VKD3D versions up to (and including) 2.6 can work in an unmodified Windows 7 system, as they only utilize Vulkan extensions implemented in the last official AMD or nVidia drivers for the OS. However, VKD3D will normally crash at startup. This can be fixed with a slight modification to the code:
BEFORE:
(libs\vkd3d\memory.c)
...
if (FAILED(hr) && (type_flags & optional_flags))
{
if (vkd3d_memory_info_type_mask_covers_multiple_memory_heaps(&device->memory_properties, type_mask))
{
WARN("Memory allocation failed, falling back to system memory.\n");
hr = vkd3d_try_allocate_device_memory(device, size,
type_flags & ~optional_flags, type_mask, pNext, allocation);
}
else if (device->memory_properties.memoryHeapCount > 1)
{
/* It might be the case (NV with RT/DS heap) that we just cannot fall back in any meaningful way.
* E.g. there exists no memory type that is not DEVICE_LOCAL and covers both RT and DS.
* For this case, we have no choice but to not allocate,
* and defer actual memory allocation to CreatePlacedResource() time.
* NVIDIA bug reference for fixing this case: 2175829. */
WARN("Memory allocation failed, but it is not possible to fallback to system memory here. Deferring allocation.\n");
return hr;
}
/* If we fail to allocate, and only have one heap to work with (iGPU),
* falling back is meaningless, just fail. */
}
...
AFTER:
(libs\vkd3d\memory.c)
...
// Modified to fix crashing bug on Win7 ~ .exe $ 1337
if (FAILED(hr) && (type_flags & optional_flags))
{
WARN("Memory allocation failed, but it is not possible to fallback to system memory here. Deferring allocation.\n");
hr = vkd3d_try_allocate_device_memory(device, size, type_flags & ~optional_flags, type_mask, pNext, allocation);
}
...