eugeniosegala/MAKO plugin-v2.1.0

MAKO Decky v2.1.0

on GitHub

Looking for the standalone Vulkan layer? See MAKO Renderer v2.1.0.

What's new in MAKO Decky v2.1.0

Release codename: Leviathan Rising

“The Leviathan is awake. Take the helm.”

Ilyra, Warden of the Drowned Grove

MAKO Decky 2.1 brings easier Fractional Adaptive setup and potentially major AMD image-quality gains into Game Mode, with steadier SteamOS presentation and a more polished everyday experience. Frame generation is available now; scaling is coming soon.

• Fractional Adaptive is now an explicit per-game choice: It can mix generation ratios, such as 60 real FPS to 90 displayed FPS, to keep more real frames and potentially reduce input lag. Uneven cadence can feel choppy in some games, so MAKO Decky defaults to the smoother Steady Base Cap with an even 2x cadence. Older profiles without a saved choice adopt Steady, while explicitly selected Fractional profiles stay Fractional; a one-click preset makes either mode easy to select.
• AMD generated frames can look substantially cleaner: Supported GPUs gain predictable image-boundary handling that can greatly reduce ghost trails, corrupted moving edges, disocclusion noise, and lost thin detail in affected games. Results vary by workload, unsupported GPUs keep the established fallback, and dedicated scenes guard FP32 and FP16 quality.
• Experimental Gamescope WSI compatibility is now one toggle away: MAKO's standard SDR path still isolates Gamescope WSI, while an off-by-default, per-profile control can restore it for affected games. The guarded 64-bit host path validates the real Gamescope manifest, fails closed if it is unavailable or invalid, and requires a game restart. The same control supports either MangoHud or experimental vkBasalt, with MangoHud able to report final generated FPS.
• Games keep presenting through Renderer stalls: If generation misses its render-fence budget, the bundled Renderer presents the game's original frame, pauses generation, and resumes after recovery instead of allowing the wait to become a visible freeze. More initialization and recovery failures also fall back to native frames.
• A safer and more consistent foundation: Installation, upgrades, profiles, generated wrappers, and packaging now follow clearer ownership rules. Managed launches use private Vulkan layer discovery to prevent accidental activation, unsupported compatibility paths fail closed, package checks catch incomplete builds, and MAKO-owned files update safely without rewriting user configuration.

🎮 In-game considerations

Every game, renderer, and display setup behaves differently. Compare Fixed and Adaptive Frame Generation one setting at a time. For most games, fullscreen is the best starting point for performance and frame pacing. Keep the configuration that feels best for that game.

• Adaptive target behaviour: Adaptive varies the generated-frame count toward an average target. It cannot reduce a native frame rate already above that target, and the result still depends on the selected multiplier plus available GPU and compositor capacity.
• Quality and latency tuning: Higher multipliers and lower real-frame rates can increase ghosting and input latency. Smooth Cadence may improve motion consistency while reducing responsiveness, so compare the available choices per game.

See the Configuration guide and Troubleshooting guide for complete behaviour and per-game controls.

⚠️ Required MAKO Renderer update: Installing the ZIP updates MAKO Decky, but does not replace its private Vulkan layer. Open the plugin and select Install MAKO Renderer afterwards.

First-time Heroic or EmuDeck setup: Read the Heroic and other Flatpak applications guide before preparing either integration.

Installation

New to Decky or installing MAKO Decky for the first time? See the full install and use guide for Decky Loader setup and prerequisites.

1. Download MAKO-Decky-v2.1.0.zip below.
2. On SteamOS, open Decky Loader's settings and enable Developer Mode.
3. Choose Developer > Install Plugin from Zip, then select the downloaded ZIP.
4. In MAKO Decky, select Install MAKO Renderer. For native Steam/Proton games, add /home/deck/.local/bin/mako-run %command% to the game’s Steam launch options.

Updating an existing MAKO Decky installation

1. Quit any game currently using /home/deck/.local/bin/mako-run.
2. Uninstall MAKO Decky, then download the newer ZIP from version 2.1.0.
3. In Game Mode, open Decky Loader’s settings, choose Developer > Install Plugin from Zip, then select the newer ZIP.
4. Restart your Steam Deck or Steam Machine.
5. ⚠️ Required: Open MAKO Decky and select Install MAKO Renderer to install the version bundled in the new ZIP.
6. In Flatpak Setup, select Update for every prepared application’s matching runtime extension. This replaces its Flatpak layer with the engine bundled in the new ZIP while preserving its preparation and per-game Wrapper commands.

Existing profiles and Steam launch options are retained. The private native renderer and launcher are re-created in step 5; shared Flatpak extensions are retained, then refreshed in step 6.

Known limitation

• HDR is unavailable in this Decky release: The engine foundation is included, but the plugin locks HDR exposure off and does not provide a per-game opt-in. In-game HDR controls may be unavailable by design. A later release can unlock the path after activation, presentation, colour, and performance are validated across games.

Before you play

• Confirm the detected Lossless.dll path before launching. Leaving it blank permits normal discovery.
• Do not combine mako-run with another Lossless Scaling Vulkan wrapper for the same game.

Bundled MAKO Renderer 2.1.0

• Includes checksum-verified MAKO-Renderer-v2.1.0-linux.tar.xz.
• Installing the ZIP does not replace the private renderer by itself; complete the required in-plugin installation step above.