, and Dog is DeadAntergos Linux, 1080p, i7 5960x, 980ti NormalHighVery High Vulkan 254OpenGL 74Vulkan 153OpenGL 57Vulkan 130OpenGL 50 254741535713050 051102153204255 Average FPS

OpenGL Vulkan Cutscene - LandmoverAntergos Linux, 1080p, i7 5960x, 980ti NormalHighVery High Vulkan 271OpenGL 89Vulkan 168OpenGL 65Vulkan 146OpenGL 58 271891686514658 055110165220275 Average FPS


This isn’t just showing the power of Vulkan, this is also showing the level of commitment Feral Interactive have for their Linux ports overall. I continue to respect the work they do in bringing games to Linux, supporting and sending in patches to Mesa and giving me fantastic games to play. Not only that, but updating their games to use the Vulkan API is obviously extremely welcome. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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g000h Mar 30, 2017
Well, I still have Mad Max installed and go back to it for little sessions here and there. Really looking forward to giving the Vulkan Beta a try. As mentioned earlier in other comments, my CPU is holding back my OpenGL performance (AMD FX, not Intel) so Vulkan's multi-threaded boost should be very welcome.

For me, the next game that Feral could improve with Vulkan support is "Hitman". That game wasn't performing sufficiently well for me to play at 4K, but with a Vulkan boost I think it probably will be. Also, I've only played a few hours of Hitman so far (Lots left to do.)
Leopard Mar 30, 2017
Quoting: g000hWell, I still have Mad Max installed and go back to it for little sessions here and there. Really looking forward to giving the Vulkan Beta a try. As mentioned earlier in other comments, my CPU is holding back my OpenGL performance (AMD FX, not Intel) so Vulkan's multi-threaded boost should be very welcome.

For me, the next game that Feral could improve with Vulkan support is "Hitman". That game wasn't performing sufficiently well for me to play at 4K, but with a Vulkan boost I think it probably will be. Also, I've only played a few hours of Hitman so far (Lots left to do.)

I think at 4k resulotion your gain will be less than 1080p,because as the resolution goes up games become more gpu loaded and gpu bound.
sigz Mar 30, 2017
doesn't perform very well at all on a 770gtx with latest drivers (378.13), worst experience than opengl, framerate is really unstable and low.
Jan Mar 30, 2017
Wow, that's very impressive! I've only played Mad Max a few hours so far.

It's already running quite good in 4K at very high settings under SteamOS, but's it's dropping under 60 fps at a few places -- especially if you try to run the game with vsync enabled.

Hardware: Skylake Core i7 3,4 GHz, GTX 1080, 32GB RAM, SteamOS 2.0

I'll try to install it on my elementary OS partition with proprietary Nvidia drivers. :-)


Last edited by Jan on 30 March 2017 at 3:48 pm UTC
Ehvis Mar 30, 2017
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Well, this is ..... surprising. I was expecting a Vulkan title with DX12 support, but I can't remember Mad Max having that. So is this DX11 -> Vulkan then?

@Feral: Looks like you choose the perfect hype game for this with these improvements. Of course, you now set the bar for expectations extremely high. :P I hope people will get that these kinds of improvements are not possible for all games since the newer release will be much heavier on the GPU.

As is customary for me, above and beyond support makes me want to spend some money. What to get. Hmmm.......
Xpander Mar 30, 2017
Ryzen 7 1700X, GTX 1070

1080p, Very High. Vulkan

Camp - Hollow Point: 135.778702
Stronghold - Tyrant's Lash: 55.097603
Cutscene - Hope, Glory, and Dog is Dead: 136.597046
Cutscene - Landmover: 153.110626


1080p, Very High. OpenGL

Camp - Hollow Point: 59.099377
Stronghold - Tyrant's Lash: 33.963261
Cutscene - Hope, Glory, and Dog is Dead: 77.512215
Cutscene - Landmover: 86.016212
chimpy Mar 30, 2017
Would love to hear more details from Feral about the porting process. I mean this is a DX11 title, was it easier going from DX11 to Vulkan than DX11 to OpenGL? And if so how much easier?
elbuglione Mar 30, 2017
Quoting: edddeduck_feral
Quoting: elmapulwait, this is a linux only feature or windows is supported?
Linux only.
edddeduck_feral Mar 30, 2017
Quoting: SkiskiI just tried the game last week and my CPU (i5-2400 3.1GHz) can't handle the game. It was between 10 and 30 FPS. Could vulkan help the CPU and use more the GPU? Because my GTX 960 is more than enough for this game.

The game was mainly CPU bound so it should help but your issue sounds like you had something wrong with the drivers causing that performance drop as you're easily within spec for the GL version and should have much much higher performance.

We've seen performance drops reported by a few unlucky people on GL using 375.39 or newer but not with 367.57 so perhaps that's your old problem. That said I'd certainly give the Vulkan version a try as it might avoid the driver bug as you'll be on Vulkan not OpenGL. Please do send feedback to the Feral feedback email.
edddeduck_feral Mar 30, 2017
Quoting: sigzdoesn't perform very well at all on a 770gtx with latest drivers (378.13), worst experience than opengl, framerate is really unstable and low.

That is very strange sounds like you have a specific issue. Do make sure you leave feedback vulkanfeedback [at] feralinteractive.com so we can make fixes and/or report driver issues back to the driver teams.
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