Box64 Nov2021

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Box64, the FOSS that makes it possible to translate x86_64 (amd64) instructions to arm64 instructions, and Box86 which translates x86 32 bits instructions to ARM, have a new release, bringing a lot of benefits:

  • Box86 is now faster, especially for older titles using x87 instructions
  • Box96 should now be more stable (especially on multi-thread activities) and can now support Wine CSMT
  • Box64 should now be faster to load assets
  • A new “strong memory model” has been implemented, enabling recent Unity3D games like Rim World to run.
  • Box64 is now compatible with other architectures (not just ARM), such as Longaarch64 (a Chinese ISA based on MIPS64), and PPC64LE as well (while the compilation profile is missing from the cmake). Note that PtitSeb, the developer, was not able to test these two architectures since he does not yet have such hardware.
  • More importantly, DXVK can now run through Box64, making it possible to play DirectX games via Vulkan.

Here’s a video of several games running on the new version, on the Phytium D2000 Mini-PC, with 8 ARM cores and equipped with an AMD GPU RX550. These videos are courtesy of PtitSeb:

You can also expect to have Risc-V supported by Box64 in the future… Needless to say, it won’t be too long (give it a few years) until the ARM revolution comes to Linux PCs as well, bringing gaming along with it.