Making a Trace

Apitracing a game

This guide in detail describes how to create an apitrace capture of a game, which can be very useful for debugging purposes.

On Linux

Check whether the game is 64-bit or 32-bit.

To determine that on Linux, use file command in the terminal:

file /path/to/executable/program.exe

where /path/to/executable/ is an an actual location of the game's EXE file and program.exe is its actual name. If the game is 32-bit, you will see this in the output

PE32 executable (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows

And if it's 64-bit, you will get this instead:

PE32+ executable (GUI) x86-64, for MS Windows

Open winecfg and add a native,builtin override for d3d9, d3d11 and dxgi.dll. Here's a GIF that showcases the process:

Peek 2020-04-09 17-32

Download prebuilt apitrace files:

If the game is 32-bit

https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/jrfonseca/apitrace/artifacts/build/apitrace-latest-win32.7z?branch=master&job=msvc32

And if it's 64-bit

https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/jrfonseca/apitrace/artifacts/build/apitrace-latest-win64.7z?branch=master&job=msvc64

Extract the archive.
Now you have to copy the appropriate d3d9.dll, d3d11.dll, dxgi.dll and dxgitrace.dll files.

If the game is 32-bit, choose the files located in

apitrace-msvc/x86/lib/wrappers

And if it's 64-bit, choose the file located in

apitrace-msvc/x64/lib/wrappers

Now copy those DLL files into the same folder as the game's .EXE.
Before the next step, make sure you disable or get rid of DXVK files first, as it's preferred that you use WineD3D to make an apitrace.
Launch the game and try to reproduce your issue as fast as possible, then exit the game after that (using ALT+F4 is fine).
Locate the .trace file. If you've done everything correctly, in wine, you can usually find it in /path/to/prefix/drive_c/users/USERNAME/Desktop, where /path/to/prefix is the location of your Wine prefix and USERNAME is your username in the system. The file should have the size of at least a few hundred megabytes (or at least one hundred if the game is very simple), quite often it's a few gigabytes. If the size is way less than that (like a few bytes or kilobytes) and/or the game crashed during the tracing process, then it means it's is not really traceable, at least on Linux. Make sure you mention this.
Compress the .trace file (preferably in a common file format, something like .tar.xz) and share it using a common file sharing service like Google Drive or Mega. Don't use Firefox Send and other temporary file sharing services, as the link to the file may expire before the person it was made for can download it.

On Windows

If you have access to Windows, it's best that you perform the tracing on it rather than on Linux.

Check whether the game is 64-bit or 32-bit. To do that on Windows, right-click on the executable file you want to check, select “Properties”, then click the tab “Compatibility”.

If the first Windows version in the list is "Windows Vista", then it means the game is 64-bit.

If you see older Windows versions in that menu, like "Windows 98", then the game is 32-bit.

Download prebuilt apitrace files: