MacVolvo 1.1 — Steam window fixes

MacVolvo 1.1

Steam window restoration and session cleanup for the original DXMT app.
Version 1.1, build 9. The GPTK4 evaluation remains a separate download.

What's new

• Open Steam requests Steam's main window, including when the client is hidden in the tray while a game runs.
• The launcher leaves Steam's window request in control of focus instead of activating Deadlock again afterward.
• Reopening an existing Steam session avoids the fresh-launch window timeout; an exited client or failed request now produces an error.
• Open Steam repairs an idle client's browser helper after Steam updates replace it, addressing the captured black-window case.
• Temporary Steam game-launch requests are waited for and reaped; closing Steam also ends and waits for its remaining Wine services. Running-game checks protect gameplay during normal cleanup.

Download and update

Download MacVolvo-1.1.dmg from this release. Finish your game, quit Steam
and the MacVolvo launcher, then drag MacVolvo.app to Applications and replace
the older app. Open the installed copy. Existing games, Steam sign-in, launcher
preferences and the game environment are retained; reinstalling Steam or
downloading games again is not required.

The app and DMG are Developer ID signed, Apple notarized and stapled. Verify the
download using the attached .dmg.sha256; the validation JSON records the
runtime hash, notarization submissions and checks.

Requirements: Apple Silicon, macOS 26.5 or later, Rosetta, a Steam account and
internet access. This release uses the same signed DXMT/Wine runtime archive
as MacVolvo 1.0. Existing v1.0 and GPTK4 installers remain available.

Known issues and validation limits

Deadlock's UI/click-position misalignment after changing video settings is
still unresolved. The reported quarter-screen rendering was not reproduced
by synthetic display tests. Recovery to try: close Deadlock, disable its
Fullscreen option in MacVolvo, choose a resolution that fits the display and
relaunch. Removing -fullscreen only in Steam Properties can be undone when
MacVolvo reapplies its saved choices.

Intermittent black-screen launches, audio crackling, CS2 combat spikes and
Deadlock post-match camera/input failures remain under investigation. For
audio crackling, the previously tested workaround is a supported 96 kHz output
format in Audio MIDI Setup followed by a game restart; MacVolvo does not change
system audio settings.

Validation: 137 portable regression tests, Swift launch-readiness checks and
ten synthetic DXMT display-change checkpoints passed. The Steam request path
is covered with native disposable stubs; the remote reporter's complete case
and full-match behavior have not been verified. No FPS improvement is claimed.

See the investigation notes
for evidence and remaining reproduction work.

MacVolvo GPTK4 — evaluation 1

MacVolvo GPTK4 — evaluation 1

A separate, free evaluation app for comparing Apple's D3DMetal 4.0 beta 3
with the original MacVolvo's DXMT renderer. App version 1.0, build 8.
The original MacVolvo 1.0 download
remains available as before.

What's new

• A separate MacVolvo GPTK4 app, Steam installation, preferences and game library.
• DirectX 11 rendering through Apple's matching D3DMetal 4.0 beta 3 components.
• Steam browser rendering fix and recovery when a Steam update replaces its helper.
• Wine process cleanup after Steam exits and after temporary game-launch requests.
• Correction for Deadlock fullscreen windows left larger than the display after a
  resolution change. This handles the observed zoomed, cropped image.

Download and install

Download MacVolvo-GPTK4-1.0.dmg and its .sha256 file from this release.
Drag MacVolvo GPTK4.app to Applications and open it. Quit an older GPTK4
launcher before replacing it, and finish any game before restarting its Steam.
The app and DMG are Developer ID signed, Apple notarized and stapled.

Requirements: Apple Silicon, macOS 26.5 or later, Rosetta, a Steam account and
internet access. Apple components are distributed for non-commercial evaluation
on Apple-branded systems under Apple's accompanying license.

This app sets up its own Steam. Sign in there and install games into that library.
There is no in-app import button yet; existing games are not imported automatically.
The developer's local APFS-clone import does not run automatically for downloads.

If Steam's first self-update leaves its window black, select Open Steam in
the GPTK4 launcher to reopen it with the browser rendering fix.
Keep the launcher open for normal use; the display correction runs with Steam.

Validation and limits

DirectX 11 GPU texture rendering/readback passed with the imported Apple framework
mapped and DXMT absent. The observed Deadlock crop was corrected from a
3024×1964 window to its 1920×1200 display; the player confirmed the full image.
Automated geometry checks and disposable Win32 window tests cover the correction
and its opt-in behavior.

No comparative FPS or stutter improvement is claimed. Full-match stability,
post-match mouse input and CS2 gameplay with this renderer still need evaluation.
The original app's known launch, audio and performance limitations may still apply.
This DX11 experiment does not use the DX12-only Metal 4 backend.

See implementation and evaluation notes for build and test details.

MacVolvo 1.0 — release candidate

MacVolvo 1.0

Release candidate — build 6 is Developer ID signed and Apple notarized.
The app and DMG are stapled and pass Gatekeeper. This prerelease is available
for testing; review the known issues below before installing.

What's new

• Play and Open Steam remain visible while a game is running. Open Steam focuses
  Steam rather than the game; Play returns to the already running game.
• Per-game resolutions, custom sizes and fullscreen options sync to Steam Properties.
• Black-and-white icon, solid backgrounds and a monochrome launcher.
• Raw mouse timing no longer depends on diagnostic logging being enabled.
• Fixed a captured fullscreen display-lock deadlock and improved launch handoff.
• CS2 uses a default 120 FPS cap (preserving an existing user launch cap) and
  a separate shader-worker setting. These are mitigations, not a measured fix
  for combat spikes.

Download and install

Use assets attached to MacVolvo Releases,
not GitHub's automatically generated “Source code” archives, to install the app.
Open MacVolvo-1.0.dmg, drag MacVolvo.app to Applications, then launch it.
Quit an older MacVolvo launcher before installing. The earlier unsigned ZIP is
retained only as a historical test artifact; use the DMG for build 6.
Verify the download with its accompanying .dmg.sha256 file.

Requirements: Apple Silicon, macOS 26.5+, Rosetta, a Steam account and internet
access. Allow about 70 GB per game; 16 GB RAM recommended. Intel Macs are not supported.

Known issues

1. Black screen with sound on launch: quit the game completely and restart it.
   This can occur through MacVolvo or Steam; intermittent cases remain unresolved.
2. Audio static: in Audio MIDI Setup, choose Window → Show Audio Devices,
   select the output device and set Format to 96,000 Hz (96 kHz) if supported.
   Quit and restart the game. This helped on the tested M2 Max; it is not a universal fix.
3. CS2 combat lag spikes or sustained severe FPS loss: investigation continues.
4. Deadlock mouse pan stops after a match: quit and restart the game.
   Post-match recovery has not been fully verified.
5. Steam store/profile pages may flicker while loading.

Validation and limits

A native regression test detects the old fullscreen self-lock and passes with
its deferred-query repair. One launch on the repaired runtime recorded actual
native presentations. Repeated-launch stability and full-match input behavior
remain player-test items; no CS2 combat benchmark improvement is claimed.

See docs/RELEASING.md for packaging, verification and publication steps.