WAR on the Mac is not a likely scenario for the following reasons:
1) WAR's client is being built on a PC-based rendering engine that has not been ported to run under a Mac's native OS. The cost of porting that engine would be quite high, difficult and potentially a nightmare for us going forward. If we don't have a native version of the game, we would have to rely on Cider,
2) if we have to rely on Cider, then there *might* be a performance hit from using it. How much that hit is, we can't say but there might be a hit. We know more as development and release of other EA titles occur. We will be in touch with the guys at Dice and we will be able to get the full scoop from them on the impact of using Cider. If we have to rely on Cider and take a performance hit,
3) Then the graphics chipset on the Mac would have to be at least equivalent to what our specs are for the PC version. That is not the case with most Macs and certainly would not be the case when we release WAR. The most likely result would be that performance on the game would be significantly worse than on a PC and we won't do that and,
4) As we continue to expand WAR after release, we will do what we did with DAoC, continue to raise the specs for the game as hardware improves (while keeping backwards compatibility for a long-time). If we do so, it is unlikely that the Macs will keep up in terms of graphics hardware and that would mean that Mac users/version would be way behind the PC users. From what I've read on the web, using Cider means that PowerPC Macs or any Mac that isn't an Intel Mac won't be able to run the games at all so Macs that are a year or two older won't be able to run it. This decreases the potential market size for this game significantly as well.
In the case of WoW and Blizzard, they have been developing Mac-based games for years and their level of expertise with Macs blow away our expertise, which is zero. So, even if we wanted to do it in-house, there is no way we could unless we use Cider. Also, keep in mind that Mac games sell only a fraction of their PC counterparts and even a large company like EA has to bear that in mind. In terms of what EA has said regarding Mac games, I suggest re-rereading what EA said about Mac versions of the games. EA has said we will use Cider to run these games and they are not native OS versions. EA has also committed publicly to 4 titles, not all of EA's titles (though those 4 are way cool though).
Once again, keep in mind that if we make a commitment to have WAR run under Cider for the Mac, then we are committing to that platform for years of updates/expansions unlike the games that EA has committed to do for the Mac. That is not an easy commitment to make and not one that we take lightly. However, as the proud owner of an Apple II, I'd love to see our game reach the Mac community but it is not something we will rush into until we are really, really sure that it is a decision we won't regret a year out. I'd rather disappoint some Mac gamers now than disappoint some WAR subscribers later.
WAR on the Mac is not a likely scenario for the following reasons:
1) WAR's client is being built on a PC-based rendering engine that has not been ported to run under a Mac's native OS. The cost of porting that engine would be quite high, difficult and potentially a nightmare for us going forward. If we don't have a native version of the game, we would have to rely on Cider,
2) if we have to rely on Cider, then there *might* be a performance hit from using it. How much that hit is, we can't say but there might be a hit. We know more as development and release of other EA titles occur. We will be in touch with the guys at Dice and we will be able to get the full scoop from them on the impact of using Cider. If we have to rely on Cider and take a performance hit,
3) Then the graphics chipset on the Mac would have to be at least equivalent to what our specs are for the PC version. That is not the case with most Macs and certainly would not be the case when we release WAR. The most likely result would be that performance on the game would be significantly worse than on a PC and we won't do that and,
4) As we continue to expand WAR after release, we will do what we did with DAoC, continue to raise the specs for the game as hardware improves (while keeping backwards compatibility for a long-time). If we do so, it is unlikely that the Macs will keep up in terms of graphics hardware and that would mean that Mac users/version would be way behind the PC users. From what I've read on the web, using Cider means that PowerPC Macs or any Mac that isn't an Intel Mac won't be able to run the games at all so Macs that are a year or two older won't be able to run it. This decreases the potential market size for this game significantly as well.
In the case of WoW and Blizzard, they have been developing Mac-based games for years and their level of expertise with Macs blow away our expertise, which is zero. So, even if we wanted to do it in-house, there is no way we could unless we use Cider. Also, keep in mind that Mac games sell only a fraction of their PC counterparts and even a large company like EA has to bear that in mind. In terms of what EA has said regarding Mac games, I suggest re-rereading what EA said about Mac versions of the games. EA has said we will use Cider to run these games and they are not native OS versions. EA has also committed publicly to 4 titles, not all of EA's titles (though those 4 are way cool though).
