Difference between pages "Sega Saturn emulators" and "Compatibility layers"

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(Compatibility layers)
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{{Infobox console
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While not strictly emulation ''per se'' (hence why [[Wine]] stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), '''compatibility layers''' allow software written for one operating system to run on a different OS, often by translating API and system calls made by an application to their equivalent calls in the host operating system. In theory, this should allow for near-native performance since no processor emulation takes place, but in practice some software such as games will tend to run a bit slower due to other bottlenecks that occur as a result of [[Emulation Accuracy|replicating the correct behavior]], such as accounting for graphics APIs like Direct3D that aren't supported on non-Microsoft platforms. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different architecture.
|title = Sega Saturn
 
|logo = Sega-Saturn-Console-Set-Mk2.png
 
|developer = [[:Sega]]
 
|type = [[:Category:Consoles|Home video game console]]
 
|generation = [[:Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles|Fifth generation]]
 
|release = 1994
 
|discontinued = 2000
 
|predecessor = [[Sega Genesis emulators|Genesis / Mega Drive]]
 
|successor = [[Sega Dreamcast emulators|Dreamcast]]
 
|emulated = {{✓}}
 
}}
 
The '''[[wikipedia:Sega_Saturn|Sega Saturn]]''' is a 32-bit, fifth-generation console released by [[wikipedia:Sega|Sega]] in Japan on November 22, 1994 and in the US on May 11, 1995. It was retailed for <abbr title="$660.73 in 2018 money">$399</abbr>. It had 2 Hitachi SH-2 CPUs at 28.6 MHz and it had the VDP1 GPU & VDP2 GPU. The arcade board, '''[https://segaretro.org/Sega_Titan_Video ST-V (Sega Titan Video)]''', uses the same hardware except for sound, VRAM, and game storage (where it is stored on ROM cartridges instead of CD-ROM discs).
 
  
The Sega Saturn has historically been one of the harder consoles to emulate, resulting in a lack of good options. However, things are looking up for open-source emulators like Mednafen, and to a lesser extent, Yabause.
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==Compatibility layers==
 
 
==Emulators==
 
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
 
|-
 
|-
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! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
 
! scope="col"|Operating System(s)
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|ST-V
+
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]
 
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|Active
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
 +
! scope="col"|Runs the following software
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="7"|PC / x86
 +
|-
 +
|[[Wine]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
 +
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineVer}} <br />(Dev: {{WineDevVer}})]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 +
|-
 +
|[[Proton]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://store.steampowered.com/about/ {{ProtonVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows games
 +
|-
 +
|[[TeknoParrot]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
 +
|[https://teknoparrot.com/download {{TeknoVer}}]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|PC-based arcade games
 +
|-
 +
|CrossOver
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux|macOS|ChromeOS}}
 +
|[https://www.codeweavers.com/products 20.0.0]
 +
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
! colspan="7"|PC
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|[[Anbox]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
 +
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Mednafen]]
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|[[Darling]]
|Multi-platform
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|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[{{MednafenURL|releases/}} {{MednafenVer}}]
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|[https://github.com/darlinghq/darling git]
|{{~}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 +
|macOS software
 
|-
 
|-
|[[SSF]]
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|[[WineVDM]]
|Windows
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|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://aaaaaaaa.g2.xrea.com/ssf/files/SSF_PreviewVer_R6.zip PreviewVer R6 (01/08/2019)]
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|[https://github.com/otya128/winevdm/releases git]<br />[https://ci.appveyor.com/project/otya128/winevdm/ Dev]
|{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
 +
|16-bit Windows apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://github.com/FCare/yabause Kronos]
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|[[Wineskin]]
|Multi-platform
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|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[http://www.emutalk.net/forums/56-Sega-Saturn-Emulation 1.7.0]
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|[http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads 1.7]
|{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://github.com/devmiyax/yabause YabaSanshiro]
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|WineBottler
|Multi-platform
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|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[http://www.uoyabause.org/static_pages/download 2.6.8]
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|[https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ 4.0.1.1 Dev]
|{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{~}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Yabause]]
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|[[WoW]]
|Multi-platform
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://yabause.org/download/ {{YabauseVer}}]
+
|?
|{{~}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows 9x apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[[MAME]]
+
|[[Win3mu]]
|Multi-platform
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]
+
|?
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Windows 3.x apps and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Nova]]
+
|[[NTVDMx64]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows]]}}
|[https://www.patreon.com/nova_emu 0.5]
+
|?
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[[BizHawk]]
+
|[[Ardi Executor]]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|DOS}}
|[http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
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|[https://web.archive.org/web/20080404193445/http://www.ardi.com/ardi.php 2.1.17]
|{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{}}
 +
|Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
 
