aka_tom_w Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 Apple web link on game development... Bringing Games to Intel Based Macs.. When Apple made the announcement that future Macintosh computers would use Intel processors and that developers must convert their applications to universal binaries, Aspyr's developers immediately began thinking about what they would need to do to get their games ready. Their first task was to decide how to prioritize titles for the conversion to universal binaries. Aspyr's products include many of the most popular in the Mac game market, and their large library of games—each with its own, often fanatical, user base—has been built over several years of Mac software and hardware releases. There was a lot they needed to consider in prioritizing and creating their transition plan. Aspyr has always understood the benefits of keeping up with Apple's ongoing hardware and software improvements, so their response to the move to Intel-based Macintosh computers and universal binaries wasn't surprising. As Director of Development Glenda Adams explains, “We have to be able to ship games in 2006 and beyond as universal binaries. We need to update some older games to run natively on Intel, so switching to Xcode, making the effort to build universal binaries, and then testing on both platforms is vital.” With their commitment to the platform and clear understanding of the technologies, Adams and her developers began setting their transition priorities. They looked at a variety of criteria: the resources they had available, the revenue they forecast from the sales of each title, and finally, the time required to update each title. Another key factor was the release date of the game. The newest games were generally the highest priority, and there were some older games that could clearly be assigned a lower priority. The games in the "in-between" category were the hardest to prioritize. These they examined on a game-by-game basis, and prioritized by looking at each product's details. Creating the First Universal Binaries In general, it was the most recently released games that Aspyr has focused on first. These are not only among the most important to Aspyr as products, they also tend to require tremendous processor and system resources. These games had to be transitioned to universal binaries as soon as possible in order to be playable at top speed on Intel-based as well as on PowerPC-based Macintosh computers. The Aspyr team got a few Developer Transition Systems from the Apple Developer Connection transitionkit.html link and set to work. The development system has the preview release of Mac OS X Tiger on Intel pre-installed, allowing you to run, verify, and debug your Universal Binary application. more news for BFC to ponder... Using MacDX (Direct-X® Interface for Mac OS) you can bring your product to the Mac OS platform without having to totally redevelop it. With plenty of information and published documentation available, the Direct-X® interface is one of the most popular interfaces around. Simply compile your product source with your choice of Mac OS development environment, link in the MacDX - now you have your Mac OS version. The MacDX interface has been specially developed to support a wide selection of machine types and OS versions. MacDX provides the key to your timely and efficient DirectX to Mac OS development.web page this is interesting: How animated building blocks work to make PC to Mac Game code transition really simple... web page to see animated blocks move around to suggest game code is EASY to migrate your thoughts? -tom w [ November 03, 2005, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Cairns Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 Good stuff but does it suggest that all those people with none intel Macs will be bypassed and BF will launch for Intel in say July.. As I havve no plans to upgrade for at least a year, that would mean no CM:SF for me till mid 2007. Peter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka_tom_w Posted November 3, 2005 Author Share Posted November 3, 2005 no no .. the game code should work on both intel and IBM G5 processors if I understand this whole issue correctly :confused: -tom w 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 universal binaries ... playable ... on Intel-based as well as on PowerPC-based Macintosh computers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucero1148 Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 That's good but what about those with G4 processors and which models? All best Patrick 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 Those of us with G4s are probably going to be too slow anyway. The good news is that there is likely to be a big price drop on G5s by spring. And a 2.7GHz DP might just make it. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 Last time I looked in my desktop OSX/apple menu/about this mac/processor it said I had a PowerPC G4. Same goes for G3 in my ibook, so universal binary coded apps will in theory run on them but if relatively 'lower end' machines have got the ooomph, as Michael pointed out, to run future OSs and apps is another story. Originally posted by lucero1148: That's good but what about those with G4 processors and which models? All best Patrick [ November 04, 2005, 12:51 AM: Message edited by: Wicky ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.