Once again, keep in mind that if we make a commitment to have WAR run under Cider for the Mac, then we are committing to that platform for years of updates/expansions unlike the games that EA has committed to do for the Mac. That is not an easy commitment to make and not one that we take lightly. However, as the proud owner of an Apple II, I'd love to see our game reach the Mac community but it is not something we will rush into until we are really, really sure that it is a decision we won't regret a year out. I'd rather disappoint some Mac gamers now than disappoint some WAR subscribers later.
Mark
Sucks to hear, but I found the honesty extraordinarily refreshing. Looks like its time to build a new PC
"...and with that cryptic comment, I'm off to bed!"
They posted on the Warhammeralliance forums stating that WAR would be unlikely to come out on Mac. The game is being built on a PC based code, and the program that allows for transfer (Cider) between the two OSs could hurt the performance of the game. So, from the sound of it right now the likelihood of it coming out for mac is slim to none.
Please cut this pc=better than macs and vise versa BS. Macs and windows are targeted to different people and for different needs. Don't get pissy because Macs can't play that many windows games and therefore should be shunned it's a different system thats geared more towards work than everything like a windows. And I'm just going to throw this out there but if you noticed every time Mac comes out with a new system sure enough windows comes out with a new one at least a year later? Just look at OS 10 and Vista they're pretty much identical only Vista is just a more bastardized version of OS 10.
Macs are easily targeted towards people who cant use PC's, look at the commercials, they try bragging about how easy they are all the time.
It simply comes down to this, What cant a PC do? What can a Mac do? Who can do more? and its PC since it can do everything a mac can and then some.
ALthought i will agree with the one commercial where they bust vista, god what a horrible operating system windows made.
Really, a PC can do everything a Mac can do?
Last time I checked, a PC CAN'T run Mac OS X, however a Mac CAN run Windows.
Also, Macs come with almost all drivers pre-installed (unless you're installing Windows, in which case you still have to download drivers for stuff, however, that's not Macintosh's fault)
They are more reliable not only from a hardware perspective, but also from a software perspective and their warranties are very clearly laid out for the ENTIRE computer, unlike HP/Dell/New Egg/any other computer hardware seller/manufacturer where the warranties are different for different parts of the computer.
They rarely get viruses or have issues with spyware and adware.
And the whole idea that they are for people that "don't know how to use PC's" is ludicrous. Just because they target that audience and people buy into the idea that they are more user friendly doesn't mean they aren't capable of doing everything a PC is capable of doing and then some. There are programs and utilities that are written for Mac that are just as complicated and hard to understand as a PC based system's programs/utilities, yet for some reason PC elitists seem to think the Mac sucks just because THEY don't understand it.
Don't get me wrong, Mac's have their downfalls too, such as an insanely high price point, lack of gaming software (which isn't necessarily their fault), and a culture of equally elitist Mac user's that seem to think they are gods because they use a Mac. But that doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than the other, it's like apples and oranges. The real dumb asses are the ones that try to compare the two.
Well....., it is possible, but i have yet to see it. Most PC enthusiasts are far too busy customizing their PC's to even bother trying to load OS X on to a PC. And something tells me that the fact that Apple won't release their BIOS information to anyone or allow foreign software to be installed on a Mac without being converted first to Apple standards makes me more skeptical, but I'd be interested to see if I'm wrong.
This recent reply did intrigue me and I've found that you CAN run Mac OS X on a PC, however, it's a little different than vice versa. Where on a Mac, you can physically install the Windows operating system and run it as an actual OS, the only way (from what little research I've done) to get Mac OS X on a PC is to run it virtually which isn't necessarily the same thing.
Therefore, I still stand by my previous statements about Mac while recanting the statement that you cannot run Mac OS on a PC. It IS possible, but keep in mind it is still only virtual and you cannot boot into Mac OS X from your PC, only run it virtually once you've already booted to Windows.
It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Microsoft being the market leader and a corporate giant so they basically have bullseye painted on them for hackers. Mac's are so insignificant that most hacker's won't waste their time developing a virus that won't reach many people.
Don't tell people to cut the PC is better than Mac stuff beacuse this is a gaming forum and guess what?... PC's are better than Mac's for gaming so people should be advised against getting a Mac if they are planning to do alot of gaming.
Even getting a console like the 360 would do you better for gaming than getting a Mac.
In regards to Macs rarely getting virus... I'd have to respectfully disagree with your reason. It is because Mac OSX is based upon BSD Unix. Unix/Linux is infinitely more secure than any Microsoft product. MS uses a security through obscurity model. Another reason why everything they do is proprietary closed source code. There is a reason why the majority of web servers out there are POSIX based.