|-
 
|-
|[http://satourne.consollection.com/ Satourne]
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|[http://dosemu.sourceforge.net/ DOSEmu]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[http://satourne.consollection.com/index.php?rub=download 2.0 beta 3]
+
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/dosemu/files/ 1.4.0]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 
|-
 
|-
|[http://saturnin.consollection.com/ Saturnin]
+
|[http://dosemu2.github.io/dosemu2/ DOSEmu2]
|Windows
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[http://saturnin.consollection.com/index.php?rub=download 0.40]
+
|[https://github.com/dosemu2/dosemu2 git]
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
+
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|DOS software
 
|-
 
|-
|[[GiriGiri]]
+
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
|Windows
 
|0.6
 
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
! colspan="7"|Mobile
+
|[[Wine]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
 +
|[https://wiki.winehq.org/Download {{WineDevVer}}]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} <small>(WIP)</small>
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[https://github.com/devmiyax/yabause YabaSanshiro]<small>(Contains Ads)</small>
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover Hangover]
|Multi-platform
+
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
|[http://www.uoyabause.org/static_pages/download 2.5.0] ([[Android emulators|Android]])<br />[http://www.uoyabause.org/static_pages/download 1.8.1] (iOS)
+
|[https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover/releases git]
|{{~}} ||{{}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{}} ||{{}} ||{{}}
 +
|Windows applications and games
 
|-
 
|-
|[[Yabause]]
+
|[[Anbox]]
|Multi-platform
+
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[http://yabause.org/download/ {{YabauseVer}}]
+
|[https://docs.anbox.io/userguide/install.html git]
|{{~}} ||{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
+
|{{}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
 +
|Android software
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="9"|Console
 +
|-
 +
|[[Nintendont]]
 +
|align=left|{{Icon|Wii|WiiU}}
 +
|[https://github.com/FIX94/Nintendont 2021-07-12]
 +
|{{✓}} ||{{}} ||{{✓}}
 +
|GameCube games
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
===Comparisons===
 
===Comparisons===
;[[Mednafen]]:An open-source, [[multi-system emulators|multi-system emulator]] with an original Saturn core. It's currently the most accurate but runs from the command-line (obviously it'll have video output though) unless using an external frontend like Mednaffe or a [[libretro]] frontend like [[RetroArch]]. Its goal for accuracy means it only supports the BIOS of one console revision per region, and is also very demanding, having recommendations to use a quad-core Intel Haswell CPU with a base frequency of >= 3.3GHz and a turbo frequency of >= 3.7GHz (e.g. Xeon E3-1226 v3).<ref name="Mednafen Saturn core documentation">{{MednafenURL|documentation/ss.html}}</ref>
+
*[[Wine]] is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow computer programs (application software and computer games) developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems, primarily Linux and macOS. Since late 2017 there is also an experimental build for Android. Wine is almost as old as the Linux project, starting in the summer of 1993. Today it's widely used, very popular and sponsored by companies such as CodeWeavers and Valve. The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole. In this regard it's similar to the [[MAME]] project in its focus on correctness over usability. There are a lot of versions/forks of Wine which focus of different goals, such as usability, compatibility, gaming, office applications, etc. A few are listed below, Wikipedia has [[wikipedia:Wine_(software)#Other_versions_of_Wine|a more complete list]].
:;[https://www.emu-land.net/consoles/saturn/emuls/windows?act=showonly&id=4227 MedSat]:An unofficial frontend, built by Saturn romhacker paul_meta, to simplify the process of loading Saturn games.
+
**[[Proton]] is Valve's one-click solution to play Windows games on Linux. It's included in the Steam Linux client by default. Simply click on a whitelisted game and it will launch without any configuration, or enable it for all games in the settings. Proton is based on a fork of Wine in combination with other components such as DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
;[[SSF]]:Used to be the emulator of choice for compatible Saturn emulation. However, it is closed-source and only for Windows. Pretty good performance in mid-end (and maybe low-end) computers.
+
**[https://www.codeweavers.com/products/ CrossOver] is a commercialized, supported version of Wine from CodeWeavers. It uses additional patches on top of Wine to make it easy to use. They contribute all of their work on CrossOvers back to Wine and make up about two thirds of the commits made to Wine. CrossOver is available on macOS, Linux and Chrome OS.  
 
