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Fallout 3 DXVK 3.0.1

DXVK is one of the major components in Proton, which is the translation layer that allows Windows applications that use Direct3D 8, 9, 10, and 11 to run on Linux. It translates the language there into readable Vulkan instructions, which allows the games to run. It also just got a nice update recently, which includes bug fixes and some specific fixes for a multitude of games to make our experience in them much smoother.

There were fixes for a good chunk of games, including Fallout 3, Empire Earth 2, Fruit Ninja, Manhunt, and Splinter Cell 3. We all had either regression fixes, lighting fixes, or a change to make the 60 FPS limit work around the game issues. There was also a huge performance fix for Kane and Lynch: Dead Men and a water rendering issue fixed for Total War: Medieval 2.

There were also a few bug fixes in this one that could affect games using Direct3D 9, including GTA 4, Gothic 3, and Black Mesa, a workaround for an NVIDIA issue on Windows, and a big crash was fixed when games unload Direct3D libraries while the device is still live.

This version of DXVK isn’t in Proton’s stable branch yet, but it will most likely be integrated soon into the Experimental branch for us to use on the Steam Deck easily. Once it is, we will be able to see these improvements for ourselves. The conversion in the stable branch is 2.7.1, so I’m sure we will see a nice update soon.

DXVK 3.0.1 Update Changelog:

  • Disabled secondary command buffer usage on all desktop GPUs. This may slightly impact performance in a small number of games with suboptimal MSAA resolve patterns, but has been a constant source of hard-to-debug rendering issues and GPU hangs, and the main benefits are only seen on tiling GPUs anyway.
  • Fixed a rendering regression affecting numerous D3D9 games (including Black Mesa, Gothic 3 and GTA IV) on some drivers. (#5732, #5768)
  • Fixed a crash when games unload D3D libraries while the D3D device is still alive. (#5743)
  • Fixed an issue that would cause stuttering on 32-bit Nvidia drivers with descriptor heaps enabled.
  • Improved GPU synchronization around stream output. This may affect older Unity Engine games using D3D11.
  • Worked around a Windows-specific issue where sampler creation would fail on Nvidia. (#5744)
    Note: The root cause is not known, but may be linked to external overlays.
  • Worked around a Windows-specific Intel driver bug that would cause all games to hang after a short time with graphics pipeline libraries enabled. (#5742, #5756, PR #5757)
  • Empire Earth 2: Fixed a regression where certain fixed-function setups were not handled correctly. (#5730)
  • Fallout 3: Fixed shader compiler regression that would cause rendering issues with MSAA. (#5758)
  • Fruit Ninja: Fixed long-standing lighting issue. (#2480, PR #5765)
  • Kane & Lynch: Dead Men: Fixed severe performance regression. (#5638, PR #5764)
  • King's Bounty: The Legend: Fixed performance regression. (PR #5764)
  • Manhunt: Enabled 60 FPS limit to work around game issues. (PR #5760)
  • Splinter Cell 3: Fixed a rendering regression when enabling the Shader Model 3.0 option. (#5754)
  • Total War: Medieval II: Fixed a water rendering regression. (#5763)

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Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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