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What's new in MAKO Renderer v3.2.0
Release codename: The Captain
“A steady hand cannot still the sea. It can keep us on course.”
Captain Matteo Veyr, Council of the Last Fleet
Stability, frame pacing, and compatibility
MAKO 3.2 addresses uneven frame delivery and unnecessary recovery resets, updates launcher compatibility, and protects saved settings during failed writes and updates.
- Stability and frame-pacing fixes: Adaptive now accounts for slow frames in uneven game cadence, avoiding inflated source-FPS estimates that could suppress generated frames. Isolated brief timeouts retain the established cadence estimate, recovery retries remain pending through frames with no generated output, and renewed demand after a menu can restart generation sooner.
- VKD3D-Proton compatibility: Preserves extended presentation timing used by newer VKD3D-Proton clients, fixing a rejection that could stop presentation on the first frame.
- Ubisoft Connect launcher exclusion: Ubisoft Connect and its web UI stay outside MAKO activation, while the child game keeps its normal profile matching.
- Scaling memory accounting: Budgets now account for where scaling runs relative to Frame Generation and the larger 5x workload. Failed graphics-resource setup also releases exported handles instead of leaking them.
- Lossless Scaling DLL detection: Fixes DLL lookup in Steam installations under a custom XDG data directory and adds an availability check for the selected LS1 model and sharpness.
- Configuration save fixes: Closing the configuration window flushes pending edits, and failed writes preserve the previous configuration.
- Installer recovery and Flatpak fixes: The standalone installer restores the previous native installation if an update fails. The Flatpak installer also fixes terminal runtime selection and exits without installing when cancelled.
🎮 In-game considerations
Tip
Try the game’s V-Sync setting both on and off. It can make frame delivery feel steadier, but may also add input lag or clash with the game’s FPS cap, VRR, or compositor. Every game is different: compare both options and keep the one that feels smoother and more responsive.
Every game, renderer, and display setup behaves differently. Compare Fixed Frame Generation, Adaptive Frame Generation, and scaling-only operation one setting at a time. Fullscreen is usually the best starting point for performance and frame pacing. Restart after changing a setting labelled (Restart). Flow Scale and Lighter FG Model normally apply live and may cause one brief hitch while MAKO replaces their private resources.
- 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.
Important
MAKO does not contain or distribute Lossless Scaling, Lossless.dll, or extracted proprietary model payloads. Fixed or Adaptive Frame Generation and LS1 scaling read selected resources at runtime from a lawful, user-supplied Lossless Scaling installation. The open MAKO Scaler does not use it. MAKO does not alter the user's DLL file, and translated resources remain process-local. Users are responsible for complying with the terms applicable to their copy.
Installation
Host archive
Download MAKO-Renderer-v3.2.0-linux.tar.xz, extract it into a new folder, then use the included graphical installer:
- Double-click Install MAKO Renderer.
- Choose Execute if your file manager asks.
- Confirm the installation. The wizard verifies the package, installs it under
~/.local, safely updates existing files, preserves profiles, and opens the configuration UI.
To remove it later, open Uninstall MAKO Renderer from the application menu. The wizard removes MAKO-owned files and keeps your profiles unless you explicitly choose to remove them.
The host archive includes 64-bit and 32-bit Vulkan layers; the CLI and Qt UI are 64-bit.
Reopen the configuration UI after installation:
- Application menu: On Steam Deck or Steam Machine, switch to Desktop Mode, open the bottom-left Application Launcher, search for MAKO Renderer Configuration, and click the MAKO-logo app icon.
- Terminal: Run
~/.local/bin/mako-uifrom Konsole or another terminal. Do not run it withsudo.
Configure the profile in the UI or ~/.config/mako-render/conf.toml. Select the licensed DLL path when using Frame Generation or LS1 scaling, then use ~/.local/bin/mako-launch %command% for a direct Steam launch.
Flatpak runtime extensions
Download and extract MAKO-Renderer-v3.2.0-flatpaks.tar.xz. It contains one self-contained MAKO extension for each supported Flatpak runtime. Install the extension matching the application runtime, for example:
flatpak install --user org.freedesktop.Platform.VulkanLayer.makorender-24.08.flatpak- SHA-256:
5cf61b0538cb0e062215675a7090efb96d322938fa3fcc8dda9d26189367248e
Updating an existing MAKO Renderer installation
- Quit every game or application currently using MAKO Renderer.
- Download the newer host archive and extract it into a new folder.
- Run Install MAKO Renderer again and confirm the prompt. The wizard verifies and replaces MAKO-owned files while preserving
~/.config/mako-render/. - If you use Flatpak applications, download the matching Flatpak archive and reinstall the extension for each runtime you use.
- Restart the game. Revalidate the configuration with
~/.local/bin/mako-cli validateif you changed the DLL path or profiles.
Keep the previous archives until the new version has been tested with your games.
Known limitation
- HDR frame generation and scaling are not currently supported: HDR pipeline groundwork remains in the renderer, but MAKO does not present either feature as an enabled HDR release path yet.
Before you play
- Test MAKO per game. Start with Frame Generation and Scaling disabled, then enable one path at a time before combining them.
- If you use Frame Generation or LS1 scaling, confirm the detected
Lossless.dllpath before launching. Leaving it blank permits normal discovery. MAKO Scaler does not need it. - Do not combine MAKO with another frame-generation or scaling Vulkan wrapper for the same game.
MAKO Renderer release assets 3.2.0
- Includes checksum-verified host archive
MAKO-Renderer-v3.2.0-linux.tar.xz(SHA-256:d8e3b4a6d81ad2c5dc65911105747eb9f64d89b7b466ea706af2d68bbb0db018). - Includes checksum-verified Flatpak runtime archive
MAKO-Renderer-v3.2.0-flatpaks.tar.xz(SHA-256:5cf61b0538cb0e062215675a7090efb96d322938fa3fcc8dda9d26189367248e). - The host archive contains the 64-bit and 32-bit Vulkan layers, CLI, Qt configuration UI, standalone
mako-launchlauncher, and desktop integration. - Corresponding source: commit
ebab0aa2172dcac7bea6201e0b9e91cc1ee492f7, also available from the release tag's source archives.