The scourge of x86 emulation

(fex-emu.com)

101 points | by dagmx 4 hours ago ago

11 comments

  • dagmx 2 hours ago ago

    For reference , Fex is a translation framework for x86 to ARM much like Apple’s Rosetta2 and Microsoft’s Prism.

    Valve sponsor development as it’s also the way the new Steam Frame supports x86 games. It’s also being used (as a fork) in Crossover Beta to replace the use of Rosetta2.

    • MiroslavPokorny an hour ago ago

      Why doesnt Stream require their binaries to be compiled to some bytecode and transpiled during the install ?

      THen they wouldnt require any emulator for any new compiles.

      • swiftcoder 33 minutes ago ago

        > Why doesnt Stream require their binaries to be compiled to some bytecode and transpiled during the install ?

        They still have to support the entire back-catalog. It's not reasonable to expect thousands of existing games to port to ARM

      • rwmj 35 minutes ago ago

        I don't know, but assumed that Valve doesn't require studios to recompile their software or use any special tooling, it's basically just packaging of existing executables. This is also why they do Windows on Linux emulation.

      • matheusmoreira 38 minutes ago ago

        Existing games will not be recompiled for the new bytecode target, and they want all of those games to work regardless.

      • cwillu 29 minutes ago ago

        Several games in their library are actually just game updater/launcher binaries, which manage their associated game assets and binaries externally.

      • SSLy 15 minutes ago ago

        because there's no gaming-oriented toolchain for it

  • modeless an hour ago ago

    As noted in the article, Apple solved this problem six years ago by simply adding an x86-compatible memory ordering mode to their chip when x86 emulation became important. Yet another way Apple's chips lead the industry.

    • saagarjha an hour ago ago

      Well well well “modeless” has decided to finally see the light of modes

    • gavinsyancey 14 minutes ago ago

      And as noted in the article, while that helps a lot with most of the issues, there are some corner-cases they still don't handle.

  • asksomeoneelse an hour ago ago

    Great article ! This is the kind of content I always hope to find on HN's front page.

    I really wonder how things are organized at Apple to allow for vertical integration to work so well. That feature alone must have involved so many people from so many different teams.