Can I use OpenGL ES in a Windows Phone 8 app?

opengl-es windows-phone-8
Matsemann picture Matsemann · Nov 20, 2012 · Viewed 19.3k times · Source

I've read places that Windows Phone 8 will not support OpenGL, and I'm unable to find anything useful in the SDK.

So am I or will I ever be able to use OpenGL (ES) in my Windows Phone 8 game? I have a game I would like not to rewrite completely to DirectX when porting.

Please cite good sources, the only thing I've found are speculations and blog posts with little to no information.

Answer

JustinAngel picture JustinAngel · Nov 21, 2012

OpenGL isn't supported on WP8, but Direct 3D feature level 9_3 is supported. If you're looking to port over a game from OpenGL ES over to D3D have a look at the Angle Project. Angle Project helps bridge the gap between OpenGL ES 2.0 and D3D 9. It doesn't have WP8 targeting just yet and you'll have issues with runtime compile shaders not being supported on WP8, but Angle project is still a good first step.

Either way, for games portability with other platforms it's really best if you work with a middleware gaming framework such as MonoGame, Unity, Cocos2D, Havok, Marmalade, SharpDX, Ogre, Autodesk Scaleform or others. These engines will mostly handle cross platform support for you within their own framework (each with it's own limitations on code and assets portability).

If you already have an existing OpenGL game you want to port over to WP8, than Angle project if your best bet going forward. If you're just starting out creating a cross-platform portable game than choosing a gaming middleware framework that seems right for your game's needs is the way to go.

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