Switch to DirectX based render backend by secsome · Pull Request #2212 · Phobos-developers/Phobos

secsome · 2026-05-16T11:20:29Z

YR originally used DDRAW as its rendering backend. However, DDRAW was introduced more than two decades ago, primarily for the graphics hardware environment of that time, where 2D accelerator cards were still common. Modern computers now almost universally use display hardware based on 3D graphics pipelines, and Windows itself has long since migrated to a modern graphics architecture built around DXGI-based swap chains. Therefore, we would like YR to migrate to a modern rendering backend based on DirectX as well.

At present, the community usually achieves similar functionality through DDRAW wrappers, with CNC-DDRAW being one of the common examples. These solutions intercept and forward DDRAW calls, translating them into corresponding modern rendering backend implementations. While this approach can improve compatibility and display quality, it also introduces a limitation: directly using such modern 3D rendering backends to add rendering effects to the YR game engine becomes extremely difficult. The core rendering process still remains within the traditional 2D software rendering model.

Our current approach is based on the SDL implementation in Vinifera. In essence, it is similar to the earlier CNC-DDRAW approach: 2D software rendering is still performed on the CPU. Currently, D3D is mainly used to present the fully rendered frame as a texture to the screen through a fullscreen triangle. Therefore, in theory, its performance should be close to CNC-DDRAW.

At present, the program reads the following configuration from RA2MD.ini:

[DXRender]
PreserveAspectRatio = yes
WindowedBorder = yes
StartFullscreen = yes
PauseGameWhenLoseFocus = yes

In addition, fullscreen and windowed mode can be toggled in-game with Alt+Enter. Please feel free to report any issues you encounter.

Regarding ReShade, this rendering backend may theoretically conflict with the current community ReShade plugin. However, once this backend is functional, the logic currently implemented in ReShade can later be developed directly in Phobos instead of relying on an external DLL, providing more stable and more efficient rendering.

CURRENTLY, BINK MOVIE IS DISABLED, YOU CAN JUST FOCUS ON OTHER PARTS AND SEE IF THEY WORK CORRECTLY

Support for vanilla YR is still WIP, and it seems cannot be easily done in 1 month, I will update as soon as I made any progress.

…hain

github-actions · 2026-05-16T11:26:23Z

Nightly build for this pull request:

compiled-dll-40df9a384610fcbf2ee2277bf6d31c87f49f17d1.zip
These artifacts will expire in 90 days and will not be available for download after that time.

This comment is automatic and is meant to allow guests to get latest nightly builds for this pull request without registering. It is updated on every successful build.

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-05-16T11:54:39Z

I think you can start a topic on the forum so that more people can test and communicate. Currently, some Chinese users find it difficult to understand this English title and want to ask questions about windowing and Reshade usage.

secsome · 2026-05-16T12:03:13Z

I think you can start a topic on the forum so that more people can test and communicate. Currently, some Chinese users find it difficult to understand this English title and want to ask questions about windowing and Reshade usage.

I haven't registered on that forum currently, I'd appreciate it if somebody post this message on that. I will sign up for an account later maybe.

secsome · 2026-05-16T12:05:01Z

About the reshade stuffs, I think we can integrate the reshade features after switching to the new render backend, because we can use the GPU directly instead of adding an extra library.

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-05-16T12:16:09Z

I'd appreciate it if somebody post this message on that. I will sign up for an account later maybe.

The current test template requires filling in some content with subjective information; it would be best for you to create a topic yourself. The topic mentioned in the link above is temporary, and testing for this PR still requires a new topic.

phoboscn-bot · 2026-05-16T12:38:29Z

To Chinese users:
This pull request has been mentioned on Phobos CN. There might be relevant details there:

致中文用户：
此拉取请求已在 Phobos CN 上被提及。那里可能有相关详细信息：

https://www.phoboscn.top/t/topic/470/1

secsome · 2026-05-16T12:38:53Z

I'd appreciate it if somebody post this message on that. I will sign up for an account later maybe.

The current test template requires filling in some content with subjective information; it would be best for you to create a topic yourself. The topic mentioned in the link above is temporary, and testing for this PR still requires a new topic.

Done

IronHammer-Std · 2026-05-16T13:15:49Z

ERROR REPORT

Game Environment

Pure YR
Ares3.0p1
Phobos(Nightly Build 8fe94f2)
SyringeIH 0.3b9 (irrelevant, same error using Syringe 0.7.2)

Device Status

Log File :

syringe (without ddraw).log
syringe (with ddraw).log
debug (14).log

Maybe related parts : these functions are in the specific commit.

[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB48: 0x7BF8AD3A （Phobos.dll!WinDialog_GetRectangle{Hooks.cpp，行101}+3A）[访问权限：读/执行]
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB4C: 0x00050C76 （UNKNOWN+50C76）[访问权限：只读]
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB50: 0x001ACB5C （UNKNOWN+1ACB5C）[访问权限：读/写]
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB54: 0x00DE09A2 （gamemd.exe+9E09A2）[访问权限：只读]
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB58: 0x0C17C7C4 （gamemd.exe+BD7C7C4）[访问权限：读/写]
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB5C: 0x00000000
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB60: 0x00000000
[20:59:48:163] 0x001ACB64: 0x00000780

