diff --git a/engine/platform/sdl/vid_sdl.c b/engine/platform/sdl/vid_sdl.c
index 3fa71436..a27eceae 100644
--- a/engine/platform/sdl/vid_sdl.c
+++ b/engine/platform/sdl/vid_sdl.c
@@ -487,6 +487,9 @@ GL_UpdateSwapInterval
 void GL_UpdateSwapInterval( void )
 {
 #if SDL_VERSION_ATLEAST( 2, 0, 0 )
+	if (glw_state.context_type != REF_GL)
+		return;
+
 	// disable VSync while level is loading
 	if( cls.state < ca_active )
 	{
diff --git a/ref/vk/NOTES.md b/ref/vk/NOTES.md
index 6c77c109..39ca3684 100644
--- a/ref/vk/NOTES.md
+++ b/ref/vk/NOTES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# cvars
+## `rt_force_disable`
+On GPUs that support ray tracing forcefully disables it as if it wasn't supported at all. I.e. no RT extensions and modules are initialized. Useful for testing sometimes.
+Note: this cvar is read early in `R_VkInit()`, which gets executed before `autoexec.cfg`, `config.cfg`, etc are read. So putting it there will not work.
+`video.cfg` and `vk.cfg` are read before Vk initialization, so this cvar should go there.
+
 # Frame structure wrt calls from the engine
 - (eng) SCR_UpdateScreen()
 	- (eng) V_PreRender()
diff --git a/ref/vk/TODO.md b/ref/vk/TODO.md
index 77e5038f..9876cb01 100644
--- a/ref/vk/TODO.md
+++ b/ref/vk/TODO.md
@@ -1,6 +1,33 @@
 ## Next
+- [ ] Render graph
 - [ ] performance profiling and comparison
 
+## 2024-04-12 E374
+- [x] ~~`-vknort` arg to force-disable RT at init time~~ -- reverted on 2024-04-29
+
+## 2024-03-21 E372: agonizig over agenda
+### Player-visible essentials and blockers. Big projects.
+- [ ] Light clusters, sampling, and performance -- 90fps HDR on a Steam Deck
+- [ ] Transparency, refractions: glass, water, etc
+- [ ] Moar and moar correct bounces
+- [ ] Denoiser
+- [ ] Decals
+- [ ] Volumetrics and fog
+- [ ] HDR and tonemapping
+
+### Invisible blockers -- foundation/systems stuff
+- [ ] Render graph and resource tracking -- track textures, buffers+regions ownership and usage, automatic barriers, etc.
+- [ ] Modules and dependencies tracking
+- [ ] Integrate rendertests into CI
+
+### Small things
+- [ ] Material patching refactoring: do not load any patched textures before they are referenced by the engine itself.
+	Only load patched textures for the textures that are in fact used by something.
+
+### Nice-to-have
+- [ ] Split Vulkan+RT from xash specifics, start preparing it for being a standalone thing.
+	- [ ] clang-format for it
+
 # Previously
 ## 2024-02-05 E373
 - [x] Skybox for traditional renderer
diff --git a/ref/vk/ray_resources.c b/ref/vk/ray_resources.c
index 4bd15b70..44cd2fa8 100644
--- a/ref/vk/ray_resources.c
+++ b/ref/vk/ray_resources.c
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 #include "ray_resources.h"
 #include "vk_core.h"
 #include "vk_image.h"
-
-#include "shaders/ray_interop.h" // FIXME temp for type validation
+#include "vk_common.h"
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
@@ -23,23 +22,28 @@ void R_VkResourcesPrepareDescriptorsValues(VkCommandBuffer cmdbuf, vk_resources_
 		const qboolean write = i >= args.write_begin;
 
 		if (res->type == VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_STORAGE_IMAGE) {
+			ASSERT(image_barriers_count < COUNTOF(image_barriers));
+
 			if (write) {
 				// No reads are happening
-				ASSERT(res->read.pipelines == 0);
+				//ASSERT(res->read.pipelines == 0);
 
