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Recipe Workshop
The recipe workshop is where you change a game's recipe and look after its bottle. Open it with Edit Recipe… in a game's menu (or Finish Setup… on a game that isn't ready). It has three tabs, Settings, Recipe File and Bottle, and a bar along the bottom with Play (or Stop), Submit to Community…, Save and Done.
Changes to the Windows version, registry, graphics layer or winetricks are applied to the bottle when you Save. Save before you play: Play is turned off while there are unsaved changes.
Program lists the Windows programs in the game's bottle; choose the game's .exe. If it isn't listed, run the game's installer from the Bottle tab first, then Look for Programs Again.
The Game title and Recipe name, and notes for other players.
Shared recipes install the game from the publisher's own download, never a copy hosted elsewhere.
| Field | |
|---|---|
| Download link | The publisher's direct link to the installer (https://…). Leave it empty to download from the page instead. |
| Download page | The publisher's page with the download (https://…). |
| Installer arguments | Optional, such as /S for a silent install. |
| The installer changes with updates | For installers whose file changes with every release (game launchers, for example). The recipe then checks the installer's publisher signature instead of a fixed checksum. |
Get from Download Page… finds the link for you: Distiller opens the publisher's download page in a private browser; click the download for Windows as usual. Distiller saves the installer, notes the page and every address the download went through, and checks which one another player's Distiller can download directly, without the page's cookies and without links that expire. Then:
- Use This Installer fills in the link that works (and the page);
- Use the Download Page keeps only the page, when no link works on its own; players then download the installer on that page in Distiller's browser when they install the game, and Distiller checks it's the same installer.
| Setting | |
|---|---|
| Graphics | The graphics layer: D3DMetal, DXMT, DXVK or WineD3D. If it isn't installed, Distiller says so and offers to install it. Distiller only offers layers your installed Wine can run. |
| Windows version | The version Windows programs see (Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP). Windows 10 suits most games. |
| Synchronization | MSync (fastest), ESync, or None. Leave it on MSync unless a game hangs. |
Runtime libraries installed into the bottle, such as fonts, .NET Framework, Visual C++ runtimes and DirectX extras. Components Distiller recommends for this game are marked Suggested. Only add what the game needs: each one takes time to install, and .NET Framework can take half an hour.
Curated options for the chosen graphics layer, such as asynchronous shader compilation or a frame-rate limit for DXVK, MetalFX upscaling for DXMT, the Metal performance HUD, and Retina resolution. Each option says what it does and its trade-off, and is saved in the recipe as an environment setting (under Advanced), so it's shared with the recipe.
| Field | |
|---|---|
| Launch arguments | Arguments for the game's program, such as -windowed or -dx11. |
| Environment | One per line, as NAME=value, for example DXMT_CONFIG=d3d11.preferredMaxFrameRate=60. Only Wine and graphics-layer settings are allowed. |
| DLL overrides | One per line, as name=value, for example d3d9=native. |
The recipe as YAML, checked as you type (Valid recipe, or what's wrong). Save YAML saves it, Revert throws away your edits. Open in Editor opens the game's recipe.yaml (next to its bottle) in your own editor; choose Reload from File after saving it there. Export… saves a copy anywhere.
The format is described by the schemas in nullfx/distiller-recipes, and the website's recipe format section shows an example.
Everything about this game's bottle on your Mac. Nothing here changes the recipe other players get, except Run Installer….
Run Installer… runs a Windows installer (.exe or .msi) in this bottle and adds it to the recipe, so other players run the same installer.
Shown when Distiller has saved a copy of the bottle from before it moved to a newer Wine: when it was saved, and which Wine builds. Roll Back… puts the copy back (anything saved inside the bottle since then is lost) and keeps the game on its old Wine. Remove deletes the copy. See Restore points.
Rebuild with Current Components… installs the recipe into a new bottle with the active Wine, graphics layer and winetricks, for when the game doesn't work after moving to newer ones. After a rebuild, this section shows when it happened, with Keep New Bottle and Switch Back. See Rebuilding a game's bottle.
For each of Wine, Graphics layer and winetricks: Follow updates (the default; shows the active version) or Stay on a version. See Per-game versions.
Wine's own tools, run in this bottle: Wine Configuration, Registry Editor, Windows Explorer, Task Manager and Command Prompt. Changes made with them stay in this bottle only; put settings other players need into the recipe.
Show C: Drive in Finder, Show Log (the latest launch log), and Apply Settings to Bottle Again (re-applies the recipe's Windows version, registry, graphics layer and winetricks).
Distiller is open source under the MIT licence · Website · Releases · Report a problem. Game names, icons and screenshots belong to their publishers.
Getting started
Playing
Recipes
Keeping things working
Command line