A new CEMU version, version 1.19.0, has been released for Patrons, which introduces an experimental Vulkan API option to reduce stutter.
Last month, the team behind the best Wii U PC emulator released version 1.18.2, which greatly improved the shader compiling speed, thereby significantly reducing shader stuttering when using the Vulkan API.
Fast forward two weeks and the CEMU team has released another version of the emulator with the most important change being a new experimental option to enable asynchronous compilation of shaders and pipelines. In other words, this option (disabled by default) trades emulation accuracy for less shader stutter. Please note that using this option will likely result in long-lasting graphical bugs and artifacts in games.
"To deal with this problem Cemu includes speculative logic to identify essential shaders that must not be skipped", the changelog reads. "These shaders will always be compiled synchronous and will still introduce stutter. False negatives are possible and long lasting graphic bugs can occur when async compilation is used."
The CEMU writes, "on a personal note, we consider this feature a hack due to the unreliable and workaround-like nature. But we also understand that stutter-free gameplay is often more important than having accurate rendering. In the (far) future, we will introduce additional methods to reduce shader stutter without sacrificing accuracy.”
A video of the new experimental option in action has been included below (courtesy of Postposterous):
We suggest reading the full release notes for this new CEMU version right here.
CEMU 1.19.0 is available now for Patreon backers and will be released to the general public this Friday.