-				res->write = (ray_resource_state_t) {
+				src_stage_mask |= res->read.pipelines | res->write.pipelines;
+
+				const ray_resource_state_t new_state = {
+					.pipelines = args.pipeline,
 					.access_mask = VK_ACCESS_SHADER_WRITE_BIT,
 					.image_layout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL,
-					.pipelines = args.pipeline,
 				};
 
 				image_barriers[image_barriers_count++] = (VkImageMemoryBarrier) {
 					.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_MEMORY_BARRIER,
 					.image = src_value->image_object->image,
-					.srcAccessMask = 0,
-					.dstAccessMask = res->write.access_mask,
+					// FIXME MEMORY_WRITE is needed to silence write-after-write layout-transition validation hazard
+					.srcAccessMask = res->read.access_mask | res->write.access_mask | VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_WRITE_BIT,
+					.dstAccessMask = new_state.access_mask,
 					.oldLayout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED,
-					.newLayout = res->write.image_layout,
+					.newLayout = new_state.image_layout,
 					.subresourceRange = (VkImageSubresourceRange) {
 						.aspectMask = VK_IMAGE_ASPECT_COLOR_BIT,
 						.baseMipLevel = 0,
@@ -49,18 +53,23 @@ void R_VkResourcesPrepareDescriptorsValues(VkCommandBuffer cmdbuf, vk_resources_
 					},
 				};
 
+				// Mark that read would need a transition
+				res->read = (ray_resource_state_t){0};
+				res->write = new_state;
 			} else {
 				// Write happened
 				ASSERT(res->write.pipelines != 0);
 
 				// No barrier was issued
 				if (!(res->read.pipelines & args.pipeline)) {
-					res->read.access_mask = VK_ACCESS_SHADER_READ_BIT;
-					res->read.pipelines |= args.pipeline;
-					res->read.image_layout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL;
-
 					src_stage_mask |= res->write.pipelines;
 
+					res->read = (ray_resource_state_t) {
+						.pipelines = res->read.pipelines | args.pipeline,
+						.access_mask = VK_ACCESS_SHADER_READ_BIT,
+						.image_layout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL,
+					};
+
 					image_barriers[image_barriers_count++] = (VkImageMemoryBarrier) {
 						.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_IMAGE_MEMORY_BARRIER,
 						.image = src_value->image_object->image,
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_common.h b/ref/vk/vk_common.h
index bddc10b9..7cfa5e2b 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_common.h
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_common.h
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ extern ref_globals_t *gpGlobals;
 		struct { \
 			TYPE items[MAX_SIZE]; \
 			int count; \
-		} NAME
+		} NAME = {0}
 
 #define BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(var, item) \
 		do { \
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_core.c b/ref/vk/vk_core.c
index 9495501e..e1c7fcb1 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_core.c
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_core.c
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
+#define LOG_MODULE core
+
 #define NULLINST_FUNCS(X) \
 	X(vkEnumerateInstanceVersion) \
 	X(vkCreateInstance) \
@@ -189,7 +191,7 @@ static qboolean createInstance( void )
 		.pEngineName = "xash3d-fwgs",
 	};
 
-	BOUNDED_ARRAY(validation_features, VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT, 8) = {0};
+	BOUNDED_ARRAY(validation_features, VkValidationFeatureEnableEXT, 8);
 	BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(validation_features, VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_SYNCHRONIZATION_VALIDATION_EXT);
 	BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(validation_features, VK_VALIDATION_FEATURE_ENABLE_BEST_PRACTICES_EXT);
 
@@ -518,8 +520,11 @@ static qboolean createDevice( void ) {
 			is_target_device_found = true;
 		}
 
-		if (candidate_device->ray_tracing && !CVAR_TO_BOOL(rt_force_disable)) {
-			vk_core.rtx = true;
+		if (candidate_device->ray_tracing) {
+			const qboolean force_disabled = CVAR_TO_BOOL(rt_force_disable);
+			if (force_disabled)
+				WARN("GPU[%d] supports ray tracing, but rt_force_disable is set, force-disabling ray tracing support", i);
+			vk_core.rtx = !force_disabled;
 		}
 
 		VkPhysicalDeviceAccelerationStructureFeaturesKHR accel_feature = {
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_framectl.c b/ref/vk/vk_framectl.c
index 5ad5c1c1..a7e43176 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_framectl.c
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_framectl.c
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 #include "vk_overlay.h"
 #include "vk_scene.h"
 #include "vk_render.h"
-#include "vk_rtx.h"
 #include "vk_cvar.h"
 #include "vk_devmem.h"
 #include "vk_swapchain.h"
@@ -142,12 +141,50 @@ static VkRenderPass createRenderPass( VkFormat depth_format, qboolean ray_tracin
 		.pDepthStencilAttachment = &depth_attachment,
 	};
 
