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 | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Reported | 1 report |
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
Plays in one report on an M1 with D3DMetal. With a controller it needs libusb-1.0.dll next to the game's exe, see the known issue.
Known issues
With a controller connected, closes as soon as A is pressed at the title screen to play (M1, DualSense, D3DMetal, Wine 10 r28)
What helps put libusb-1.0.dll next to gunslugs.exe, from the MinGW64/dll folder of libusb's Windows release (1.0.30, github.com/libusb/libusb/releases), which made the DualSense work for the reporter (highball-db#856). Without it, start with the controller unplugged and play with the keyboard
Why when the game finds a controller it loads a native library of its own that needs libusb-1.0.dll, which isn't part of Windows, Wine or the game's files, so the load fails ('Failed loading libusb-1.0.dll: Module not found') and the game exits
Provenance
Reported by udance4ever (highball-db#856, 2026-11-01), Apple M1, macOS 27.2, Highball 0.10.23, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r28, D3DMetal, rated 2 of 5: it reaches the title screen and closes as soon as A is pressed to play, and its log ends with 'Failed loading libusb-1.0.dll: Module not found', the GOG copy. Not verified by the maintainer. udance4ever again in a comment on highball-db#856 (2026-11-03): with no gamepad connected the game gets in game. udance4ever again in a comment on highball-db#856 (2026-11-04): with libusb-1.0.dll from libusb 1.0.30's MinGW64 build placed next to gunslugs.exe, the game plays with the DualSense.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Gunslugs work on Mac?
Gunslugs 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 Gunslugs 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.