New Project Brings Strong Linux Compatibility To More Classic Windows Games (arstechnica.com) 18
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: For years now, Valve has been slowly improving the capabilities of the Proton compatibility layer that lets thousands of Windows games work seamlessly on the Linux-based SteamOS. But Valve's Windows-to-Linux compatibility layer generally only extends back to games written for Direct3D 8, the proprietary Windows graphics API Microsoft released in late 2000. Now, a new open source project is seeking to extend Linux interoperability further back into PC gaming history. The d7vk project describes itself as "a Vulkan-based translation layer for Direct3D 7 [D3D7], which allows running 3D applications on Linux using Wine."
The new project isn't the first attempt to get Direct3D 7 games running on Linux. Wine's own built-in WineD3D compatibility layer has supported D3D7 in some form or another for at least two decades now. But the new d7vk project instead branches off the existing dxvk compatibility layer, which is already used by Valve's Proton for SteamOS and which reportedly offers better performance than WineD3D on many games. D7vk project author WinterSnowfall writes that while they don't expect this new project to be upstreamed into the main dxvk in the future, the new version should have "the same level of per application/targeted configuration profiles and fixes that you're used to seeing in dxvk proper." And though d7vk might not perform universally better than the existing alternatives, WinterSnowfall writes that "having more options on the table is a good thing in my book at least." The report notes that the PC Gaming Wiki lists more than 400 games built on the aging D3D7 APIs, spanning mostly early-2000s releases but with a trickle of new titles still appearing through 2022. Notable classics include Escape from Monkey Island and Hitman: Codename 47.
The new project isn't the first attempt to get Direct3D 7 games running on Linux. Wine's own built-in WineD3D compatibility layer has supported D3D7 in some form or another for at least two decades now. But the new d7vk project instead branches off the existing dxvk compatibility layer, which is already used by Valve's Proton for SteamOS and which reportedly offers better performance than WineD3D on many games. D7vk project author WinterSnowfall writes that while they don't expect this new project to be upstreamed into the main dxvk in the future, the new version should have "the same level of per application/targeted configuration profiles and fixes that you're used to seeing in dxvk proper." And though d7vk might not perform universally better than the existing alternatives, WinterSnowfall writes that "having more options on the table is a good thing in my book at least." The report notes that the PC Gaming Wiki lists more than 400 games built on the aging D3D7 APIs, spanning mostly early-2000s releases but with a trickle of new titles still appearing through 2022. Notable classics include Escape from Monkey Island and Hitman: Codename 47.
The more competition the better (Score:5, Insightful)
The more easily people can feel free to ditch Windows, the better.
And I don't mean that as a slight against Windows. I mean that there should be better competition in order to spur more comparisons and improvements. Even people who love Windows would benefit from better rivalry. The way it has made Microsoft want to improve gaming under Windows is a perfect example of why. They could be doing much better on many fronts, and likely there are ways Linux might improve as well.
Additionally, if it is easier to move more freely between operating systems, that makes it easier for people to choose what is best for them. Feeling stuck making do with something subpar is not good. Everyone can agree to that.
Everyone should want Linux to get better. And Windows. And all other OSes.
Re:The more competition the better (Score:5, Interesting)
I think part of the problem is that even Microsoft doesn't really care about Windows anymore. It's an obligatory means to their actual goal. The key computing markets are corporate customers and gaming; mundane everyday users have shifted mostly to mobile or web stuff (like Office 365), and corporate customers are the 900 lb gorilla because gamers are vocal but small as a group in comparison. Big data centers are mostly running some flavor of *nix (even MS or Amazon ones), and let's just skip the MacOS folks. Don't get involved with cults.
So for MS, Windows is a thing they have to do to keep large corporate customers who buy tens of thousands of licenses and service contracts every year for hundreds of millions of dollars. They don't even really care about Bob Smith, basic PC Owner. There's no money for them there and it's a shrinking market anyway.
You can either use the flexibility of a free project - not driven by profit motive - to displace an uninterested party with motivations elsewhere, or you can threaten their piggy bank by displacing their larger cash cow (corporate level bulk use). But gamers as an OS market will not swing Microsoft. Microsoft will just keep doing Xbox stuff (possibly even on Playstation). They're too sclerotic to meaningfully tackle a smaller market like PC gaming. Maybe 20-25 years ago, but not these days.
Re: (Score:2)
If they don't care about Bob Smith then they'll lose all of the hobbyists and passionate creators. Far fewer will be familiar with using and developing for Windows, as well as the potential to lose projects that either make every day life easier with Windows, or address those fringe edge cases that only a few people care about but make possible because it's the most popular platform. But, I admit it's possible that doesn't matter to Microsoft or the people who have to work with Windows.
Re: (Score:2)
I mean, you're right, but stop and look at it from Microsoft's perspective. They don't really care. They're pushing Windows with every release to be more like a mobile OS because that's what the average casual tech user knows and uses daily. They've moved productivity software from local machines to the cloud as subscription software, which is basically OS-agnostic. It doesn't care if you log in from an iOS tablet or somebody running Haiku or FreeBSD.
They're actively trying to replace most of their actual,
Hmm (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's still possible to run these using DOSbox or ReactOS in a VM.
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
Or buy them from gog.com, which will come with a custom version of DOSBox all set up specifically for it.
Re: (Score:3)
They don't use 3D acceleration so will happily run on vanilla Wine.
Re: (Score:1)
> vanilla Wine
Is that a Boone's Farm product? Found next to the Strawberry Hill? Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
For WinG, there's a "Its pretty much dead Jim" component from the WINE project, called WINEVDM
https://github.com/otya128/win... [github.com]
You can use it to run win16 applications on modern windows. (with lots of warts. Caveat emptor)
It can also run win16 applications inside WINE. (same caveats apply)
For old DX versions, I'd suggest stringing DGVoodoo2 together with VKD3D in a proton container. Essentially wraps those old APIs over DX12, which is provided by VKD3D over Vulkan, and has quite a few options you can fiddle with about color depth support reporting, and options to force upscale (useful for those 640x480@8bit DX5 games, since modern monitors dont like those legacy modes).
Bonus, is that it also functions as a glide wrapper.
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
Note that not all WinG games are 16-bit. In fact, most WinG games are 32-bit, like WinDoom and Fury3, and while they use Win32s when run on Windows 3.x, they use normal Win32 calls on Windows 95, and don't need no special magick to run on modern Windows or Wine.
Re:What now? (Score:5, Informative)
You can do this right now.
Use DGVoodoo2 with VKD3D.
https://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVood... [freeweb.hu]
VKD3D provides DX11 and DX12 over Vulkan.
DGVoodoo2 wraps DX1 through DX9 over DX12 api. (which will functionally pipe it through Vulkan on Linux)
Your wine / proton prefix will need to be set to use native DLLs, but it totally works.
Title oversold it a little (Score:2)
A minor addition to Windows compatibility that will sway very few people in Linux's direction.
So are there no good games built on Linux..... (Score:2)