Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition (AOE2:DE) on M1 Mac (Crossover)

AOE 2 is a legendary strategy game of my childhood. For a rainy evening still a nice idea how to spend some time with your friends remotely. However, AOE2:DE only runs on Windows and not on Macs. So, what to do owning only a M1 Mac?

Use Crossover and enjoy the game without restriction and at great performance.

A great guide from Reddit explains how to make it running. Here an edited version of it:

1. Install Crossover.
2. Within Crossover, install the steam bottle.
3. Open the just installed windows version of Steam. Log-in, download, and install AOE2:DE.
4. Within Crossover, install into the “Steam Bottle”:
   1. “DXVK”
   2. “DirectX for Modern Games”
5. Enable DXVK by right clicking on the bottle: Settings > DXVK backend
6. Download “UCRTLBASE” here. (Skip step 7)
7. You have to get a alternative ucrtbase.dll:
   1. Install Homebrew: /bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)”
   2. install xcode: xcode-select –install
   3. install cabextract: brew install cabextract
   4. download: https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe
   5. move terminal to your desktop: cd ~/Desktop
   6. Create a new folder: mkdir ucrtbase
   7. move into ucrtbase: cd ucrtbase
   8. use cabextract to extract the file:
      1. write cabextract into the terminal press space and drag and drop the downloaded vc_redist file into the terminal window, press enter
      2. use command: cabextract a10
   9. UCRTbase.dll should be in the created folder
8. Put this UCRTBASE in the C:/Windows/System32 folder overwrite the current file (open C: drive by right clicking on the name of the bottle and selecting that option)
9. Go to: Wine configuration -> Libraries.
   1. Set “concrt140.dll” to native,builtin
   2. Set “ucrtbase” to native,builtin
10. Set AOE2:DE launch parameter “SKIPINTRO”