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.
"It's not reasonable to expect thousands of existing games to port to ARM"
Realistically it is possible and not actually that difficult. The hardest part would be ensuring that specific code changes from older x86 code to modern ARM code actually translate over properly and perform as expected. The majority of work done there would have to be in the libraries that were used to build the game. For way older games, like the ones you'd run under DOS, it would be much easier, as most stuff was in ASM and C (you did have the occasional BASIC game or PASCAL game flying around which would likely need a little bit of extra work) so you'd just be doing direct translation of instructions.
dagmx · · focus · HN ↗
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 · · focus · HN ↗
THen they wouldnt require any emulator for any new compiles.
swiftcoder · · focus · HN ↗
They still have to support the entire back-catalog. It's not reasonable to expect thousands of existing games to port to ARM
lightedman · · focus · HN ↗
Realistically it is possible and not actually that difficult. The hardest part would be ensuring that specific code changes from older x86 code to modern ARM code actually translate over properly and perform as expected. The majority of work done there would have to be in the libraries that were used to build the game. For way older games, like the ones you'd run under DOS, it would be much easier, as most stuff was in ASM and C (you did have the occasional BASIC game or PASCAL game flying around which would likely need a little bit of extra work) so you'd just be doing direct translation of instructions.
jamesgeck0 · · focus · HN ↗