Using "Stop Running Project(F8)" button prevents generating vulkan pipeline cache

[masterthdev]

Godot version

4.2.stable

System information

Godot v4.2.stable - Windows 10.0.22000 - Vulkan (Forward+) - dedicated AMD Radeon RX 5600M (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; 31.0.21023.2010) - AMD Ryzen 7 4800H with Radeon Graphics (16 Threads)

Issue description

Edit: Check my latest reply, looks like using "Stop Running Project(F8)" button prevents generating vulkan cache file.

Shader loading is very slow on Forward+ compared to mobile and compatibility renderers, when running a project with F5/F6.

Shader cache and vulkan pipeline cache at %AppData%\Godot\app_userdata\projectname\ directory don't regenerate, but most shaders don't load any faster.

I deleted all caches and used --verbose output to measure shader loading times. Looks like there is no way to output timestamps, I had to screen record console output.

Caches I deleted: %AppData%\Roaming\Godot\ %AppData%\Local\Godot\ .godot /AMD folders from each drive(includes directx caches but deleted anyway) Shader cache from gpu driver

I repeated the test multiple times, timings below were consistent each run. Shader time is time between first and last "Shader 'shadername' (group x) SHA256: XXXX..." line in verbose output.

Project loading time from project manager	Without cache	With Cache	Shaders Without Cache	Shaders With Cache
Forward+	8000ms	6800ms	1600ms	1000ms
Mobile	7000ms	6100ms	733ms	267ms
Compat	6867ms	5900ms	366ms	133ms

Project running time with F6	Without cache	With Cache	Shaders Without Cache	Shaders With Cache
Forward+	14133ms	13200ms	12633ms	11900ms
Mobile	3100ms	2433ms	1600ms	966ms
Compat	1533ms	1400ms	334ms	100ms

Notable Forward+ shaders	Without cache	With Cache
ParticlesCopyShaderRD	500ms	500ms
SsilShaderRD	267ms	233ms
SdfgiPreprocessShaderRD	2100ms	2067ms
SdfgiDirectLightShaderRD	300ms	300ms
SdfgiIntegrateShaderRD	433ms	400ms
GiShaderRD	4033ms	4000ms
VolumetricFogProcessShaderRD	200ms	200ms
CubemapFilterShaderRD	1133ms	1100ms

I have this issue in all godot 4 builds I tried. If there is a way to profile shader loading times please let me know. I don't know how accurate verbose output is.

Steps to reproduce

• Open a new project with forward+, add any nodes.
• Run with F5/F6, then repeat. It should load faster in second run but it doesn't(at least on my machine).

Minimal reproduction project

bench.zip

[masterthdev]

Quick Update

I tried CLI benchmark command twice using this command: godot -d camera_3d.tscn --benchmark

It loaded faster in second run. Here are the results:

First run: BENCHMARK:

• register_core_types : 0.009146 sec.
• servers : 10.738064 sec.
• register_editor_types : 0.00228 sec.
• scene : 0.176996 sec.
• load_autoloads : 0.000001 sec.
• game_load : 0.021851 sec.
• startup_begin : 10.967391 sec.

Second run: BENCHMARK:

• register_core_types : 0.008912 sec.
• servers : 1.645317 sec.
• register_editor_types : 0.002072 sec.
• scene : 0.198417 sec.
• load_autoloads : 0.000001 sec.
• game_load : 0.02455 sec.
• startup_begin : 1.898444 sec.
• unregister_editor_types : 0.000007 sec.
• unregister_core_types : 0.019531 sec.
• Main::cleanup : 0.095478 sec.

Now running the project from editor loads faster too. AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\projectname\vulkan folder contains two files in benchmarked projects:

pipelines.amd_radeon_rx_5600m.cache pipelines.amd_radeon_rx_5600m.editor.cache

Looks like pipelines.amd_radeon_rx_5600m.cache isn't generated when running project from editor, which prevents loading caches from shader_cache folder. It generated once yesterday but it was very small(307 kb, others are more than 1 mb)

[masterthdev]

I think I found the issue.

Cache files are created on exit. Editor.cache file is created when switching renderer on editor, using 'Quit To Process' List from process menu or using X button on top right corner of the window.

Running project with --benchmark created non-editor cache correctly because I closed it using X button. When running project from the editor, using X button or using get_tree().quit() generates the non-editor cache file. However, using "Stop Running Project(F8)" button on the editor doesn't generate cache file in any renderers. This prevents generating cache file on borderless windows.

[Calinou]

However, using "Stop Running Project(F8)" button on the editor doesn't generate cache file in any renderers.

F8 kills the project's process, so it has no time to intercept this and call a signal handler that can safely write files on exit. (Godot also currently lacks support for SIGTERM signal handlers either way.)

Looks like pipelines.amd_radeon_rx_5600m.cache isn't generated when running project from editor, which prevents loading caches from shader_cache folder.

They may be generating in a different path: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/82972