Hi all

I have build MacOS patch that allows MechCommander Gold to be played natively on MacOS and Mac silicons

Download here: https://github.com/PepeForFun/MechCommander-MacOS

Other improvements - upscaled graphics and fonts to 4k so it looks smooth and added cfg file to change keyboard layout if needed. If you have Mac please test and let me know if you find any issues.

Tested on M5 +MacOS 27.0.1

I did use the u/RevenantBob patch as source https://github.com/RevenantBob/MechCommanderRedux

Obviously we have a ton of AI slop on this subreddit, but there seems to be some pretty solid recompilations/ports that seem to be going under the radar.

It'd be nice to have a database not unlike the Crossover compatibility DB that lists whether a game has been recompiled and/or patched by AI to work on Mac

Finally, AI began to be used for its intended purpose, and now you can get such results. Yes, the game is 2005, but it looks incredible on my M1 base, and works at an honest 60 fps. I hope in the near future we will get more ports of old but very cool games, or games for Mac 32 bit ported to Apple silicon.

Stuttering in GeForce NOW on a Mac is so annoying. But there's a fix for MacOS that actually works.

The cause is AWDL, the Wi-Fi feature behind AirDrop and Handoff. Every few seconds it hops your Wi-Fi to another channel, and in a stream that shows up as lag spikes. macOS keeps turning it back on, so a one-time fix doesn't stick.

I made a lightweight app that turns AWDL off while GeForce NOW runs. Every time macOS switches it back on, the app catches that at the kernel level and turns it off again within a fraction of a millisecond. When you quit, AirDrop works again. It sits in the menu bar and stays out of your way. Lifesaver for me!

Credit where it's due: it started with swicken's gfn-awdl-watcher script, and the technique comes from Oliver Ames' Ping Warden, which builds on James Howard's AWDLControl and jamestut's awdlkiller. Thanks to all of them.

Ping Warden is a great app with more features, but it now costs $15. I don't think a fix like this should cost money, so mine is free and open source. It's written in Rust, runs on Apple silicon and Intel, and comes in 7 languages.

Heads-up: it isn't notarized by Apple, so the first time you open it you need System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. It asks for your password once to install the small helper that switches AWDL.

Download: https://github.com/brainvine/gfn-optimizer/releases/latest

Works for all game-streaming apps, not just GeforceNOW.

I had just purchased the new ROR2 DLC, Hallowed Concepts, and wanted to play it on my MacBook. I got through loading and character selection, but when I pressed E to leave my escape pod, nothing happened. Now I have tried reinstalling the game, removing my mods, and switching from keyboard to controller, and nothing has worked for me. With the other 3 DLCs installed, I did not have this bug.

Does anyone have any insight into how I can fix this?

I'm using Crossovers, and I have a 2022 MacBook Pro with an M2 Chip and 16 GB of Memory. I am running Tahoe 26.6.2

Starting from the port that produced this

https://github.com/BlackLineInteractive/Driveclub-Port—I’ve

managed to reach this point on my MacBook M1 Max. I’ve spent about 24 hours trying to optimize everything; it wouldn’t even launch on Apple Silicon before, but now I’m hitting 23–24 fps. The CPU is very well-optimized—usage is quite low, just as it should be—but the GPU and shaders are the current sticking points. I’m working on those; once I clear up the visual glitches caused by other players' lights, I hope to shave off enough time to boost the frame rate further.

We’ll see—in the meantime, I hope to post something to GitHub later this evening so others can collaborate with me.

Beyond that, I’d like to bring *Forza Horizon 3* or *2* to Apple Silicon Macs, since nobody else seems to be thinking of us! =)

IMPORTANT

I make this post because if you search "how to play [insert Gacha game] on Mac", most of the result never consider the user being a broke college student with a Macbook Neo.

I do not guarantee these are the best ways to play those games, but I can guarantee that they're free. Not "free trial for X days", not "the software is free but to get a game file you need to wait for several days unless you paid for the VIP queue", it's free free.

My machine: M1 Macbook with 16GB of RAM.

Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero

Use this: https://github.com/yaagl/yet-another-anime-game-launcher

• Each game has a custom launcher, CN & Global has its own version.
• Surprisingly good performance.
• Update right away.
• Work with mouse & keyboard.
• Devs actively support & fix bug.

Wuthering Wave, Honkai Impact 3rd, Infinity Nikki, Neverness to Everness, Reverse: 1999, Chaos Zero Nightmare

Use the native MacOS version on App Store.