In regards to your comment of PC's being better for gaming than a Mac... I agree. If a machine's only purpose is to game, then a PC is by far the best bet.
"...and with that cryptic comment, I'm off to bed!"
Just because PC's have a larger share of the market, doesn't mean that's why they have more hackers attacking them. PC's are easier to hack and write viruses/spyware for because of the way the Windows OS is built. This would not change even if Macs had 90% of the market share and Windows based PC's carried the other 10%.
I do agree with you though that PC's are a better gaming machine and that wasn't the point of my thread. The person I was responding to was asking what a Mac can do that a PC can't. As far as gaming is concerned, PC's out weigh Mac's primarily because of their customizability and as I stated in my previous post that there simply isn't as much gaming software out there for Macs right now. The main reason for this is that Mac keeps their OS source code somewhat secret, and doesn't let you into the System BIOS at all so if you want to write gaming software for them, you have to first write it in whatever language is comfortable to you, then basically hand it over to them to have them convert it to something that is operable on OS X. As a result, most gaming companies say screw it and write the software for ONLY Windows.
This isn't to say that a Mac can't "handle" the graphics/audio/processing a game would require. The comparison for gaming is obvious, it's like saying:
"Which is better for playing my game a Mac or a PC?"
--"Well, the game is made only for PC, so I would have to say PC."
However, this is different from
"Which is a superior computer/OS, Mac or PC?"
This debate could go on forever, as I stated before because there are numerous advantages and disadvantages to each. I understand this is a gaming forum, and as such, I WOULD recommend for the purposes of playing Warhammer Online, purchasing a PC. However, if it was made for both a Mac and a PC I would say it's basically a user preference thing at that point and not a performance issue.
Comments
Official Post from a EAMythic Dev.
WAR on the Mac is not a likely scenario for the following reasons:
1) WAR's client is being built on a PC-based rendering engine that has not been ported to run under a Mac's native OS. The cost of porting that engine would be quite high, difficult and potentially a nightmare for us going forward. If we don't have a native version of the game, we would have to rely on Cider,
2) if we have to rely on Cider, then there *might* be a performance hit from using it. How much that hit is, we can't say but there might be a hit. We know more as development and release of other EA titles occur. We will be in touch with the guys at Dice and we will be able to get the full scoop from them on the impact of using Cider. If we have to rely on Cider and take a performance hit,
3) Then the graphics chipset on the Mac would have to be at least equivalent to what our specs are for the PC version. That is not the case with most Macs and certainly would not be the case when we release WAR. The most likely result would be that performance on the game would be significantly worse than on a PC and we won't do that and,
4) As we continue to expand WAR after release, we will do what we did with DAoC, continue to raise the specs for the game as hardware improves (while keeping backwards compatibility for a long-time). If we do so, it is unlikely that the Macs will keep up in terms of graphics hardware and that would mean that Mac users/version would be way behind the PC users. From what I've read on the web, using Cider means that PowerPC Macs or any Mac that isn't an Intel Mac won't be able to run the games at all so Macs that are a year or two older won't be able to run it. This decreases the potential market size for this game significantly as well.
In the case of WoW and Blizzard, they have been developing Mac-based games for years and their level of expertise with Macs blow away our expertise, which is zero. So, even if we wanted to do it in-house, there is no way we could unless we use Cider. Also, keep in mind that Mac games sell only a fraction of their PC counterparts and even a large company like EA has to bear that in mind. In terms of what EA has said regarding Mac games, I suggest re-rereading what EA said about Mac versions of the games. EA has said we will use Cider to run these games and they are not native OS versions. EA has also committed publicly to 4 titles, not all of EA's titles (though those 4 are way cool though).
Once again, keep in mind that if we make a commitment to have WAR run under Cider for the Mac, then we are committing to that platform for years of updates/expansions unlike the games that EA has committed to do for the Mac. That is not an easy commitment to make and not one that we take lightly. However, as the proud owner of an Apple II, I'd love to see our game reach the Mac community but it is not something we will rush into until we are really, really sure that it is a decision we won't regret a year out. I'd rather disappoint some Mac gamers now than disappoint some WAR subscribers later.
Mark
"...and with that cryptic comment, I'm off to bed!"
It simply comes down to this, What cant a PC do? What can a Mac do? Who can do more? and its PC since it can do everything a mac can and then some.
