Highball
Which renderer to use
Highball can run each game through three different Direct3D translation layers. This is what the database knows for this title — empty rows are open questions, not failures.
| Renderer | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DXVKDirect3D 9-11 over Vulkan | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Reported | community reports |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Untested | no report yet — send one |
No dated Highball run yet. When one lands it records the renderer, the engine build and the macOS version it was seen on — which is what stops a verdict quietly rotting. Send one.
Notes
This game has a native macOS version on Steam, so the Mac Steam app runs it directly without Highball. Through Highball, the Windows build crashed before its splash screen on the Wine 10 engine (r21) and ran on the Wine 11 engine (r19, DXMT) for the same player. No measurement here yet.
Provenance
Reported by nunnsy (highball-db#399 and #400, 2026-10-08), Apple M3 Pro, macOS 27.0.1, Highball 0.10.10: on engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r21 it crashed before its splash screen (rated 1), and on engine x64-crossover26.3-r19 in DXMT mode with the steam and vcrun2022 recipes it ran (rated 5 of 5 after 3 minutes). Not verified by the maintainer.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition work on Mac?
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. This comes from community reports rather than a Highball test run, so treat it as a reasonable expectation rather than a guarantee.
Which renderer should I use for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition?
DXMT. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records DXMT for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Highball uses it automatically when the game has a row; to set it by hand, open Settings, then Environments.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Apple Silicon, working or not, a report takes a minute and fills in the empty rows above. Send a report, or read how the data is put together.