Proof of Concept: NR2003 Smooth Running Virtual Machine - Full GPU Passthrough & Direct3D Graphics
I had this idea 4+ years ago when GPU passthrough was starting to roll out commercially. I was reminded of it by Mia of NR2003 Carset Group a few months back and still hadn't ever witnessed anyone pull off solid virtualization of NR2003. So it's possible this is the first instance. Solid 60fps with all base game graphics turned up all the way.
NR's netcode is the absolute worst, I don't know if that's the reason some cars are disappearing (doesn't happen in single player). Could be something to do with the server windows not being active/top-most? Also, the game still has a good 2 1/2-3 second input lag despite the decent framerate. I was able to qualify 17th at chicagoland on keyboard vs 96% ai with 15% steering assist though. So not impossible to drive. I can't drive for anything so honestly not sure how I pulled that one off.
What does this accomplish/why is it special? Previously, we've only been able to virtualize NR whilst running OpenGL/Full software rendering. This puts the host pc under intense stress and more-so the game engine itself. Without hardware passthrough, the game is essentially unplayable. Also it doesn't look very good. I was able to utilize both microsoft's D3D10Warp and Nvidiadumd as renderer's in which both were able to provide way better quality and stability compared to the software renders we're used to. There was a noticeable difference between D3D10 and Nvidia but I can't say which was better. D3D10 looked slightly better/more immersive whilst nvidia's was more stable. Shown in this video is purely Nvidia.
So why not just run it on normal hardware? Well, when you click out of the game window, normally, it pauses. This provides the only current solution. Also, sometimes the game breaks and won't work on your version of windows. Makes for a good last resort.
Also was able to get GNL.tv to run in IIS instead of Apache. IIS is more secure and up to date. My next goal is to isolate and partition the unused GPU in my system to run dedicated to my VMs.
Specs:
Mobo: MSI MPG z490 Gaming Edge WIFI
Processor: Intel Core i7-11700K @ 5GHz (8 Core 16 Thread)
RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengence DDR4-LDX @ 3200MHz (2x 16GB)
1.5TB SSD (split between 2 Samsung NVME SSDs at around 1gb r/w per sec)
GPU: NVIDIA EVGA GeForce 1060 SSC 6GB + Intel UHD 750 (Integrated w/ processor)
PSU: EVGA 750 GT Gold Plus
OS: Windows 10
VM: Windows Sandbox