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Mac Gaming to Gain DirectX 12 Support via CrossOver 23

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CrossOver will gain support for DirectX 12 starting this year to enhance the experience of playing Windows games on macOS, CodeWeavers this week announced.

diablo-directx-12-support.jpg

CrossOver allows macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS users to run Windows apps as if they were native by translating Windows APIs into their Mac equivalents. CrossOver currently only supports Microsoft's DirectX 11. DirectX 12 is the latest collection of graphics rendering APIs available on Windows and Xbox, promising better performance, efficiency, and optimal use of multiple CPU and GPU cores.

Support for DirectX 12 games will be added to CrossOver on a per-title basis to circumvent bugs. From CodeWeavers' press release:
We have the beginnings of DirectX 12 support, and our QA team has confirmed that Diablo II Resurrected is running on macOS with early pre-alpha builds of CrossOver 23, which will be released later this summer. There are still bugs, but the fact that it's running at all is a huge win.

While we are elated with this breakthrough, we acknowledge that our journey has just begun. Our team's investigations concluded that there was no single magic key that unlocked DirectX 12 support on macOS. To get just Diablo II Resurrected running, we had to fix a multitude of bugs involving MoltenVK and SPIRV-Cross. We anticipate that this will be the case for other DirectX 12 games: we will need to add support on a per-title basis, and each game will likely involve multiple bugs.
Click to expand...
The first game to gain DirectX 12 support in CrossOver will be "Diablo II Resurrected," but CodeWeavers plans to add more titles in the future. CodeWeavers maintains a compatibility database so you can see what may work work well with the software.

The first beta of CrossOver 23 is set to be released this summer, followed by the official launch later this year.

Article Link: Mac Gaming to Gain DirectX 12 Support via CrossOver 23
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/06/03/mac-to-gain-directx-12-support-via-crossover/
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I don't know how to feel about this. DirectX 11 games still feel stutter-y with CrossOver compared to how smooth Proton games run on Linux (almost indistinguishable from native).

Must be something related to Apple's GPU driver.
 
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I am genuinely curious about this software. Just looking at their website, they basically claim that you would not need to use a VM or dual partition to run windows games? As it is with DirectX 11, how well does it run steam games? Any difference compared to just using steam on macOS without it?

Would it be possible to install steam for windows or something? Or maybe the windows version of certain games?
 
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Odan said:
I am genuinely curious about this software. Just looking at their website, they basically claim that you would not need to use a VM or dual partition to run windows games? As it is with DirectX 11, how well does it run steam games? Any difference compared to just using steam on macOS without it?

Would it be possible to install steam for windows or something? Or maybe the windows version of certain games?
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It's a Windows compatibility layer, which is able to run Windows software directly on Mac and Linux. The way it installs games is by running Steam (Windows version), so yes, Steam runs, and you do install and run the windows version of the games this way.

Not all games/software work, they have a compatibility list.
 
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DX12 has only just got good on Windows and it launched in 2015 when Windows 10 came out. And by good I mean games not stuttering all the time or crashing every 5-10 minutes.

It's going to be a long time before it's good on Mac lol.

That said, I'm happy to see what seems to be a stronger push in Mac gaming the last few days. I'd love if you could seriously game on Mac but it's still a long way to go. Nobody buys a Mac to play games. Playing games is just something it can kinda do on the side.
 
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More games on Mac is great, but Apple needs to support games natively. Compatibility layers bring new issues and bugs. Maybe bring DX12+ support to MacOS as built in functionality? I know they want to pump Metal though.
 
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McWetty said:
More games on Mac is great, but Apple needs to support games natively. Maybe bring DX12+ support to MacOS as built in functionality? I know they want to pump Metal though. Compatibility layers bring new issues and bugs.
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Apple could if they wanted to but it's probably too much work and money required to get Macs anywhere near Windows when it comes to gaming.

Even if they did get native DX12 support you're still going to be held back by devices with poor airflow and cooling so you'll be stuck playing non demanding games or older games.
 
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Kazgarth said:
I don't know how to feel about this. DirectX 11 games still feel stutter-y with CrossOver compared to how smooth Proton games run on Linux (almost indistinguishable from native).

Must be something related to Apple's GPU driver.
Click to expand...

It seems Proton might be coming to Mac via Asahi Linux, which may be a lot more performant than directx on crossover.
 
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Bodhitree said:
Is there anything you can do in those games which is not related to killing?
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Dying.

I’m actually pretty excited at the possibility of D2R on my mini. I used to play D2 on my iMac when it first came out, so it'll be a homecoming.
 
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MacaroniCheese said:
I'm kinda looking forward to seeing more games come to Mac. So long as I can still use my Steam library rather than having to buy again through Mac App store...
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Apple is gonna need their 30% cut. They don’t like allowing third party app stores on their devices.
So yea….. I bet they ignore steam period and peddle the games to you themselves.
“ it’s a business not a charity “
Timothy Apple -2072
 
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spcopsmac21 said:
Apple is gonna need their 30% cut. They don’t like allowing third party app stores on their devices.
So yea….. I bet they ignore steam period and peddle the games to you themselves.
“ it’s a business not a charity “
Timothy Apple -2072
Click to expand...

Uh, no. I had the Steam client on Macs for more than a decade.

Unfortunately, the death of 32-bit and the new Apple Silicon means some of my favorites bit the dust, and I have to go to my gaming PC to play them.
 
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Sounds really good and exciting. A bit worried about the scalability of it though given this statement

We anticipate that this will be the case for other DirectX 12 games: we will need to add support on a per-title basis, and each game will likely involve multiple bugs.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it’ll be very labor intensive, at least for some time.
 
tubular said:
Uh, no. I had the Steam client on Macs for more than a decade.

Unfortunately, the death of 32-bit and the new Apple Silicon means some of my favorites bit the dust, and I have to go to my gaming PC to play them.
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What were your favorites that bit the dust?

I can understand companies not investing time to bring their old 32-bit games to 64-bit, or their old OpenGL games to Metal, but companies that aren't bringing even their latest games to Apple Silicon and Metal and just plain lazy... especially if they're using a game engine like UE or Unity.

It's sad that I have to pirate Windows games to play them on the Mac (nobody should be buying a Windows game to play on the Mac because it just feeds the problem and developers don't know that you're playing it on the Mac) even though the Mac is more than capable of running these games emulated or interpreted through multiple layers that slow the game down.

But I bought both Resident Evil Village and No Man's Sky because I support the companies that make the effort (even though Hello Games took their sweet time)... now if Feral can release Grid Legends.
 
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Great shame that Diablo II Resurrected does not have native Mac support. Blizzard used to be big supporters of the Mac and, back in the day, all their titles (including Diablo II) were released simultaneously on Mac and Windows. But that's all changed since the Activision buy-out. Seems like a "no Mac" edict has been issued from the top-level management.
 
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tubular said:
Uh, no. I had the Steam client on Macs for more than a decade.

Unfortunately, the death of 32-bit and the new Apple Silicon means some of my favorites bit the dust, and I have to go to my gaming PC to play them.
Click to expand...

I've noticed that some old Steam titles come up with that "32-bit, not compatible with your macOS version" warning, but actually work fine anyway. Even on Apple Silicon!
 
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