ALthought i will agree with the one commercial where they bust vista, god what a horrible operating system windows made.
Really, a PC can do everything a Mac can do?
Last time I checked, a PC CAN'T run Mac OS X, however a Mac CAN run Windows.
Also, Macs come with almost all drivers pre-installed (unless you're installing Windows, in which case you still have to download drivers for stuff, however, that's not Macintosh's fault)
They are more reliable not only from a hardware perspective, but also from a software perspective and their warranties are very clearly laid out for the ENTIRE computer, unlike HP/Dell/New Egg/any other computer hardware seller/manufacturer where the warranties are different for different parts of the computer.
They rarely get viruses or have issues with spyware and adware.
And the whole idea that they are for people that "don't know how to use PC's" is ludicrous. Just because they target that audience and people buy into the idea that they are more user friendly doesn't mean they aren't capable of doing everything a PC is capable of doing and then some. There are programs and utilities that are written for Mac that are just as complicated and hard to understand as a PC based system's programs/utilities, yet for some reason PC elitists seem to think the Mac sucks just because THEY don't understand it.
Don't get me wrong, Mac's have their downfalls too, such as an insanely high price point, lack of gaming software (which isn't necessarily their fault), and a culture of equally elitist Mac user's that seem to think they are gods because they use a Mac. But that doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than the other, it's like apples and oranges. The real dumb asses are the ones that try to compare the two.
D3D
_________________________________
This recent reply did intrigue me and I've found that you CAN run Mac OS X on a PC, however, it's a little different than vice versa. Where on a Mac, you can physically install the Windows operating system and run it as an actual OS, the only way (from what little research I've done) to get Mac OS X on a PC is to run it virtually which isn't necessarily the same thing.
Therefore, I still stand by my previous statements about Mac while recanting the statement that you cannot run Mac OS on a PC. It IS possible, but keep in mind it is still only virtual and you cannot boot into Mac OS X from your PC, only run it virtually once you've already booted to Windows.
It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Microsoft being the market leader and a corporate giant so they basically have bullseye painted on them for hackers. Mac's are so insignificant that most hacker's won't waste their time developing a virus that won't reach many people.
Don't tell people to cut the PC is better than Mac stuff beacuse this is a gaming forum and guess what?... PC's are better than Mac's for gaming so people should be advised against getting a Mac if they are planning to do alot of gaming.
Even getting a console like the 360 would do you better for gaming than getting a Mac.
In regards to Macs rarely getting virus... I'd have to respectfully disagree with your reason. It is because Mac OSX is based upon BSD Unix. Unix/Linux is infinitely more secure than any Microsoft product. MS uses a security through obscurity model. Another reason why everything they do is proprietary closed source code. There is a reason why the majority of web servers out there are POSIX based.
In regards to your comment of PC's being better for gaming than a Mac... I agree. If a machine's only purpose is to game, then a PC is by far the best bet.
"...and with that cryptic comment, I'm off to bed!"
Just because PC's have a larger share of the market, doesn't mean that's why they have more hackers attacking them. PC's are easier to hack and write viruses/spyware for because of the way the Windows OS is built. This would not change even if Macs had 90% of the market share and Windows based PC's carried the other 10%.
I do agree with you though that PC's are a better gaming machine and that wasn't the point of my thread. The person I was responding to was asking what a Mac can do that a PC can't. As far as gaming is concerned, PC's out weigh Mac's primarily because of their customizability and as I stated in my previous post that there simply isn't as much gaming software out there for Macs right now. The main reason for this is that Mac keeps their OS source code somewhat secret, and doesn't let you into the System BIOS at all so if you want to write gaming software for them, you have to first write it in whatever language is comfortable to you, then basically hand it over to them to have them convert it to something that is operable on OS X. As a result, most gaming companies say screw it and write the software for ONLY Windows.
This isn't to say that a Mac can't "handle" the graphics/audio/processing a game would require. The comparison for gaming is obvious, it's like saying:
"Which is better for playing my game a Mac or a PC?"
--"Well, the game is made only for PC, so I would have to say PC."
However, this is different from
"Which is a superior computer/OS, Mac or PC?"
This debate could go on forever, as I stated before because there are numerous advantages and disadvantages to each. I understand this is a gaming forum, and as such, I WOULD recommend for the purposes of playing Warhammer Online, purchasing a PC. However, if it was made for both a Mac and a PC I would say it's basically a user preference thing at that point and not a performance issue.