• Reverse: 1999 & Chaos Zero Nightmare aren't really native, more that they run the iPad version of those games on your Mac. However, since they're turn based card game, I find that controlling with just the mouse is completely fine.
• Path To Nowhere is similar but I don't play the game so I'm not sure.
• HI3rd, R1999 & CZN are pretty lightweight game so performance is fine.
• No one seem to make an attempt as making a completely free way to play the PC version of Wuwa, NTE & Infinity Nikki so I can't say this the best performed options, but they're definitely the best supported option.
• Wuwa, NTE & Infinity Nikki are demanding 3D open world games so they barely reach 40 - 60 fps with the lowest setting on my M1 machine.

Arknight: Endfield

Use this: https://github.com/AugustLigh/LLauncher

• Custom launcher just for Endfield.
• Surprisingly good performance.
• Update right away.
• Work with mouse & keyboard.
• Devs actively support & fix bug.
• WARNING: at the time of this post, the MacOS version is being blocked by Endfield's newly updated anti-cheat (YES, all of your beloved Singleplayer PvE Gacha game has anti-cheat). The devs already fix it for Window & Linux and are working on the MacOS version.

Punishing Gray Raven, Limbus Company, Aniimo

Use this: https://github.com/Sikarugir-App/Sikarugir

• This is a bit technical.
• If you aren't tech savvy, best is to follow to Youtube on how to install Steam with Sikarugir, then play the game above via Steam since they all available on Steam.
• Tips: tick both Direct3D to Metal & DirectX to Vulkan.
• PGR & Limbus perform really well.
• Aniimo is too new so I can't find any free alternative for the PC version to compare.
• They all work with mouse & keyboard.
• They all get new update right away.
• Devs actively support & fix bug. Most user of Sikarugir use it to play game on Steam so the devs focus mostly on that.
• Not gacha games but Warframe & Brawhalla run well too.

Girl Frontline 2, Duet Night Abyss

Once again, use https://github.com/Sikarugir-App/Sikarugir, but download the official Window launcher of those game, and create a separate bottle for them.

• This is very technical.
• Install them similar to Steam, but choose the .exe file instead of using Winetrick.
• After running the Launcher Installer, change the directory to the Launcher, so that subsequence boot will open the launcher instead of the Launcher Installer.
• Use the launcher to download and install the game, then run the game through the Launcher.
• Technically you can install PGR & Aniimo this way too because those games also have a Window Launcher.
• Girl Frontline 2 run extremely well, while DNA run like piss (but I suspect it's because the game itself is poorly optimized).
• They all work with mouse & keyboard.
• They all update right away.

Reliable method for emergency

Most of the method above are 3rd party solution done by indie devs, so the risk of something breaking after the game update (see Endfield above) or the devs drop the project indefinitely are always present. If that happen on a day you really need to open your game, here's an emergency method.

Use this: https://www.bluestacks.com/mac

• This is an Android emulator. Since all of the game mentioned above has a mobile version, they should be accessable through this method.

https://playcover.io

• There is also Playcover which is an iOS emulator. However, it require you to install the .IPA file yourself, but since all Gacha games has regular update, this option is kind of a pain in the *ss.
• Bluestack Air emulate and entire Samsung phone instead, so you download & update the game through the real Google Play.

My 8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless worked in some games on macOS but was invisible to every game that uses Apple's GameController framework. I fixed it in the firmware. The controller now identifies as an Xbox Elite v2 over Bluetooth, so games see a fully supported controller with no drivers and no background software.

What the patch does

• The controller now advertises itself as an Xbox Elite v2 over Bluetooth, which is an identity macOS already supports.
• It sends input reports in the real Xbox Bluetooth format, so every button, stick, and trigger lands where Apple's driver expects it.
• Rumble works. The stock Bluetooth rumble path was broken in a way that macOS could never use, and the patch repairs it.

Everything works except L4 and R4. The controller sends them, and SDL-based readers can see them, but macOS does not expose paddle button, so GameController-native games won't see them. If you want them in a game, remap them to standard buttons on the controller itself. Tested on an M5 Mac running macOS 27.

Caveats

• This modifies firmware, so flash carefully. The script backs up your flash first, and the official 8BitDo updater can restore stock firmware over USB, but nothing is guaranteed. Flash at your own risk.
• I built this with AI assistance, including the reverse engineering.
• It only accepts the official 1.06 beta as the base image. Other versions are refused.
• I only tested Apple Silicon on macOS 27. It may work on other devices as this patch is done in the controller firmware. If you try it on something else, I would like to hear what happens.