+	BOUNDED_ARRAY(dependencies, VkSubpassDependency, 2);
+	if (vk_core.rtx) {
+		const VkSubpassDependency color = {
+			.srcSubpass = VK_SUBPASS_EXTERNAL,
+			.dstSubpass = 0,
+			.srcStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT | VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COMPUTE_SHADER_BIT,
+			.dstStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT,
+			.srcAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_SHADER_WRITE_BIT,
+			.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT,
+			.dependencyFlags = VK_DEPENDENCY_BY_REGION_BIT,
+		};
+		BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(dependencies, color);
+	} else {
+		const VkSubpassDependency color = {
+			.srcSubpass = VK_SUBPASS_EXTERNAL,
+			.dstSubpass = 0,
+			.srcStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT,
+			.dstStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OUTPUT_BIT,
+			.srcAccessMask = 0,
+			.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT,
+			.dependencyFlags = VK_DEPENDENCY_BY_REGION_BIT,
+		};
+		BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(dependencies, color);
+	}
+
+	const VkSubpassDependency depth = {
+		.srcSubpass = VK_SUBPASS_EXTERNAL,
+		.dstSubpass = 0,
+		.srcStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_EARLY_FRAGMENT_TESTS_BIT | VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_LATE_FRAGMENT_TESTS_BIT,
+		.dstStageMask = VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_EARLY_FRAGMENT_TESTS_BIT | VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_LATE_FRAGMENT_TESTS_BIT,
+		.srcAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT,
+		.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_WRITE_BIT | VK_ACCESS_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_READ_BIT,
+		.dependencyFlags = 0,
+	};
+	BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(dependencies, depth);
+
 	const VkRenderPassCreateInfo rpci = {
 		.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_RENDER_PASS_CREATE_INFO,
 		.attachmentCount = ARRAYSIZE(attachments),
 		.pAttachments = attachments,
 		.subpassCount = 1,
 		.pSubpasses = &subdesc,
+		.dependencyCount = dependencies.count,
+		.pDependencies = dependencies.items,
 	};
 
 	XVK_CHECK(vkCreateRenderPass(vk_core.device, &rpci, NULL, &render_pass));
@@ -340,8 +377,8 @@ static void submit( vk_combuf_t* combuf, qboolean wait, qboolean draw ) {
 		};
 		// TODO for RT renderer we only touch framebuffer at the very end of rendering/cmdbuf.
 		// Can we postpone waitinf for framebuffer semaphore until we actually need it.
-		BOUNDED_ARRAY(waitophores, VkSemaphore, 2) = {0};
-		BOUNDED_ARRAY(signalphores, VkSemaphore, 2) = {0};
+		BOUNDED_ARRAY(waitophores, VkSemaphore, 2);
+		BOUNDED_ARRAY(signalphores, VkSemaphore, 2);
 
 		if (draw) {
 			BOUNDED_ARRAY_APPEND(waitophores, frame->sem_framebuffer_ready);
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_logs.h b/ref/vk/vk_logs.h
index cfbe51cc..8f427776 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_logs.h
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_logs.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "vk_common.h"
 
 #define LIST_LOG_MODULES(X) \
+	X(core) \
 	X(misc) \
 	X(tex) \
 	X(brush) \
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_ray_internal.h b/ref/vk/vk_ray_internal.h
index 85945406..b549d851 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_ray_internal.h
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_ray_internal.h
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ struct vk_combuf_s;
 qboolean createOrUpdateAccelerationStructure(struct vk_combuf_s *combuf, const as_build_args_t *args);
 
 #define MAX_SCRATCH_BUFFER (32*1024*1024)
-#define MAX_ACCELS_BUFFER (128*1024*1024)
+// FIXME compute this by lazily allocating #define MAX_ACCELS_BUFFER (128*1024*1024)
+#define MAX_ACCELS_BUFFER (256*1024*1024)
 
 typedef struct {
 	// Geometry metadata. Lifetime is similar to geometry lifetime itself.
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_render.c b/ref/vk/vk_render.c
index c72fa3eb..5ad72af9 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_render.c
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_render.c
@@ -641,24 +641,46 @@ static uint32_t writeDlightsToUBO( void )
 	return ubo_lights_offset;
 }
 
