Hasty Briefsbeta

An exploration of playing three generations of windows games on macOS

a day ago
https://carette.xyz/posts/deep_dive_into_crossover/
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  • #CrossOver
  • #Gaming on Mac
  • #Apple Silicon
  • The author tested running Windows games on an M3 Max MacBook Pro using CrossOver, focusing on games from different eras: ARC Raiders (2025), Routine (2025), Watch Dogs 2 (2016), and Tron 2.0 (2003).
  • Games with Kernel-level Anti-Cheat like ARC Raiders are unplayable due to Wine's inability to emulate deep Windows kernel access required by anti-cheat software.
  • Routine (DirectX 12) ran successfully with default settings, showing no performance or graphics issues.
  • Watch Dogs 2 (DirectX 11) initially ran poorly but improved significantly after enabling D3DMetal and MSync in CrossOver settings, along with resolution adjustments.
  • Tron 2.0 (DirectX 9) crashed with D3DMetal enabled, requiring a fallback to DXVK and manual fixes including creating a Windows XP bottle and patching the executable.
  • The article highlights the performance differences between running games on macOS vs. Linux, noting that Proton on Linux offers a smoother experience due to fewer translation layers.
  • The author concludes that while CrossOver allows running many Windows games on macOS, the experience varies greatly depending on the game's age and the translation path used.
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