Github repository: https://github.com/Alan-Gomes/8bitdo-macos

Leave a star if you liked it!

I have minimal programming knowledge, but since nobody else is working on this, I thought I'd give it a shot using AI. Since OpenEmu was brought to Apple Silicon this way, I figure, maybe I can use AI to get Azahar and OpenEmu to talk to each other...? I'm currently in the midst of getting the Vulkan renderer to talk to OpenEmu, and I've made good progress. Aside from that portion of the project, I have successfully built a 3DS plugin for OpenEmu - and I designed an icon (without AI!) for it too. For the moment, games are software-rendered and not really playable due to their speed (2-3fps on an M3 Max processor), but again, hardware rendering is in the works. Hopefully I can get it working. Stay tuned...

I wrote a static recompiler that translates the game's code to C and builds it as a native arm64 app. You still need Rosetta installed, but only for a small helper that compiles the shaders.

I got around 80-110 FPS on my M1 Max at 4k resolution.

You need your own Steam copy of the Mac version. The repo has no game files. One script checks your Mac, translates your copy and builds the app. It takes about 5 minutes.

Press Cmd+F in game and you'll see the FPS counter.

let me know if you find any bugs and try it out.

I'm planning to do the same for LEGO Harry Potter whenever I have time!

Github : https://github.com/itsdunintime104/HobbitRecompiled/

Edit: I accidentally left the repo private, now it's public. (FYI, it's only a conversation tool).

https://reddit.com/link/1x8q6vi/video/hesnnlwxi4wh1/player

Looking for good MacOS games on a M1 Air that play well with just the trackpad and keyboard, no controllers. Prefer native apps but I have a crossover subscription if necessary. Have a 6 hour flight tomorrow

I have a MacBook Pro m2 16gb and would like to know how I can play Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill Townfall, and the upcoming Alien Isolation 2. I don't mind medium-low settings and 720p if my fps is good. I'm thinking of getting a 1 or 2 month boosteroid or airgpu sub and then canceling when I complete the games.

I made lp-engine, a native macOS runtime for LovePlus+, the Japanese Nintendo DS dating sim that never received an English release.

I developed it on an M5 MacBook Pro. The release includes a universal macOS app for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, alongside Windows and Linux builds.

This is not an emulator. It runs the original game from your own Japanese LovePlus+ BOXJ ROM, while replacing the DS hardware environment with a native desktop runtime. Nothing from the game is included in the app or repository. On first launch, it asks for your ROM, reads the necessary data into its own folder, and leaves the original file unchanged.

The native version includes the full English translation, higher resolution 3D, texture filtering, smoother toon shading, anti aliasing, optional smoother character motion, mouse touch input, keyboard and gamepad controls, microphone support, ordinary save files, and an in game clock that follows your Mac’s time.

The goal was not simply to put a DS image in a window. The original game logic and data are kept wherever possible, while the presentation can look much sharper than it ever could on the DS. The two screens stay side by side and upright, as if you are holding the console.

The English work covers the dialogue, menus, system messages, and redrawn interface graphics. LovePlus+ was built around fixed width Japanese text, so the runtime also adds proportional English layout and handles places where translated text interacts with original game logic.

In the latest instrumented playthrough, 96 percent of execution ran natively. The remaining original ARM functions run through an interpreter that shares the same memory model with the native Rust side.

I used AI extensively during the reverse engineering, implementation, and documentation work, but the result is checked against original game code, emulator recordings, replay fixtures, and differential tests.

I will put the download, source, and detailed reverse engineering documentation in the first comment. I would love to hear how it runs on other Macs, especially Intel machines.

Thank you to everyone who has tried and tested Mac-ever!

In just a week we've hit over 1000 downloads across CurseForge and Wago which is absolutely amazing, but I know there are more Mac gamers out there who are struggling with in-game optimisation.

For those who don't know, Mac-ever is the addon that measures your World of Warcraft: Forever setup against your Apple Silicon Mac, and works out the best settings for the frame rate you want.

CurseForge: https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/mac-ever

Wago: https://addons.wago.io/addons/mac-ever

If you have any feedback, please favourite Mac-ever on CurseForge or Wago and leave a comment. This will help spread the message that there is a way to improve the WoW: Forever Mac experience.

Equally, if you have troubleshooting queries, please get in touch on CurseForge (preferably), or here on Reddit, so I can try and work it out.

