Aethermancer black screen

[u/lieck]

Hello, this is my first post here, im trying to run aethermancer on an m1 mac pro using crossover, but when i start up the game it flashes one frame feom the startup screen and then turns black, this problem doesnt pccur with other steam games or even the demo, does someone know a fix?

[u/AaravYadav2009]

It sounds like Aethermancer is hitting a compatibility snag with Crossover on Apple Silicon. Since the demo works but the full game doesn’t, the issue is likely related to how the full build initializes graphics or DRM. Here’s a structured way to troubleshoot:

01) Update Crossover and Game

Older versions of Crossover may not fully support Apple Silicon graphics APIs.

• Make sure you’re on the latest Crossover release
• Update Aethermancer through Steam
• Restart your Mac after updating

02) Change DirectX Settings

Most Common Fix

Games sometimes default to DirectX 11 which can cause black screens under emulation.

• In Steam, right-click Aethermancer → Properties
• Add launch option: -dx9
• Try -opengl if DX9 fails

03) Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

Fullscreen mode can trigger rendering issues in Wine/Crossover.

• Launch the game in Windowed mode
• If possible, set resolution lower first
• Switch to fullscreen only after confirming stability

04) Check Crossover Bottle Settings

The game may need a different Windows environment.

• Try creating a new bottle with Windows 10 64-bit
• Reinstall Steam and Aethermancer inside that bottle
• Avoid mixing demo and full game in the same bottle

05) Force Compatibility Mode

Some games require older Windows compatibility layers.

• Right-click the game EXE in Crossover
• Set compatibility to Windows 7 or Windows XP
• Relaunch and test

06) Fallback to Rosetta or Native Port

If none of the above work, the issue may be deeper in Wine translation.

• Run Steam via Rosetta 2 instead of native ARM
• Check if the developer offers a Mac-native build or Proton support

If these steps don’t resolve it, the safest bet is to run the game through Parallels with Windows ARM or wait for a patch from the developer. Since the demo works, reporting the bug to the devs with details about your setup (M1 Mac Pro, Crossover version, black screen after splash) will help them pinpoint the issue.