[PATCH v2 1/3] msmpeg2vdec: Add stub dll.

[Mohamad Al-Jaf]

On Sat, Apr 23, 2022 at 5:05 AM Mohamad Al-Jaf <mohamadaljaf at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 12:57 AM Nikolay Sivov <nsivov at codeweavers.com> wrote:
> > Looks like it will fail anyway later, on ID3D11VideoDevice, or decoder
> > creation.
>
> Do you see a way to prevent this? This isn't something I'm familiar
> with so I can't work on this part unless you think it's trivial to
> fix. The stub is enough to get it to this point and that's all I'm
> capable of at the moment. Still, it spawns a GPU process when I run it
> and play videos so I don't know how it's using hardware acceleration
> if it seemingly fails.

I'd appreciate a response, Nikolay. If you were looking into this then
it's fine to not respond until you're done, but you have a tendency to
abandon conversations.

Also, just because you think it fails later doesn't mean this dll
shouldn't be added. It's at least a start. Something is better than
nothing. I've brought this issue to light and this should matter. If
you'd like to teach me how to further develop it, I'd be interested in
learning. Otherwise, adding the dll is all I can do at the moment.

After searching some more, I found a CrossOver user that wants the
dlls msmpeg2vdec and msvproc for their software.[1]

And another CrossOver user that says videos are not working in the
games Trails in the Sky and Monster Train. Both of these games try to
load msmpeg2vdec.[2]

In Proton:

- Far Cry 4 loads this dll[3]
- Assassins Creed Origins loads this dll[4]

In these games, it looks like it's the UPlay launcher that's loading
the dll so it's like CEF. In this case, since game launchers tend to
play videos, it's needed to prevent high CPU usage which can heat up
some people's machines and/or drain battery life, like laptops and the
Steam Deck.

Some of these may or may not require msmpeg2vdec with Wine, but they
likely use it. Perhaps the native Media Foundation is codependent on
the dll, but further testing is required.

- Shadows Awakening black screen is solved with msmpeg2vdec[5]
- The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan videos only work with msmpeg2vdec[6]
- Blair Witch cutscenes only work with msmpeg2vdec[7]
- Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force cutscenes only work with msmpeg2vdec[8]
- ARAYA is completely broken unless native MF is used, including msmpeg2vdec[9]
- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony works with msmpeg2vdec[10]
- Blair Witch does not start unless msmpeg2vdec is used[11]

[1] https://www.codeweavers.com/support/forums/general?t=27;forumcurPos=0;msg=250392
[2] https://www.codeweavers.com/support/forums/general/?t=27;mhl=252167;msg=252163#msg252167
[3] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/2143
[4] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/928#issuecomment-1081056774
[5] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/1102#issuecomment-419678627
[6] https://www.protondb.com/app/939850#ntDBsW3V8
[7] https://www.protondb.com/app/1092660#fZwEEAGvDb
[8] https://www.protondb.com/app/524580#xUZjNgNSWS
[9] https://www.protondb.com/app/466740#1FNdGj0V7G
[10] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/838#issuecomment-447379664
[11] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/3174
--
Kind regards,
Mohamad