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 | Partial | on Wine 11 r11 the game loads and the creator works but the character preview is black. On the Wine 10 engine r7 the loading screen never ends |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Recommended | run by Highball on Apple Silicon |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Untested | no report yet — send one |
last confirmed 2026-10-05 · engine x64-crossover26.3-r15 · macOS 27.0. Dated runs record the engine build and, where the reporter gave it, the macOS version.
Notes
Unreal Engine 4.27. Needs the Wine 11 engine (x64-crossover26.3-r12, the recipe names it) and DXMT. On the default Wine 10 engine the game sits on its loading screen forever after the logos, game running, nothing loading, Epic's SDK idle, on DXVK and with or without Media Foundation, measured for 20 minutes on an M1 Pro. On the Wine 11 tree the same install plays its intros, shows a loading screen with a progress bar and reaches the character creator in about five minutes. DXMT draws it fully. DXVK on Wine 11 gets there too but draws the character preview black. DXMT on the Wine 10 engine crashes at start (D3D11 CreateTexture2D with the shared flag returns E_FAIL on DXMT 0.80). Gameplay past the character creator was not exercised and no frame rate was read. Why the Wine 10 tree stalls is open. The reporter, playing on r11 with DXMT, sees the in-game tutorial videos as a blank white screen. Since a game update (version 1.9.2 checked on 2026-10-05) ContractVille starts in Direct3D 12 by default and stops at a 'DX12 is not supported on your system' message under DXMT, so the row passes -dx11 on Play; with it the main menu comes up on the Wine 11 engine r15 on an M4.
Known issues
Stops at 'DX12 is not supported on your system. Try running without the -dx12 or -d3d12 command line argument.'
What helps launch with -dx11, which Highball's Play passes from this row; in Steam's own window, add -dx11 to the launch options
Why the game defaults to Direct3D 12 since a 2026 update, and DXMT is Direct3D 11 only
Endless loading screen after the logos on the default engine (reported on an M1 and an M2, reproduced on an M1 Pro, engine r7).
What helps move the environment to the Wine 11 engine (Settings, Environments, the environment's page, Advanced, engine Wine 11.0 (CrossOver 26.3) r12) and set the environment's mode to DXMT, also because Steam's window draws black in DXVK mode on that engine. The recipe names both, so a Highball with it offers the engine on Play.
Why the Wine 10 tree. The game's startup stops before its Epic login and nothing loads. Not the videos, not the renderer. The same install loads on the Wine 11 tree.
Character preview drawn black in the character creator on DXVK (Wine 11, M1 Pro).
What helps use DXMT, which draws it.
Why not measured, DXVK on MoltenVK with this game's preview render target.
Crashes at start on DXMT with the Unreal crash reporter on the Wine 10 engine (M1 Pro, engine r7, DXMT 0.80).
What helps fixed on the default engine from revision r13 (Highball 0.10 beta): its DXMT creates that texture as a private one instead of failing. Earlier revisions crash; the Wine 11 engine always accepted it.
Why measured: the game creates a shared D3D11 render target (MISC_SHARED, R16G16B16A16_FLOAT). DXMT needs Wine's D3DKMT device to register a shared allocation, and on the Wine 10 tree DXMT's adapter lookup by LUID fails, so there was no device and creation returned E_FAIL, which Unreal treats as fatal.
In-game tutorial videos show a blank white screen instead of playing (reported on the Wine 11 engine r11, DXMT, M1, highball#202).
What helps none known. The game itself plays on, the tutorials are the only videos affected so far.
Why not measured. The game plays them through Windows Media Foundation, which Wine serves with its own media layer, and these are 4K H.264 files. The startup logos, the same kind of file, do play.
Steam's own window shows only its frame, the page area black, after moving the environment to the Wine 11 engine (reported on an M1, r11, reproduced on an M1 Pro, r12).
What helps set the environment's mode to DXMT on the Wine 11 engine, which is the mode this game wants anyway.
Why measured: on the Wine 11 engines Steam's browser draws black in the DXVK mode and fine in the DXMT mode. Being looked at.
One-click setup
Highball ships a recipe for ContractVille: 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
Reported by ObT1337 (highball#202, 2026-09-25), Apple M1, macOS 15.6.1, Highball 0.9.35, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r7, DXVK: the logos play, then a black screen, later confirmed on an M2 with the full game. Verified by the maintainer on 2026-09-26 on an M1 Pro, macOS 27.0: the same install loads and reaches the character creator on the Wine 11 engines r11 (seen on screen, DXVK and DXMT) and r12 (process profile, DXMT), and never leaves its loading screen on the Wine 10 engine r7.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does ContractVille work on Mac?
ContractVille 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-crossover26.3-r15 · macOS 27.0).
Which renderer should I use for ContractVille?
DXMT. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records DXMT for ContractVille, and applying the ContractVille recipe sets it for you.
Is there a one-click setup for ContractVille?
Yes. Highball ships a recipe for ContractVille 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 ContractVille 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.