The May 2018 release of the Xbox One XDK from Microsoft contains the following new features, tools, and documentation. For features that shipped in a previous release of the Xbox One XDK, see the What’s New document for that release, available from Features Introduced in Previous Releases.
Sections:
The most recent release notes and updates to the Xbox One XDK can always be found on Software Downloads on Xbox Game Development (XGD).
You can check with your account manager for the latest information about upcoming Xbox One XDK releases.
The May 2018 Xbox One XDK contains the latest tools and libraries for Xbox One.
The Xbox One Developer Roadmap on Xbox Game Development (XGD) has been updated with the latest projections of developer-facing feature work. The roadmap is intended to help developers plan their implementation schedules around upcoming feature and tooling efforts for the Xbox One console and related services.
To learn about new updates to Xbox Live, see the What’s New topic in the documentation for the Xbox Live SDK. You can find this documentation under your XDK install location at %XboxOneXDKLatest%\Documentation\XboxLiveSDK.chm. You can also download the Xbox Live help file from the Xbox One XDK Documentation page on Xbox Game Development (XGD).
Session Browse in Xbox Integrated Multiplayer
You can now browse sessions in Xbox Integrated Multiplayer (XIM). This feature introduces breaking changes to existing Matchmaking APIs. There should be minimal impact to titles that use XIM unless you rely on the matchmaking feature. Because of the breaking changes, we will not release a QFE to add this feature to previous XDKs. For more information, see the updated online documentation at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/xbox-live/multiplayer/xbox-integrated-multiplayer.
The following APIs have been removed. This functionality is now covered by the new xim_network_configuration and related APIs.
The following APIs have been updated:
New Game Chat 2 WinRT projections to support C# development
The new WinRT version of Game Chat 2 allows you to interface with the library using native WinRT-compatible languages (including IntelliSense support). You can download this package from https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.Xbox.Game.Chat.2.WinRT.UWP/.
Game Chat 2 audio buffer manipulation
You can now manipulate Game Chat 2 post-decode chat-audio buffers.
Improve iteration time for packaged builds with Overlay Folders
Overlay Folders allow you to debug packaged builds without rebuilding and redeploying the package. This greatly improves debug iteration times for packaged builds that are installed on your dev kit. To use this feature, create an Overlay Folder associated with the package and drop your updated files into it. The next time your game is loaded, the updated files will be loaded in place of the equivalent files in the installed package.
Improve your build times with Build Log Analyzer
The new Build Log Analyzer is a standalone tool that analyzes your MSBuild build log and recommends best practices that can improve your build. Follow these recommendations to improve build throughput and optimize code execution. Build events are displayed on a timeline that helps you identify opportunities to better utilize available CPU resources and maximize concurrency.
Unified Title Scratch drive (Preview)
When a title is running, you can now access the Title Developer Scratch drive on the console from both the System OS (T:\TitleDeveloperStorage in the System OS) and the Game OS (drive D: in the Game OS when a title is running). This functionality replaces the default behavior of unmounting the drive from the System OS during title launch and then remounting it when the title exits. To enable this feature, set the enableunifiedscratch setting to true in the Configuration (xbconfig.exe) command-line tool.
Multiple side-by-side versions of Visual Studio 2017 are now supported
The XDK now supports multiple versions of Visual Studio 2017 installed on a development PC. This side-by-side support is useful if you have both a released version and a Preview version of Visual Studio 2017 installed, for example. The XDK project templates, MSBuild files, and all other components that integrate with Visual Studio will be installed to all instances of Visual Studio 2017.
Xbox One Manager
The following updates and improvements have been made to Xbox One Manager:
New MakePkg validation flags
The Make Package (makepkg.exe) command-line tool now supports the flags listed in the following table.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| /skipcudiff | Specifies that the generation of a CuDiff file should be skipped. Use of this flag is not recommended for builds which may be submitted to certification but it can speed up local iteration times. |
| /skipvalidation | Specifies that the validation step should be skipped. No submission validator log file will be generated when using this flag. Use of this flag is not recommended for builds which may be submitted to certification but it can speed up local iteration times. |
| /validationcritical | Specifies that failures in submission validator should be treated as critical failures for the MakePkg process. |
Virtual Xbox One X dev kit front panel
You can now display a virtual Xbox One X dev kit front panel over your title on any Xbox One dev kit. This virtual display lets you access all of the front panel functionality directly on your screen. The overlay has minimal impact on the GPU and shouldn’t have a large impact on the performance of your title. The front panel overlay includes UI that controls the front panel buttons, front panel view navigation, and the position of the virtual front panel. When your title is running on the dev kit, you can press the connect (controller pairing) button on your console to control the overlay as follows:
New xbWatson console data feed
You can now enable a console data feed in xbWatson to view a selection of system events for application registration and activation, storage, and controller events.
PIX UI update
The PIX user interface has been revamped to be more consistent, easier to use, and configurable. All preexisting functionality remains, but it has been visually updated and repackaged. Each view has controls located either on their upper toolbar or in panels - these panels can be moved, docked, or resized to give you the control to customize your layouts.
You can now attach diagnostic logs to PIX feedback email
The Send Feedback feature in PIX now gives you the option to attach diagnostic logs to the emails it creates. Attaching logs provides Microsoft with more information to help diagnose your issues. Before attaching the logs, PIX gives you the opportunity to review everything that will be sent so you can delete any information in the logs that contains intellectual property that is sensitive to your studio.
The CPU sampling interval in Timing captures can now be changed
Timing captures now offer the ability to select one of three different sampling intervals. These options allow you to find a balance between the increased resolution you’ll get with more CPU samples and the additional overhead a higher sampling rate will incur.
Shader Edit and Continue is now fully featured
Shader edit and continue is now a complete feature and is no longer in preview. This feature lets you modify HLSL code and GPU instructions to immediately see how the changes affect performance and output. Additionally, you can now switch between the original and edited states for comparison. Shader edits are summarized in the new Edits view. A separate Shader Sources browser now shows all of the shader source contained in the capture. Saving your capture will also save the edits you made, so you can easily pick up where you left off or send the capture to another user to view the edits you made.
Shader Performance Explorer (Preview)
The new Shader Performance Explorer is a preview feature that will give you insight into the real instruction cost of your shader code. This will help you identify problem areas and will assist in optimization. It also identifies other issues that can contribute to performance issues and highlights them for easy readability. To display the Shader Performance Explorer, view your shader code and click the stopwatch icon. You can then generate the data to start investigating your shader performance.