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 | Partial | macOS 26.6.2 (2026-09-02): session renders and was driven, one lap logged, 69-136 fps at 1728x1117, clean exit. macOS 14.6 (2026-08-28): black screen on session start (engine runs, never paints). |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Recommended | run by Highball on Apple Silicon |
last confirmed 2026-10-05 · engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r2 · macOS 26.6.2. Dated runs record the engine build and, where the reporter gave it, the macOS version.
Notes
Works end to end with two things in place: install the .NET Framework 4.8 dependency first (bottle settings → Dependencies; took 6 minutes here on 2026-09-02, can take 20-40 and looks frozen — let it finish), and use the D3DMetal renderer. The stock launcher is a 32-bit .NET/WPF app: without .NET it dies silently, which was the long-standing 'AC won't launch' failure (re-confirmed 2026-09-02: on a bottle whose registry claimed 4.8 but only had Wine Mono, the launcher died with a Mono TypeLoadException on CEF3; after the real dotnet48 install it rendered fully). Re-verified on macOS 26.6.2, 2026-09-02, D3DMetal: launcher intro movie and main menu render, a practice session (Ferrari 458 at Laguna Seca) loads and runs at 127-128 fps at 1728x1117 (Metal HUD). On macOS 14.6 (2026-08-28) sessions ran at 150-170 fps fullscreen with a clean exit. DXMT: on macOS 14.6 it black-screened the session (engine runs, never paints); on macOS 26.6.2 (2026-09-02) the same session rendered and drove under DXMT 0.80 at 69-136 fps, so the black screen looks tied to the older OS. If you get a black screen on session start, switch the bottle to D3DMetal, stop all bottle processes, and relaunch. Launcher news panels may spin forever; cosmetic. Re-checked on 2026-10-05 on an M4 with engine r21 (DEP kept on): without .NET 4.8 the launcher dies on Mono's CEF3 load as described; the recipe installs .NET 4.8 and the launcher then opens on its language screen. No session was driven in that run.
Known issues
The launcher (AssettoCorsa.exe, .NET/WPF) shows 'Configuration system failed to initialize' and exits; the game itself never starts from Steam's Play.
What helps The game binary works: launching acs.exe directly (with steam_appid.txt = 244210, Steam running, D3DMetal) starts the sim. A launcher-bypass pin is the practical route until the .NET config init is fixed.
Why Reproduced 2026-09-04 on M1 Pro / macOS 26.6.2 with .NET 4.8 installed: System.Configuration rejects machine.config line 6 ('Section names beginning with config are reserved', the standard configProtectedData section) — a .NET-configuration-init-under-Wine failure affecting every .NET app in that bottle; machine.config itself is valid. Engine-independent (same on Wine 10 and our Wine 11 build).
acs.exe exits immediately with no error and no log when started directly.
What helps launch it from Steam, or from Highball's Play, which is what sets it. Only relevant to launching the executable by hand.
Why the game needs Steam's app identity, which Steam sets when you press Play. Without SteamAppId=244210 in the environment it quits before it initialises anything, which looks like a broken game rather than a missing variable.
On D3DMetal the session dies on Start with a Metal assertion, a texture of width and height 4294967295 (reported on a 13-inch M1 with 8 GB, macOS 26.6.2, highball#94)
What helps confirmed by the reporter (highball#94): in the launcher's Options, Video set Shadows to Low or higher (SHADOW_MAP_SIZE 1024 or 2048 in cfg/video.ini) and give Mirrors and Reflections a size (512 here), then the session starts on a 13-inch M1 with 8 GB
Why measured from the reporter's video.ini (highball#94): SHADOW_MAP_SIZE=-1, which the launcher writes when Shadows is set to off, becomes a shadow texture of size 4294967295 on D3DMetal and Metal refuses it. Mirror and cubemap SIZE=0 are the same class of value
One-click setup
Highball ships a recipe for Assetto Corsa: open the game in your Library and apply it. The recipe carries the tested renderer and any per-game fixes, so you don't have to reproduce them by hand. Read the recipe.
Provenance
verified locally on Apple Silicon (M1 Pro), engine sikarugir-10.0_6, Highball 0.7.18, macOS 26.6.2 (25G83), 2026-09-02; first verified on macOS 14.6 with Highball 0.7.10, 2026-08-28. Measured driving at Laguna Seca in the Ferrari 458 cockpit, 1728x1117, D3DMetal (Game Porting Toolkit 3.0, D3D11): GPU 7.6 ms of an 8.9 ms frame with 1447 draws, so it is GPU-bound and healthy rather than CPU-starved. Measured 2026-09-10 on a fresh install with .NET Framework 4.8 installed. Reported by Dhruv9449 (highball-db#379, 2026-10-07), Apple M1 Max, macOS 27.0, Highball 0.10.10, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r21, D3DMetal with the recipe's .NET 4.8, rated 5 of 5 after 36 minutes of driving, the first driven session on r21 and macOS 27.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Assetto Corsa work on Mac?
Assetto Corsa has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. Highball has run it on Apple Silicon (last confirmed 2026-10-05 · engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r2 · macOS 26.6.2).
Which renderer should I use for Assetto Corsa?
D3DMetal. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records D3DMetal for Assetto Corsa, and applying the Assetto Corsa recipe sets it for you.
Is there a one-click setup for Assetto Corsa?
Yes. Highball ships a recipe for Assetto Corsa that sets the tested renderer and any per-game fixes. Open the game in your Library and apply it.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Assetto Corsa 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.