+/*
+static void debugBarrier( VkCommandBuffer cmdbuf, VkBuffer buf) {
+	const VkBufferMemoryBarrier bmb[] = { {
+		.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_BUFFER_MEMORY_BARRIER,
+		.srcAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_WRITE_BIT,
+		.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_WRITE_BIT,
+		.buffer = buf,
+		.offset = 0,
+		.size = VK_WHOLE_SIZE,
+	} };
+	vkCmdPipelineBarrier(cmdbuf,
+		VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ALL_COMMANDS_BIT,
+		VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ALL_COMMANDS_BIT,
+		0, 0, NULL, ARRAYSIZE(bmb), bmb, 0, NULL);
+}
+*/
+
 void VK_Render_FIXME_Barrier( VkCommandBuffer cmdbuf ) {
 	const VkBuffer geom_buffer = R_GeometryBuffer_Get();
-	// FIXME
+	//debugBarrier(cmdbuf, geom_buffer);
+	// FIXME: this should be automatic and dynamically depend on actual usage, resolving this with render graph
 	{
 		const VkBufferMemoryBarrier bmb[] = { {
 			.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_BUFFER_MEMORY_BARRIER,
 			.srcAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_TRANSFER_WRITE_BIT,
-			//.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_READ_BIT_KHR, // FIXME
-			.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_INDEX_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_VERTEX_ATTRIBUTE_READ_BIT , // FIXME
+			.dstAccessMask
+				= VK_ACCESS_INDEX_READ_BIT
+				| VK_ACCESS_VERTEX_ATTRIBUTE_READ_BIT
+				| (vk_core.rtx ? ( VK_ACCESS_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_READ_BIT_KHR | VK_ACCESS_SHADER_READ_BIT) : 0),
 			.buffer = geom_buffer,
-			.offset = 0, // FIXME
-			.size = VK_WHOLE_SIZE, // FIXME
+			.offset = 0,
+			.size = VK_WHOLE_SIZE,
 		} };
 		vkCmdPipelineBarrier(cmdbuf,
 			VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_TRANSFER_BIT,
-			//VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_BUILD_BIT_KHR,
-			//VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_BUILD_BIT_KHR | VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_BIT_KHR,
-			VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_VERTEX_INPUT_BIT,
+			VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_VERTEX_INPUT_BIT | (vk_core.rtx
+				? VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_BUILD_BIT_KHR
+				| VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_BIT_KHR
+				| VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COMPUTE_SHADER_BIT
+				: 0),
 			0, 0, NULL, ARRAYSIZE(bmb), bmb, 0, NULL);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_rtx.c b/ref/vk/vk_rtx.c
index 9f1420fd..96a47d37 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_rtx.c
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_rtx.c
@@ -378,7 +378,8 @@ static void performTracing( vk_combuf_t *combuf, const perform_tracing_args_t* a
 		if (!res->name[0] || !res->image.image || res->source_index_plus_1 > 0)
 			continue;
 
-		res->resource.read = res->resource.write = (ray_resource_state_t){0};
+		//res->resource.read = res->resource.write = (ray_resource_state_t){0};
+		res->resource.write = (ray_resource_state_t){0};
 	}
 
 	DEBUG_BEGIN(cmdbuf, "yay tracing");
diff --git a/ref/vk/vk_staging.c b/ref/vk/vk_staging.c
index b87f0f51..4e7ceee0 100644
--- a/ref/vk/vk_staging.c
+++ b/ref/vk/vk_staging.c
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 #include "profiler.h"
 #include "r_speeds.h"
 #include "vk_combuf.h"
+#include "vk_logs.h"
 
 #include <memory.h>
 
 #define MODULE_NAME "staging"
+#define LOG_MODULE staging
 
 #define DEFAULT_STAGING_SIZE (128*1024*1024)
 #define MAX_STAGING_ALLOCS (2048)
@@ -198,6 +200,45 @@ static void commitBuffers(vk_combuf_t *combuf) {
 	// - upload once per buffer
 	// - join adjacent regions
 
+	BOUNDED_ARRAY(barriers, VkBufferMemoryBarrier, 4);
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < g_staging.buffers.count; i++) {
+		const VkBuffer dst_buf = g_staging.buffers.dest[i];
+		for (int j = 0;; ++j) {
+			if (j == COUNTOF(barriers.items)) {
+				ERR("Ran out of buffer barrier slots, oh no");
+				break;
+			}
+
+			// Instert last
+			if (j == barriers.count) {
+				barriers.count++;
+				barriers.items[j] = (VkBufferMemoryBarrier){
+					.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_BUFFER_MEMORY_BARRIER,
+					.srcAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_READ_BIT | VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_WRITE_BIT,
+					.dstAccessMask = VK_ACCESS_TRANSFER_WRITE_BIT,
+					.buffer = dst_buf,
+					.offset = 0,
+					.size = VK_WHOLE_SIZE,
+				};
+				break;
+			}
+
+			// Already inserted
+			if (barriers.items[j].buffer == dst_buf)
+				break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (barriers.count) {
+		vkCmdPipelineBarrier(cmdbuf,
+			// FIXME this should be more concrete. Will need to pass buffer "state" around.
+			// For now it works, but makes validation uhappy.
+			VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ALL_COMMANDS_BIT,
+			VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_TRANSFER_BIT,
+			0, 0, NULL, barriers.count, barriers.items, 0, NULL);
+	}
+
 	VkBuffer prev_buffer = VK_NULL_HANDLE;
 	int first_copy = 0;
 	for (int i = 0; i < g_staging.buffers.count; i++) {