Thanks everyone, and good luck on November 4th!

^{Disclaimer: Mac-ever was made with AI assistance.}

My controller connected over Bluetooth, but games and mapping tools couldn’t see it. Setting SDL_JOYSTICK_MFI=0 fixed detection, so I asked Codex for a small installer that applies it at login and includes an undo option.

GitHub: https://github.com/lodo4nik/8bitdo-sdl-macos-fix

Download the ZIP, extract it, run Enable Compatibility.command, then fully quit and reopen your games.

Tested over Bluetooth with SDL2 Gamepad Tool and CrossOver’s SDL library on macOS 27.2. This helps SDL-based apps; Apple GameController-only apps remain unsupported.

If you try it, please share your macOS version, controller model, and which apps worked

Been pretty excited with the developments lately with NotProton and even the recent WINE drop... but I noticed that UTM 5.0.8 was just released, and some of the advances they've made throughout the 5.0 development cycle seem worth looking at!

For anyone who hasn't been following UTM recently, a few particularly interesting developments:

• DirectX 11 acceleration for Windows 11 VMs, using DXMT.
• (WOW!) Experimental DirectX 12 support, using Apple's D3DMetal.
• Vulkan 1.3 support for Linux VMs, through VirtIO Venus and Mesa.
• Continued improvements to GPU compatibility, rendering, and performance, including fixes for high-refresh-rate displays and graphics-related hangs.
• Improved VM snapshots and other virtualization capabilities.

I think what interests me most is that we're seeing open-source virtualization on Apple Silicon progress beyond simply running Windows toward actually accelerating modern graphics APIs.

Obviously, this isn't to suggest that UTM has suddenly become a replacement for CrossOver (+NotProton) or Parallels for gaming. The Windows graphics driver is still experimental, and game compatibility remains limited. But the underlying progress seems pretty awesome, particularly considering how limited graphics acceleration used to be in UTM.

I'm curious whether anyone here has been experimenting with the newer UTM releases? Have you managed to get any interesting Windows games running, or noticed meaningful improvements compared with earlier versions?

Here's the release for anyone who wants to poke: https://github.com/utmapp/UTM/releases/tag/v5.0.8

Kinda cool; details abt the new DirectX implementation: https://blog.getutm.app/2026/introducing-triton-directx-11-driver-for-qemu/

I had 3 months of free apple arcade so i decided to download a game from there (the game is Cult of Lamb) but i do not intend to use apple arcade after the free 3 months so i bought the game from steam as well. However here comes my problem: if i try to open the game from the app (that i have 3 of for some reason) it only opens the arcade version, and when i open it from steam it does not have the save i have from the arcade version.

Is it possible to move my saved gaming to the steam version before my free subscription runs out? If yes, then how?

Controller is wired to Mac with disabled steam input - all haptics working as expected but trigger bounce or pull back effect is not there, however I feel resistance or haptic click when firing. Also checked controller using DSX app - trigger bounce is working in testing.

Is it a port issue or something is wrong in my setup? Do you all faced issue like this?

If I’m aiming to play wow forever 4k 60fps, is it possible to reach it with mac mini m6 24/512 ot with m5 pro 18/20 (24/512)?

I’ve seen some m6 benchmark but didn’t find any m5 pro 18/20 test.

I’m planning to replace my m4 16/512.

Preferably for free

Hey, guys!

Maybe someone encountered a similar issue and have a solution how to fix it:

As you can see, there are triangles and squares in the sky instead of the normal stones and whatever else is there. I wouldn't be bothered much, but in cutscenes there are missing objects. This is how it's supposed to look like:

This happens both on M1 8GB (most likely obviously, I just wanted to test in any case) and M4 Pro 24 GB devices.

In Crossover I tried Auto, D3DMetal and DXMT, the result is the same. I'm definitely missing something here.

Has anyone noticed a real jump in Oblivion Remastered performance since GPTK 4.0b3?

I last played it about a year ago. It was playable, but I had to run 1080p with FSR on performance, and it never felt great (m3 pro 12 cpu/18gpu/36gb ram).

I’m curious whether that’s changed. Has anyone really min-maxed their setup, specific in-game settings or bottle variables? Anything you’d call secret sauce is welcome. I'm fine with sticking to Skyrim, Elden Ring and Clair Obscur as well, so perfectly fine to tell me I should simply move on.

Hey guys, I would love to play kcd again. Do some of you play it on a MacBook Air m2 base model? How does it run? How do you like it?