+
**[[Wineskin]] is an open-source compatibility layer which allows users to easily convert Windows software to macOS. The ports are in the form of Mac .app bundles with a self-contained Wine instance which are wrapped around the application to be converted.  
;[[Yabause]]:Used to be the first and only option for multi-platform Saturn emulation. It's far less developed than SSF and Mednafen and still has many compatibility issues. Development seems to have stopped, active forks are Kronos which is recommended for PCs and YabaSanshiro which is recommended for Android.
+
* [[TeknoParrot]] is a compatibility layer for Windows PCs to run games originally made for Windows-based arcade systems. Has since version 1.51 also support for some games from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.
:;YabaSanshiro <small>(formerly uoYabause)</small>
+
* [[Darling]] is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known [[Wine]] project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.
::A Multi-platform fork by DevMiyax using OpenGL ES 3.X (Android), and Open GL 3.X (Windows). Unlike other forks it uses the GPU to emulate the VDP1,VDP2, and has a modified SH2 Dynamic Recompiler. See the [http://www.emutalk.net/threads/56773-UoYabause-Compatibility-list UoYabause Compatibility list's] [http://tradu-france.com/tfwiki-1.28.2/index.php?title=Compatibility_list_of_uoYabause wiki] and [http://www.uoyabause.org/games official compatibility page].
 
:;Kronos
 
::A fork of UoYabause 0.5.2 created by François (French dev. AKA 'FCare'.). Has his own written SH2 Interpreter, and now supports the ST-V arcade in version 1.30, and Higher (All ST-V games are launchable on Linux; most games are still problematic on Windows). [http://tradu-france.com/tfwiki-1.28.2/index.php?title=Compatibility_list_of_Kronos Compatibility list of Kronos].
 
;[[MAME]]:Has a <code style="color:darkred;">saturn</code> driver with compatibility on par with Yabause. The driver is marked overall as not working but graphics and sound are OK. It has [http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mame.php?game_sourcefile=stv.cpp&arcade_only=0&current_version=0 good] [https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/stv.cpp compatibility] with at least around 50 of the ~70 ST-V arcade games, though performance quality may vary.<ref name="ST-V_A-Z">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tko_jBNci0k |title=Sega ST-V Arcade Games A to Z - M.A.M.E.|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-05-23|date=2017-02-10}}</ref> But versions [http://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/MAME_0.158 0.158]<ref name="Mame_0-158">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPS7aX4gLCU |title=Touryuu Densetsu Elan Doree - New Improvements on ST-V Hardware - MAME 0.158|publisher=Youtube|accessdate=2018-05-23|date=2015-02-03}}</ref> (Jan 2015) to much later have made good advances in performance. Early known work on ST-V hardware emulation was done in various builds of 0.125, 0.133, 0.138, 0.142 & 0.143 (See [http://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Previous_MAME_Versions prior builds]) between 2008-2011. Even bug fixes and more graphical improvements were included in the years 2017-2018 (i.e. [http://www.mamedev.com/?p=449 0.191], [http://www.mamedev.com/?p=456 0.197] & [http://www.mamedev.com/?p=457 0.198]).
 
::- [http://mamedev.emulab.it/kale/fast/files/saturnjp/0.php Sega Saturn JP compatibility list] (Created by MAME dev Angelo 'Kale' Salese)
 
;[[Nova]]:An up-and-coming emulator focused on being fast, compatible and user-friendly. Like SSF, it is closed-source and Windows only. From [https://www.patreon.com/posts/nova-v0-2-1-18630607 v0.2.1] onwards, it can now emulate the Sega Titan Video (ST-V) arcade hardware (eg. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhv4STRa-2c Guardian Force] on ST-V in v0.2.2.). Refer to [https://literalmente-game.github.io/compatibility_lists/nova.html compatibility list] (Not updated every version. Note that the 'Playable' category may only mean the games being in-game but with visual errors.)
 
