For a Windows application that does lots of complex or 3D graphics, there are two popular Windows APIs used by the developers of these applications: DirectX or OpenGL. Together with the graphics card in your Mac, these APIs determine the performance of these applications in a Windows VM running in Parallels Desktop® for Mac.

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Since so many Windows CAD/CAM applications and Windows games use DirectX or OpenGL, we try to improve support for these two APIs in almost every Parallels Desktop major release. I focused on OpenGL in an earlier blog post, and here I will focus on DirectX.

DirectX

First a little background:

“Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. The name DirectX was coined as a shorthand term for all of these APIs (the X standing in for the particular API names) and soon became the name of the collection. …

“Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of video games for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox line of consoles. Direct3D is also used by other software applications for visualization and graphics tasks such as CAD/CAM engineering. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names “DirectX” and “Direct3D” used interchangeably.”

[from Wikipedia]

There is a fascinating book about the behind-the-scenes story of the development of DirectX: “Renegades of the Empire: How Three Software Warriors Started a Revolution Behind the Walls of Fortress Microsoft” (Michael Drummond, Crown Publishers, 1999). DirectX is widely credited with being the single most important reason that Windows became the dominate gaming platform (prior to consoles like Xbox and PlayStation).

DirectX Versions

You might be wondering about DirectX versions. While there have been versions from 1.0 (in 1995) to 12.0 (in 2015), the only versions really in use today are 10, 11, and 12. Typically, DirectX versions are tied to a particular Windows release. DirectX 10 was in Windows Vista (or later), DirectX 11 in Windows 7 (or later), and DirectX 12 in Windows 10. A game written with DirectX 10, for example, will usually run in a version of Windows later than Vista.

Here are some of the games for DirectX 10, Direct X 11, and Direct X 12:

Parallels Desktop and DirectX Versions

DirectX 10 is enabled by default in Parallels Desktop 13. (This includes DirectX 9 support, too.) There is a DirectX setting you want to use in the Configuration dialog for your VM, but this is primarily used for troubleshooting. (See figure 1.) As you can see, the DirectX versions supported are 9 and 10. There is no option for DirectX 11.

Figure 1

Why isn’t DirectX 11 supported in Parallels Desktop?

One of the mandatory DX11 features is called “compute shaders.” The name “shaders” usually refers to graphical functions that calculate the appropriate color and brightness for an image, but “compute shaders” are quite different. Compute shaders help the programmer to more easily take full advantage of the many processors on today’s graphics cards, primarily by broadening shader capabilities beyond pure graphics to more general calculations, which can be done on a graphics chip.

Parallels implements DirectX emulation by translating it to the equivalent OpenGL function, since OpenGL is implemented in the macOS®. Unfortunately, the version of OpenGL in the macOS does not have compute shaders. There is nothing for Parallels Desktop to map DirectX shaders to in the OpenGL framework in the macOS.

The macOS does support another style of compute shaders in the OpenCL framework. (Don’t let the similarity in the names “OpenGL” and “OpenCL” make you think they’re similar. They aren’t. In fact, they are competing “standards.”) Unfortunately, however, OpenCL on Mac isn’t as robust and doesn’t cooperate well with OpenGL.

Besides compute shaders, there are other features missing in OpenGL on macOS, which means there are additional “feature parity holes” with DirectX. There’s simply not enough functionality to translate DX11 to in the functions available in the macOS.

Apple® started pushing its own Metal API recently, which is universal for Mac computers. Only time will tell if Metal will give the Parallels Desktop programmers what they need to support DirectX 11. Stay tuned, but don’t get your hopes up for any major change in the near future.

Setting Expectations

I wish I could tell you that Parallels Desktop can magically turn your four-year-old MacBook Air® into a high-end PC gaming rig with a $3000, liquid-cooled graphics card, but that is never going to happen.

Parallels Desktop can enable your Mac to run most Windows applications, some games, and some CAD/CAM applications. But this comes at a cost. The more demanding applications you run in a VM, the more resources (CPUs and memory) that VM should be assigned—and the more powerful your Mac should be. The more graphics performance you expect, the more powerful the graphics card (or graphics processor GPU) in your Mac needs to be. Also keep in mind that graphics in Mac computers are predominantly integrated; only more expensive models sport discreet chips. Overall, Mac GPUs are low to middle range by Windows PC standards.

Success Stories

The hard work of the Parallels engineering team has resulted in a number of successes with Windows applications using DirectX. In particular, the DirectX work included in Parallels Desktop 13 resulted in some new applications running quite well in Parallels Desktop. Here are some videos of these successes, and a list of other DirectX applications that work well with Parallels Desktop 13.

Overwatch, a first-person shooter from Blizzard – Here is a short video of an Overwatch game session playing in Parallels Desktop 13 on a Mac. (See video 1.) There have also been other blog posts here about Overwatch.

Video 1

Batman: Arkham Origins, an action adventure game from WB Games Montréal – Here is a shortened video of a Batman: Arkham Origins game session playing in Parallels Desktop 13 on a Mac. (See video 2.) You can see the entire session at full resolution (1920 x 1080, 954 MB) here.

