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 | 1 report |
| 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
Reported to start and run perfectly on the low preset over a two-hour session on DXMT. On the fanless MacBook Neo the frame rate settled around 30 to 40 fps after a while as the machine warmed up, still playable. A Mac with active cooling should hold higher settings. No measurement here yet.
Provenance
Reported by D3NN15x (highball-db#51, 2026-09-15), MacBook Neo (Apple A18 Pro), macOS 27, Highball 0.9.16, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r2, DXMT, rated 5 of 5 after about two hours. Not verified by the maintainer.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Train Simulator Classic work on Mac?
Train Simulator Classic 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 Train Simulator Classic?
DXMT. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records DXMT for Train Simulator Classic. 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 Train Simulator Classic 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.