 
 
;[[BizHawk]]:An open-source, multi-system emulator designed for tool-assisted speedruns. Its Saturn core is based on [[Mednafen]].
 
 
 
'''Comparisons of several Saturn emulators:'''
 
* [https://emucross.com/a-deep-dive-into-saturn/ A Deep Dive into the Sega Saturn and Saturn Emulation] (By [[Dolphin]] tester, [https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/authors/JMC47/ JMC47], AKA Justin M. Chadwick. 13 OCTOBER 2017. Tested emulators: Yabause & uoYabause, SSF (unofficial site) and Mednafen. Already outdated the next year by progresses in the Kronos fork.)
 
 
 
==Emulator development==
 
:''This section was copied from Wikipedia in 2014. For an up-to-date explanation, see [[wikipedia:Sega Saturn#Technical specifications|Sega Saturn § Technical specifications]].''
 
 
 
The complexity of the system has made the creation of a proper emulator for it rather difficult.  
 
 
 
<blockquote>One very fast central processor would be preferable. I don't think all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs—most can only get about one-and-a-half times the speed you can get from one SH-2. I think that only 1 in 100 programmers are good enough to get this kind of speed [nearly double] out of the Saturn."Yu Suzuki reflecting upon Saturn ''Virtua Fighter'' development.<ref name="YuSuzukiNG">Next Generation (magazine) issue 2, 1995</ref></blockquote>
 
 
 
The Saturn had technically impressive hardware at the time of its release, but its complex design, with two CPUs and six other processors, made harnessing this power difficult for developers accustomed to conventional programming. The biggest disadvantage was that both CPUs shared the same bus and were unable to access system memory at the same time. Making full use of the 4&nbsp;kB of cache memory in each CPU was critical to maintaining performance.  One example of how the Saturn was utilized was with ''Virtua Fighter''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s use of one CPU for each character.<ref name=YuSuzukiNG />  Many of the Saturn's developers, such as Lobotomy Software programmer Ezra Dreisbach, found it difficult to develop for compared to the PlayStation because of its more complex graphics hardware.<ref name=DreisbachCG>{{cite web|title=Interview: Ezra Dreisbach |publisher=Curmudgeon Gamer |date=July 9, 2002|url=http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20021008212903265 |accessdate=July 19, 2007|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927211250/http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20021008212903265 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = September 27, 2007}}</ref> In order to port ''Duke Nukem 3D'' and ''PowerSlave'' to the Saturn, Lobotomy Software had to almost entirely rewrite the Build engine to take advantage of the Saturn's unconventional hardware.<ref name=DreisbachCG />  Third-party development was initially hindered by the lack of useful software libraries and development tools, requiring developers to write in assembly language to achieve good performance. During early Saturn development, programming in assembly could offer a two to fivefold speed increase over C language.<ref name=YuSuzukiNG /> Sega responded to these criticisms by writing new graphics libraries which were claimed to help make development easier.<ref name="NextGenDec95">''So many 32-Bit Systems To Choose From'' Next Generation (magazine) issue 12, 1995</ref> These libraries were presented as a new operating system by Sega of Japan.<ref name="NextGenDec95" />
 
 
 
Unlike the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 which used triangles as their basic geometric primitive, the Saturn rendered quadrilaterals with forward texture mapping. This proved to be a hindrance because most of the industry's standard design tools were based on triangles, with independent texture UV coordinates specified per vertex. One of the challenges brought forth by quadrilateral-based rendering was problems with textured surfaces containing triangles. In order to make a triangular-shaped object, rendering had a fourth side with a length of zero. This technique proved problematic as it caused texture distortion and required careful reworking to achieve the desired appearance—Sega provided tools for remapping textures from UV space into rectangular tiles. These complications can be seen in the Saturn version of ''Tomb Raider''.<ref name=DreisbachCG />
 
 
 
==Resources==
 
* [https://segaretro.org/Sega_Saturn/Hardware_comparison#Graphics_comparison_table Graphics comparison table] (for Saturn as opposed to PS1, N64, Sega Model 2 arcade hardware and 1995-era PC)
 
 
 
*[https://antime.kapsi.fi/sega/docs.html Complete (so far) documentation of the Sega Saturn]
 
 
 
*[https://archive.org/details/SegaManuals More leaked, official documentation] (Only that this time there are some that include for Sega Genesis, its CD add-on, and documentation on how the Sega Saturn CD Communication Interface works, and how its Boot ROM works [https://mobile.twitter.com/forestillusion/status/1126321691775229954 Source])
 
 
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
  
 +
==Wrappers==
 +
Compatibility layers may also make use of '''wrappers''', which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.
  