Video 2

Crysis 3, a first-person shooter from Crytek – Here is a shortened video of a Crysis 3 game session playing in Parallels Desktop 13 on a Mac. (See video 3.) The fact that Crysis 3 plays so well in Parallels Desktop 13 is a nice surprise, since Crysis 3 requires Direct X 11. Although Parallels Desktop 13 doesn’t support DX11, this particular game works. You can see the entire session at full resolution (1920 x 1080, 1.37 GB) here.

Video 3

Predicting the Performance of a DirectX Application

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to predict whether a particular Windows DirectX game or application will work well in Parallels Desktop. Golden ratio in design. If you are already a Parallels Desktop customer, just try it.

If you are not yet a Parallels Desktop customer, we have a trial version that you can download and install. You can also get Windows 10 installed in Parallels Desktop 13 at no charge. So try out the application or game you are interested in and see if it meets your performance needs. If it does, great! You can then purchase both Parallels Desktop and Windows to use that application. If it does not, you haven’t spent any money.

In addition, we have a forum thread where people add the DirectX applications that they would like to see supported.

I hope this blog post explains the DirectX support in Parallels Desktop 13. Please let us know in the comments about your experiences with the performance of Windows applications in Parallels Desktop 13.

Want to try DirectX applications with Parallels Desktop 13? Download a free 14-day trial!

If FIFA Manager 13 crashes, FIFA Manager 13 will not start, FIFA Manager 13 not installing, there are no controls in FIFA Manager 13, no sound in game, errors happen in FIFA Manager 13 – we offer you the most common ways to solve these problems.

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Be sure to update your graphics card drivers and other software

Before letting out all of your bad feelings toward development team, do not forget to go to the official website of your graphics card manufacturer and download the latest drivers. There are often specially prepared optimized drivers for specific game. You can also try to install a past versions of the driver if the problem is not solved by installing the current version. It is important to remember that only the final version of the video card driver must be loaded – try not to use the beta version, since they can have some terrible bugs.

Do not also forget that for good game operation you may need to install the latest version DirectX, which can be found and downloaded from official Microsoft website.

FIFA Manager 13 not starting

Many of the problems with games launching happen because of improper installation. Check, if there was any error during installation, try deleting the game and run the installer again, but before install don’t forget to disable antivirus – it may often mistakenly delete files during installation process. It is also important to remember that the path to the folder with a game should contain only Latin characters and numbers.

You also have to check whether there is enough space on the HDD for installation. You can also try to run the game as an administrator in compatibility mode with different versions of Windows.

FIFA Manager 13 crashes. Low FPS. Friezes. Hangs

Your first solution to this problem install new drivers for a video card. This action can drastically rise game FPS. Also, check the CPU and memory utilization in the Task Manager (opened by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ESCAPE). If before starting the game you can see that some process consumes too many resources - turn off the program or simply remove this process from Task Manager.

Next, go to the graphics settings in the game. First – turn off anti-aliasing and try to lower the setting, responsible for post-processing. Many of them consume a lot of resources and switching them off will greatly enhance the performance, and not greatly affect the quality of the picture.

FIFA Manager 13 crashes to the desktop

If FIFA Manager 13 often crashes to the desktop, try to reduce quality of the graphics. It is possible that your PC just does not have enough performance and the game may not work correctly. Also, it is worth to check out for updates - most of today's games have the automatic patches installation system on startup if internet connection is available. Check to see whether this option is turned off in the settings and switch it on if necessary.

Black of black screen in the FIFA Manager 13

The most common issue with black screen is a problem with your GPU. Check to see if your video card meets the minimum requirements and install the latest drivers. Sometimes a black screen is the result of a lack of CPU performance.

If everything is fine with your hardware and it satisfies the minimum requirements, try to switch to another window (ALT + TAB), and then return to the game screen.

FIFA Manager 13 is not installed. Installation hangs

First of all, check that you have enough space on the HDD for installation. Remember that to work properly installer requires the declared volume of space, plus 1-2 GB of additional free space on the system drive. In general, remember this rule – you must always have at least 2 gigabytes of free space on your system drive (usually it’s disk C) for temporary files. Otherwise, the games and the other software may not work correctly or even refuse to start.

Problems with the installation may also be due to the lack of an internet connection or it’s instability. Also, do not forget to stop the antivirus for the time game installation – sometimes it interferes with the correct file copy, or delete files by mistake, mistakenly believing they are viruses.

Saves not working in FIFA Manager 13

By analogy with the previous solution, check for free space on HDD - both on where the game is installed, and the system drive. Often your saves are stored in a folder of documents, which is separate from the game itself.

Controls not working in FIFA Manager 13

Sometimes the controls in game do not work because of the simultaneous connection of multiple input devices. Try disabling gamepad, or, if for some reason, you have two connected keyboards or mouses, leave only one pair of devices. If your gamepad does not work, remember - the games usually officially support only native Xbox controllers. If your controller is defined in system differently - try using software that emulates the Xbox gamepad (eg, x360ce - step by step manual can be found here).

No sound in FIFA Manager 13

Check if the sound works in other programs. Then check to see if the sound is turned off in the settings of the game, and whether there is correct audio playback device selected, which is connected your speakers or headset. After this check volumes in system mixer, it can also be turned off there.

If you are using an external audio card - check for new drivers at the manufacturer's website.