[20:59:48:164] 0x001ACDA0: 0x7BF8AA60 （Phobos.dll!OwnerDraw_Window_Procedure_{Hooks.cpp，行191}+0）[访问权限：读/执行]
[20:59:48:164] 0x001ACDA4: 0x000004E4
[20:59:48:164] 0x001ACDA8: 0x001AD15C （UNKNOWN+1AD15C）[访问权限：读/写]
[20:59:48:164] 0x001ACDAC: 0x001AD264 （UNKNOWN+1AD264）[访问权限：读/写]

Direct Error Cause

In SUB_432750:

    else
    {
      v26 = Rect.top;
      v27 = v17;
    }
    *(this + 16) = v26;
    *(this + 20) = v22;
    *(this + 24) = v27;
    *(this + 28) = v25;
    *(this + 8) = BinkDDSurfaceType(Primary->VideoSurfacePtr);
    result = 1;
  }

Here Calls BinkDDSurfaceType(Primary->VideoSurfacePtr); , in which Primary->VideoSurfacePtr is NULL.

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-05-16T13:17:01Z

ERROR REPORT

Please provide the specific Error message.

secsome · 2026-05-16T14:45:25Z

The vanilla YR support requires us to understand the OwnerDraw procedure, which I haven't figured out already. So currently tests based on cncnet spawner is appreciated

SadPencil · 2026-05-16T18:48:31Z

CnCNet YR 9.2.0 + c80db5e

The game may freeze for a period of time, during which the BGM plays normally and the cursor moves normally.

AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, iGPU Radeon 680M, 64 GB RAM (fixed VRAM for the iGPU is set to 4GB), in-game resolution 1920x1080, monitor resolution 3840x2160. Windows 11 25H2.

Video:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/395ba3c4-ab25-4334-a1ca-4a28f8cdec38

Prioritize hardware adapter selection using `IDXGIFactory6::EnumAdapterByGpuPreference` for optimal performance. Fall back to `IDXGIFactory4::EnumAdapters1` if `IDXGIFactory6` is unavailable. If no hardware device can be created, attempt to create a WARP device as a last resort. This improves robustness and compatibility across various systems.

secsome · 2026-05-17T16:00:25Z

Switched to DX11 implementation. Retesting is welcomed

SadPencil · 2026-05-19T19:32:38Z

To Chinese users: This pull request has been mentioned on Phobos CN. There might be relevant details there:

致中文用户：
此拉取请求已在 Phobos CN 上被提及。那里可能有相关详细信息：

https://www.phoboscn.top/t/topic/468/1

This URL redirects to an HTTP 404 page. @DeathFishAtEase

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-05-19T19:42:28Z

Yeah, that link is outdated. The correct address is provided in another comment below. I've hidden the old one to avoid confusion.

SadPencil · 2026-05-19T20:01:25Z

CnCNet YR 9.2.0 + 40df9a3

AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, iGPU Radeon 680M, 64 GB RAM (fixed VRAM for the iGPU is set to 4GB), in-game resolution 1920x1080, monitor resolution 3840x2160. Windows 11 25H2.

Compared to the previous c80db5e commit, the same phenomenon of "the game may freeze for a period of time, during which the BGM plays normally and the cursor moves normally" has not been observed so far with this 40df9a3 commit.

On this basis, I immediately switched back to the c80db5e commit and observed the phenomenon of "the game may freeze for a period of time, during which the BGM plays normally and the cursor moves normally" again. Therefore, it can be confirmed that this 40df9a3 commit has a significant improvement regarding this issue, at least on my machine.

FridgeRr · 2026-05-19T20:43:06Z

haven't tested it rigorously but I noticed an immediate improvement in responsiveness/delay/smoothness compared to cncddraw, simply put, it plays like a dream.
AMD R7 5600x, 16gb RAM, 1920x1080 on 1440p 240hz monitor, W10 1903

secsome · 2026-05-20T10:34:36Z

I'm currently working on the whole OwnerDraw control part as it's essential to make things looks completely correctly. But OwnerDraw is so huge and it might take much more time than already done part(I'm quite busy so im not sure whether this part could be done in 1 month or not). If you want to help testing, currently verifying the spawner based game works is enough. Thanks for everyone testing this feature.

Refactor ddraw render backend into software surface + directx12 swapc…

fe460e8

…hain

secsome added the Needs testing label May 16, 2026

TaranDahl added the ⚙️T2 T2 maintainer review is sufficient label May 16, 2026

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secsome added 4 commits May 16, 2026 21:42

Enhance D3D12/DXGI error logging with HRESULTs and Win32 error codes

715284a

Disable bink movie render temporary

b31aaec

Fix wrong resolution detection bpp

e831e7d

Fix wrong PrimarySurface creation width and height

067f703

secsome added 3 commits May 17, 2026 12:37

Add AGENTS.md

147a15e

Switch to DirectX11 for compability

e09e0fa

secsome added 3 commits May 18, 2026 15:55

Update .gitignore

bb317c5

Rename hook files, split WWUI hooks

4f68501

Fix bink movie not calling present

566aab3

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CURRENTLY, BINK MOVIE IS DISABLED, YOU CAN JUST FOCUS ON OTHER PARTS AND SEE IF THEY WORK CORRECTLY

Support for vanilla YR is still WIP, and it seems cannot be easily done in 1 month, I will update as soon as I made any progress.

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ERROR REPORT

Game Environment

Device Status

Log File :

Direct Error Cause

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ERROR REPORT

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secsome commented May 16, 2026

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