stride3d/stride · error · NotSupportedException

Cannot create a Texture with format

Error message

Cannot create a Texture with format {Format} and multi-sample level {MultisampleCount}. The maximum supported level is {maxCount}

What it means

Stride validates multisampled texture creation against the graphics device's capabilities: GraphicsDevice.Features[Format].MultisampleCountMax. If the requested MultisampleCount exceeds the maximum supported for the given pixel format on the current hardware, NotSupportedException is thrown.

Solutions

1. Clamp MultisampleCount to GraphicsDevice.Features[Format].MultisampleCountMax before creating the texture.
2. Query the device features at startup and pick the highest supported sample count.
3. Fall back to a lower MSAA level or non-multisampled rendering when the max is 1.

Example fix

// before
var desc = TextureDescription.New2D(w, h, fmt, TextureFlags.RenderTarget);
desc.MultisampleCount = 16;
var tex = new Texture(device).InitializeFrom(desc);
// after
int max = device.Features[fmt].MultisampleCountMax;
var desc = TextureDescription.New2D(w, h, fmt, TextureFlags.RenderTarget);
desc.MultisampleCount = Math.Min(16, max);
var tex = new Texture(device).InitializeFrom(desc);

int maxMsaa = device.Features[format].MultisampleCountMax;
if (maxMsaa < requestedCount)
    requestedCount = maxMsaa; // clamp or refuse

static bool MsaaSupported(GraphicsDevice d, PixelFormat f, int count) => d.Features[f].MultisampleCountMax >= count;

try { tex = new Texture(device).InitializeFrom(desc); }
catch (NotSupportedException)
{
    desc.MultisampleCount = device.Features[desc.Format].MultisampleCountMax;
    tex = new Texture(device).InitializeFrom(desc);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Creating a Texture with a MultisampleCount (e.g. 8x or 16x MSAA) greater than the device's per-format limit; running on hardware/drivers with lower MSAA support than the development machine.

Common situations: Hard-coded MSAA levels that work on desktop GPUs but fail on integrated/mobile GPUs; format-specific limits (some formats support fewer samples); switching between D3D11/D3D12/Vulkan backends.

Understand the failure class

Background: "value must be between 0 and 1" / "out of range" / "must not be negative" errors: fixing range-validation failures across open-source libraries — this error's family across 42 libraries.

Related errors

• Custom strides is not supported with packed PixelFormats
• The camera [ ] is disabled and can't be attached
• The camera [ ] is already attached
• The camera [ ] isn't attached
• Invalid Z slice index

AI-assisted analysis of stride3d/stride@96fad776d2 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4a513a14f542b4b2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sources/engine/Stride.Graphics/Texture.cs:529

            if (ViewFlags == TextureFlags.None)
            {
                textureViewDescription.Flags = deviceDescription.Flags;
            }

            // Check that the Texture View flags are compatible with the parent Texture's flags
            var filterViewFlags = (TextureFlags)((int)ViewFlags & (~DepthStencilReadOnlyFlags));
            if ((Flags & filterViewFlags) != filterViewFlags)
            {
                throw new NotSupportedException(
                    $"Cannot create a Texture View with flags [{ViewFlags}] from the parent Texture with flags [{Flags}]. " +
                    $"The parent Texture must include all the flags defined by the Texture View");
            }

            if (IsMultiSampled)
            {
                var maxCount = GraphicsDevice.Features[Format].MultisampleCountMax;
                if (maxCount < MultisampleCount)
                    throw new NotSupportedException(
                        $"Cannot create a Texture with format {Format} and multi-sample level {MultisampleCount}. " +
                        $"The maximum supported level is {maxCount}");
            }

            InitializeFromImpl(textureDatas);

            return this;
        }

        /// <summary>
        ///   Initializes the Texture with no initial data.
        /// </summary>
        private void InitializeFromImpl() => InitializeFromImpl(dataBoxes: null);

        /// <summary>
        ///   Performs platform-dependent initialization of the Texture.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="dataBoxes">

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