Vulkan PostFX 1.15.9

Highlights

This update focuses on loader stability, native-first backend selection, and VPFX pack validation. VPFX is still a post-processing shader loader, not a built-in shader pack.

Added

• Added an internal Runtime Graph system for VPFX packs.

  • VPFX packs can now be parsed into a backend-neutral runtime structure before execution.
  • This improves validation, debugging, and future backend support.

• Added support for VPFX uniform bindings.

  • Supported binding types:

    • $param:<id> for user parameters
    • $builtin:<id> for built-in runtime values
    • $target:<id> for render targets

• Added detailed VPFX pack load results.

  • Pack loading now records clearer failure stages such as:

    • manifest parsing
    • graph parsing
    • graph validation
    • runtime graph building
    • shader preprocessing
    • resource resolving

• Added additional validation for VPFX pack definitions.

  • Invalid parameter references
  • Unknown built-in uniforms
  • Missing render targets
  • Invalid pass dependencies
  • Unsafe or unsupported graph definitions

Changed

• VPFX now follows a clearer native-first backend policy.

  • Every time a VPFX pack is selected or refreshed, the loader will try the native runtime first.
  • If the native runtime fails for that activation, VPFX falls back to the Minecraft PostChain backend.
  • The failure is not treated as a permanent blacklist.
  • Selecting the same pack again will retry the native runtime.

• Improved backend selection behavior.

  • Backend selection is now treated as a per-activation decision.
  • Previous native runtime failures are cleared when refreshing the active pack.

• Improved PostChain materialization.

  • VPFX-only metadata fields are removed before generating Minecraft PostChain resources.
  • This prevents loader-only fields such as uniform binding metadata from leaking into vanilla PostChain JSON.

Fixed

• Fixed cases where a previous native runtime failure could affect later activations of the same pack.
• Fixed unclear fallback behavior between the native runtime and Minecraft PostChain backend.
• Fixed several pack validation paths where invalid VPFX pack definitions could fail too late.
• Fixed internal handling for VPFX-specific uniform binding metadata during resource rewriting.

For Pack Authors

This release improves error visibility for VPFX pack development. Broken packs should now fail with clearer diagnostics instead of silently falling back or crashing at a later runtime stage.

Recommended checks for pack authors:

• Make sure all $param:<id> bindings reference declared parameters.
• Make sure all $target:<id> bindings reference valid render targets.
• Avoid relying on undefined built-in uniforms.
• Test native runtime behavior and PostChain fallback separately.

Notes

This release does not add new built-in visual effects. The main goal of 1.15.9 is to make the VPFX loader core more stable, more debuggable, and safer for future native backend development.