fix(VR): use only supported shaders from cache

[alandtse]

closes #1552

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes

  • Improved reliability when validating, compiling and loading image-space shaders, reducing intermittent failures and crashes.
  • Disabled problematic VR-related shaders to prevent stability issues.

• Performance

  • Earlier shader validation reduces unnecessary recompilation and may lower stutter.

• Chores

  • Updated an external dependency to a newer revision.

• Diagnostics

  • Improved shader pass naming for clearer diagnostics and logging.

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This pull request fixes VR-specific shader compatibility issues by implementing a validation system to prevent unsupported shaders from being loaded or cached. It addresses issue #1552 by disabling problematic VR-only shaders and adding proper resolution checks.

• Introduces ResolveImageSpaceDescriptor helper function for consistent shader validation
• Disables VR-only shaders causing cache and upscaling issues (BSImagespaceShaderCopyDepthBuffer variants)
• Consolidates image-space shader validation logic across compilation and shader retrieval methods

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
src/ShaderCache.cpp	Adds ResolveImageSpaceDescriptor validation function, disables problematic VR shaders, and consolidates validation checks
extern/CommonLibSSE-NG	Updates submodule commit reference

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 5f64f81 and 1e17aa0.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• src/ShaderCache.cpp (6 hunks)

Note

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CodeRabbit has detected other AI code review bot(s) in this pull request and will avoid duplicating their findings in the review comments. This may lead to a less comprehensive review.

Walkthrough

Advances the extern/CommonLibSSE-NG submodule and refactors shader handling by adding ResolveImageSpaceDescriptor, integrating it into ShaderCache compile/load paths, and adjusting image-space/VR shader wiring and pass naming in rendering hooks.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Submodule update extern/CommonLibSSE-NG	Advance submodule pointer from d50cd96b... to f343b8cf...; no direct code changes in this repo.
Shader cache image-space resolution src/ShaderCache.cpp	Add static bool ResolveImageSpaceDescriptor(const RE::BSShader&, uint32_t&) declaration/impl; call it early in CompileShader and shader retrieval paths (VS/PS/CS); centralize image-space descriptor resolution via GetImagespaceShaderDescriptor; adjust control flow and comment/annotate some VR image-space entries.
Rendering pass naming & VR wiring src/FrameAnnotations.cpp	Change BSShader_SetupGeometry pass naming to include diskPath and descriptor from currentPixelShader; add VR-specific vfunc wiring for various image-space/depth shaders; build std::format-based diskPath using shader name and descriptor.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Caller as Caller
  participant Cache as SShaderCache
  participant Resolver as ResolveImageSpaceDescriptor
  participant ISDesc as GetImagespaceShaderDescriptor
  participant Backend as Compile/Load Shader
  participant Store as Cache Store

  Caller->>Cache: Request shader (VS/PS/CS) with shader info
  Cache->>Resolver: ResolveImageSpaceDescriptor(shader, descriptor)
  alt shader is ImageSpace
    Resolver->>ISDesc: GetImagespaceShaderDescriptor(shader)
    alt descriptor resolved
      ISDesc-->>Resolver: descriptor
      Resolver-->>Cache: true
    else failed
      ISDesc-->>Resolver: failure
      Resolver-->>Cache: false
      Cache-->>Caller: nullptr
      note right of Cache: Early exit on unresolved\nimage-space descriptor
    end
  else non-ImageSpace
    Resolver-->>Cache: true
  end

  Cache->>Backend: Load/Compile using (resolved) descriptor
  Backend-->>Cache: shader handle / failure
  alt success
    Cache->>Store: Insert into cache
    Store-->>Cache: ok
    Cache-->>Caller: shader handle
  else failure
    Cache-->>Caller: nullptr
  end

Loading

Estimated code review effort

🎯 4 (Complex) | ⏱️ ~45 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• perf: use unordered_dense maps, misc optimisation #1279: Touches GetImagespaceShaderDescriptor internals and shader maps, directly related to the new resolver dispatch.
• feat(VR): enable upscaling #1507: Modifies image-space descriptor handling in ShaderCache.cpp; overlaps with the centralized resolution changes.
• perf(VL): replace ping-pong dispatches with single pass #1209: Related image-space/VR shader entries and volumetric blur shader adjustments that intersect wiring and descriptor usage.

Suggested reviewers

• doodlum
• jiayev
• Pentalimbed

Poem

I twitch my ears at shaders’ glow,
Hop hop—resolve before we go.
Descriptors found, the passes sing,
VR wires click and caches cling.
I nibble logs, then nap—compile complete. 🐇✨

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

❌ Failed checks (2 warnings)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Out of Scope Changes Check	⚠️ Warning	The pull request includes a submodule bump for extern/CommonLibSSE-NG that introduces no relevant code changes for the VR shader caching fix and appears unrelated to the objectives of filtering and resolving image-space shader descriptors.	Remove the extern/CommonLibSSE-NG submodule update or split it into a separate PR with a clear justification for why the dependency bump is needed alongside the VR shader caching changes.
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	You can run @coderabbitai generate docstrings to improve docstring coverage.

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title Check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the primary change by indicating that VR will now only use supported shaders from the cache, directly reflecting the introduction of descriptor resolution and filtering logic without including irrelevant details or noise.
Linked Issues Check	✅ Passed	The changes implement a descriptor resolution step to prevent invalid image-space shaders from being compiled or cached, integrate this filtering into all shader compilation paths, and add VR-specific hook wiring and cache path naming to ensure only correctly scaled VR shaders are used, directly addressing the menu cutout issue caused by downscaled depth-buffer shaders in VR as described in issue #1552.

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[github-actions]

Using provided base ref: 3934cf7
Using base ref: 3934cf7
Base commit date: 2025-10-07T08:44:04+01:00 (Tuesday, October 07, 2025 08:44 AM)
No actionable suggestions for changed features.

[github-actions]

✅ A pre-release build is available for this PR:
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