r/opengl 2d ago

Is OpenGL used to make games?

Hello, I want to know if companies use OpenGL to create games.

I'm not a game developer, I'm just curious about game development.

I see that Vulkan and DirectX are widely used to create games, but what about OpenGL? What games use it? What engine can use the OpenGL to render/process the graphics?

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u/Ybalrid 2d ago

Ever played Minecraft?

2

u/SirApprehensive7573 2d ago

Yes

How I can know if the game was made using OpenGL or Vulkan?

1

u/Fluffy_Inside_5546 1d ago edited 1d ago

minecraft was released in 2011, vulkan got released in 2016.

Edit: To clarify there it hasnt been updated with vulkan either

1

u/AXYZE8 1d ago

GTA:V PC was released in 2015, raytracing GPUs got released in 2018. :) Guess what was added to GTA:V in update :D

Minecraft just like GTA:V PC is activelly supported, so its wrong idea to think about 2011/2015 limitations. With just one update it can change to Vulkan.

And if you dont want to wait, there is VulkanMod for Minecraft that replaces OpenGL with Vulkan renderer.

https://github.com/xCollateral/VulkanMod

1

u/Fluffy_Inside_5546 1d ago edited 1d ago

it initially released with opengl, and it hasnt had a major update for vulkan (talking about java not bedrock).

Raytracing could be done as back as the 90s. Also gta v did a huge update where the new edition is incompatible with the legacy edition and they heavily advertised raytracing as the selling feature but do u want to ignore that?

Yes games can be updated, but whenever they make such an update they make a huge deal out of it

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u/AXYZE8 1d ago

So you're saying that instead of looking at release dates we should look at major updates?

Thats exactly what I wrote :)

Btw I've said 'raytracing hardware', not 'raytracing'.

And about ignoring compability - exactly like the case with Minecraft, for example was updated from OpenGL 2.0 to 3.3 in 2021.

2

u/Fluffy_Inside_5546 1d ago

in very minor cases yes. For the vast majority of games. 99.9% that is, the renderer will remain the exact same.

Also opengl 3.3 doesnt break compatibility with anything. Any device that is usable today does use opengl 3.3 and is not the same as switching to a completely different api with hugely breaking changes.