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 | Reported | 1 report |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| 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
A Direct3D 9 game from 2010. On the Wine 11 engines DXVK's Direct3D 9 runs at about half the speed the default engine's does (Five Nights at Freddy's, 40 against 76 fps, measured 2026-09-25). Wine's own Direct3D on r11 helped the reporter but did not make it playable, so the CPU side is the next suspect. Engine r12 carries the loader side of x87 acceleration only. The sidecar binary that does the work is not shipped and Highball sets no ROSETTA_X87_PATH, so r12 alone does not speed up x87 math (the Half-Life 2 figure of 131 to 174 fps was measured with that sidecar set by hand), and the reporter's r12 test measured only the single-process launch. Nothing was measured here. A later round from the same reporter (highball-db#211, 2026-09-30): on r12 the frame rate falls to unplayable within seconds of walking, indoors too. Fallout.ini changes (water shader off, present interval 0, threaded AI with two threads), windowed mode and the Steam overlay off did not help. xNVSE with New Vegas Tick Fix could not be launched, since renaming nvse_loader to the launcher sent Steam into a file validation loop, and a 32-bit DXVK d3d9.dll beside the game with a native override crashed at launch with a page fault in 32-bit code. A separate finding of 2026-10-03 (highball#165) may matter here: 32-bit programs without the NX_COMPAT flag had data execution prevention turned off under Wine, and under Rosetta that made every write into a buffer DXVK hands to Metal fault, 30 to 50 seconds per 1500 frames in a Direct3D 9 test on an M4. The Wine 11 engine keeps DEP on from revision r17, which ships with the version after 0.10.4. Not measured on this game yet; a run on r17 with DXVK is the thing to try when it is out.
Known issues
Under 10 fps with lag spikes in the main menu on the Wine 11 engine r11 with DXVK, and under about 15 fps (estimated) with Wine's own Direct3D there (M3 Pro, macOS 27.0, highball-db#211).
What helps none confirmed. Wine's own Direct3D on r11 (the DXMT mode from Highball 0.9.38) helped, and engine r12 helped a little more, but neither made it smooth. Community performance mods are the next thing to try, untested here.
Why not measured on this game. DXVK's Direct3D 9 is slow on that tree in general (highball#198's measurements).
Provenance
Reported by matthiasseghers (highball-db#211, 2026-09-25), Apple M3 Pro, macOS 27.0, Highball 0.9.35, engine x64-crossover26.3-r11, DXVK, AVX advertised, rated 2 of 5: the main menu holds 40 to 50 fps and drops under 10 with lag spikes when hovering menu items. The Wine 10 engine launched worse for them. Not verified by the maintainer. Follow-up 2026-09-28 by the same reporter: DXMT mode on r11, which sends Direct3D 9 to Wine's own Direct3D (the log confirms it), starts smoother and lags less in the menu, but menu and game stay under about 15 fps by their estimate, no counter would show. Second follow-up 2026-09-29: on engine r12 it runs slightly better but still unevenly, and the reporter suspects the game needs its community performance mods to run well under Wine. JanovSered (highball-db#761, 2026-10-28), Apple M5, macOS 27.2, Highball 0.10.22, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r28, WineD3D, rated 3 of 5 after 2 minutes: nothing named as off, the environment's mode WineD3D. JanovSered (highball-db#762, 2026-10-28), Apple M5, macOS 27.2, Highball 0.10.22, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r28, WineD3D by the report (the environment's mode is DXVK), rated 5 of 5 after 1 minutes: a minute later with the environment's mode on DXVK.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Fallout: New Vegas work on Mac?
Fallout: New Vegas 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.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Fallout: New Vegas 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.