WarVK

简体中文

WarVK is a Warcraft III 1.27a graphics enhancement project built on top of a DXVK-derived D3D9-to-Vulkan path. It focuses on visual fidelity and rendering experimentation for the classic client, including modern shadows, post-processing, runtime diagnostics, and engine-facing rendering research.

Note

WarVK targets visual quality first. High-quality effects usually increase GPU load, and enabling more features does not guarantee higher FPS.

For Players

What it does

• Replaces the legacy D3D9 backend with a Vulkan-backed rendering path
• Adds in-game graphics controls for shadows, anti-aliasing, bloom, and exposure
• Improves visual presentation without modifying map data or gameplay rules

1.1.0 Highlights

• Added a logic-to-render bridge so object identity can be tracked more reliably across the game pipeline
• Blocked all path blocker shadow rendering to prevent invalid blocker geometry from leaking into scene shadows
• Integrated StormBreaker directly into the project as part of the runtime foundation
• Upgraded GPU Arena to avoid driver overload caused by freeze-and-snapshot shadow capture on dynamic VB/IB workloads
• Added the first stage of static model caching to reduce GPU Arena pressure

Audience and limitations

• Competitive players may prefer lower visual clarity noise; bloom and soft shadows are not ideal for PVP
• Third-party platforms may block or remove custom d3d9.dll files, so WarVK is mainly intended for local, LAN, and single-player environments
• Map authors should not assume client-side DLL loading is available on all user platforms

Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• A Vulkan-capable GPU and current graphics drivers
• Warcraft III 1.27a

Installation

1. Back up your Warcraft III directory, especially any existing d3d9.dll
2. Copy the release files into the game root directory where war3.exe is located
3. Start the game and confirm that d3d9.log is generated

Typical release contents:

• d3d9.dll
• shaderpacks/ if a shader package is included
• Any extra runtime files bundled with the release

In-game controls

• Press Ctrl + F1 to toggle the WarVK configuration panel
• Common controls include:
  • Unlock FPS
  • Enable Post-Processing
  • Enable Shadows
  • Shadow Quality
  • Shadow Intensity
  • Anti-Aliasing
  • Bloom
  • Exposure

Troubleshooting

• If the game crashes or shows a black screen, check d3d9.log and verify there is no conflicting third-party d3d9.dll
• If performance is poor, reduce shadow quality, bloom, and anti-aliasing first
• If specific maps show flicker or shadow instability, disable shadows or post-processing to isolate the issue before reporting it

Uninstall

1. Remove d3d9.dll from the game root
2. Optionally remove d3d9.log and shaderpacks/

For Developers

Project status

Current version: v1.1.0

WarVK is in a stage where the gameplay-facing bridge, GPU Arena, StormBreaker integration, and first-stage static model cache are already in place. Dynamic pose takeover is still under active research and has not fully replaced the fallback shadow path.

Core architecture

• src/d3d9/ The WarVK-specific D3D9 runtime, game hooks, shadow pipeline, post-processing, and graphics settings
• src/dxvk/ Vulkan abstraction and DXVK-derived runtime layer
• src/dxso/ Shader compiler and translation support
• src/util/ Shared utilities, logging, threading, configuration, and helpers
• src/spirv/ SPIR-V handling and shader infrastructure
• src/vulkan/ Vulkan loader and common helpers
• src/wsi/ Window system integration
• src/minhook/ Hooking dependency used for game-side interception

Rendering subsystems added in WarVK

• Logic-to-render bridge for object identity propagation
• Native render hook domains for UI, render, lifecycle, JASS, and shadow control
• GPU Arena for shadow capture and transient runtime geometry handling
• Static model cache for reducing runtime geometry duplication
• Runtime diagnostics, performance reporting, and automated regression hooks

Build requirements

• MinGW-w64 GCC 15.2.0 or newer
• Meson 0.58 or newer
• Ninja
• Vulkan SDK
• glslang

Build

# Initial setup
meson setup --cross-file build-win32.txt build32

# Recommended incremental build
.\build32_safe.cmd src/d3d9/d3d9.dll -j8

Main output:

• build32/src/d3d9/d3d9.dll

Development notes

• build32_safe.cmd exists to avoid the Windows extended-path shell issue that can break MinGW incremental builds
• build32_safe.cmd also restores the local Meson shim used to build the upstream imgui submodule without maintaining a separate fork
• CHANGELOG.md tracks user-facing version changes
• AGENTS.md tracks the current engineering status and handoff notes
• AutoTest and performance tooling live under AutoTest/ and src/d3d9/war3/tools/

Source release and licensing note

WarVK is now distributed under GPLv3 at the project level. The full GPLv3 text is provided in LICENSE and COPYING.

This repository also contains third-party components and upstream-derived code that remain available under their original licenses. Those components are documented in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md, and their original notices should be preserved when redistributing the project.

Roadmap

• Complete dynamic pose-driven shadow reconstruction using cached model resources
• Continue reducing hot-path overhead in shadow and projector interception
• Move more culling and batching work from CPU-side heuristics toward GPU-friendly execution
• Expose a cleaner external shader workflow for community-authored shader packs

Acknowledgments

• DXVK
• Dear ImGui
• MinHook
• MemHack research references and reverse-engineering inspiration
• Asphodelus and prior JASS engine research

Disclaimer

WarVK is an unofficial third-party rendering plugin. Use it at your own risk, and keep backups of your game directory and saves before testing new builds.