{{Sega}}
+
{{Main|Wrappers}}
  
[[Category: Consoles]]
+
[[Category:Compatibility layers]]
[[Category:Sega consoles]]
+
[[Category:Not really emulators]]
[[Category:Sega Saturn emulators|*]]
 
[[Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles]]
 

Revision as of 06:35, 21 September 2021

While not strictly emulation per se (hence why Wine stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), compatibility layers allow software written for one operating system to run on a different OS, often by translating API and system calls made by an application to their equivalent calls in the host operating system. In theory, this should allow for near-native performance since no processor emulation takes place, but in practice some software such as games will tend to run a bit slower due to other bottlenecks that occur as a result of replicating the correct behavior, such as accounting for graphics APIs like Direct3D that aren't supported on non-Microsoft platforms. Additionally, compatibility layers may also use emulation in order to run software built for a different architecture.

Compatibility layers

Name Operating System(s) Latest Version FLOSS Active Recommended Runs the following software
PC / x86
Wine Linux macOS FreeBSD 9.0
(Dev: 9.5 )
Windows applications and games
Proton Linux 8.0-5 Windows games
TeknoParrot Windows 1.0.0.140 PC-based arcade games
CrossOver Linux macOS Chrome OS 20.0.0 Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux git Android software
Darling Linux git (WIP) macOS software
WineVDM Windows git
Dev
16-bit Windows apps and games
Wineskin macOS 1.7 Windows applications and games
WineBottler macOS 4.0.1.1 Dev Windows applications and games
WoW Windows ? Windows 9x apps and games
Win3mu Windows ? Windows 3.x apps and games
NTVDMx64 ? DOS applications and games
Ardi Executor Windows Linux MS-DOS 2.1.17 Classic Mac OS software up to System 6
DOSEmu Linux 1.4.0 DOS software
DOSEmu2 Linux git DOS software
Mobile / ARM
Wine Android 9.5 (WIP) Windows applications and games
Hangover Android Linux ARM git Windows applications and games
Anbox Linux ARM git Android software
Console
Nintendont Wii Wii U 2021-07-12 GameCube games

Comparisons

  • Wine is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow computer programs (application software and computer games) developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems, primarily Linux and macOS. Since late 2017 there is also an experimental build for Android. Wine is almost as old as the Linux project, starting in the summer of 1993. Today it's widely used, very popular and sponsored by companies such as CodeWeavers and Valve. The core Wine development aims at a correct implementation of the Windows API as a whole. In this regard it's similar to the MAME project in its focus on correctness over usability. There are a lot of versions/forks of Wine which focus of different goals, such as usability, compatibility, gaming, office applications, etc. A few are listed below, Wikipedia has a more complete list.
    • Proton is Valve's one-click solution to play Windows games on Linux. It's included in the Steam Linux client by default. Simply click on a whitelisted game and it will launch without any configuration, or enable it for all games in the settings. Proton is based on a fork of Wine in combination with other components such as DXVK (explained below) and FAudio.
    • CrossOver is a commercialized, supported version of Wine from CodeWeavers. It uses additional patches on top of Wine to make it easy to use. They contribute all of their work on CrossOvers back to Wine and make up about two thirds of the commits made to Wine. CrossOver is available on macOS, Linux and Chrome OS.
    • Wineskin is an open-source compatibility layer which allows users to easily convert Windows software to macOS. The ports are in the form of Mac .app bundles with a self-contained Wine instance which are wrapped around the application to be converted.
  • TeknoParrot is a compatibility layer for Windows PCs to run games originally made for Windows-based arcade systems. Has since version 1.51 also support for some games from the Linux-based Sega Lindbergh arcade board.
  • Darling is a translation layer that allows you to run unmodified macOS binaries on Linux. In its nature, it is similar to the well-known Wine project. At this point, does not yet run macOS application with a GUI.

Wrappers

Compatibility layers may also make use of wrappers, which translate a specific graphics API to another. How the user sets up the wrapper varies between each project but most involve a drop-in replacement of the original libraries.

Main article: Wrappers