Mac Version?

[Draven Darken]

You know, I just realized there is another reason why Bootcamp isn't a reasonable option for me: I have an Apogee Duet 2-based audio system, which is Mac-only (no Windows drivers available). Since the sound design of ED is one of the high points, I want to be able to experience ED through my quality sound system (the Duet 2 driving Equator D8 monitors), not constrained to only hearing it through the iMac's internal speakers. I only wish I'd remembered that fact yesterday and could have related it to David in response to his Bootcamp comment.

I do agree that there is a current of people doubting anything Frontier says in the wake of the offline debacle that is going too far. I am still choosing to believe that they will be as good as their word about the Mac version ... I mean, other than the offline issue, it seems to me like they've been doing pretty well overall in the area of meeting expectations.

 

[Azimuth]

They have clearly indicated that there will be a MAC version numerous times in the last couple of weeks. It was in the newsletter, and it was in DB's most recent Q&A.

I really hope people stop making posts about speculating what isn't going to happen.... like they decide on removing on thing from the game because it would be literally creating a second game... now people are going nuts over every minute details speculating that it will be removed.

A port to another computer operating system is essentially a second game too - it would require a lot more ongoing development work, not to mention QA. I expect the decision on whether the Mac port goes ahead will rely on sales of the PC version of ED as it launches, and whether they think the Mac market is large enough to support the costs.

 

[DrSpin]

A port to another computer operating system is essentially a second game too - it would require a lot more ongoing development work, not to mention QA. I expect the decision on whether the Mac port goes ahead will rely on sales of the PC version of ED as it launches, and whether they think the Mac market is large enough to support the costs.

I'm guessing you're not a coder or a lawyer? They have stated (in newsletter #48) that there will be a mac version, and that buying the PC version will get you access to it. They seriously can't just drop that now.

It's also not the case that it's essentially a second game - assuming they designed it with ports in mind, most of the non-graphics code should be factorised in such a way that it cross compiles. It's for sure a lot of work (which is why I seriously hope that they've started already) but doable.

I'm choosing to remain optimistic here.

 

[Azimuth]

I'm guessing you're not a coder or a lawyer? They have stated (in newsletter #48) that there will be a mac version, and that buying the PC version will get you access to it. They seriously can't just drop that now.

It's also not the case that it's essentially a second game - assuming they designed it with ports in mind, most of the non-graphics code should be factorised in such a way that it cross compiles. It's for sure a lot of work (which is why I seriously hope that they've started already) but doable.

I'm choosing to remain optimistic here.

I'm entirely aware of how much work (development and QA) branching a codebase creates, and the recent Q&A session did not fill me with confidence. They could certainly lessen the impact if they'd designed the game from the start with ports in mind, but we know they've not been able to do that with offline mode, and we know that Frontier are prioritising the richness of the world above all else.

Congratulations on remaining optimistic, though

 

[DrSpin]

I'm entirely aware of how much work (development and QA) branching a codebase creates, and the recent Q&A session did not fill me with confidence. They could certainly lessen the impact if they'd designed the game from the start with ports in mind, but we know they've not been able to do that with offline mode, and we know that Frontier are prioritising the richness of the world above all else.

Congratulations on remaining optimistic, though

Thanks. ;-)

But seriously, I can sort of imagine why 'offline' would require changes to code logic. Porting should just be related to encapsulation i.e. fairly basic good design (the graphics engine would worry me though, but this is far outside my expertise and I hope they considered it early on).

Edit: as an aside, I'm saying they hopefully SHOULDN'T need to branch the codebase. I've written code which compiles fine under OSX and Linux. It took a few nasty preprocessor commands in a few places, but nothing awful.

 

[quantumsheep]

I'm running ED on a 3yr old Macbook Pro with half a gig on the graphics - it runs fine for me (I'm as surprised as you are!)

I have to say, following Mister Braben's question/answer thread, I did start to doubt if we'd ever see a native Mac version. I just found the responses to the offline question and to the Mac question quite similar:

With regard to offline:
"Have you played the game? Why is the offline (as opposed to single player, which I understand) mode so important to you?"

With regard to Mac:
"Why are you against Bootcamp? I use it all the time on my laptop."

It just feels, to me, like he just doesn't 'get' it. As if he's confuzzled as to why on Earth people would do things differently to him.

It just set off alarm bells in my sheepy head

In the meantime, I will forgo the 'quality of life' reasons for having a native Mac version and play on Bootcamp, as it's currently the only way to do it. But will be switching to native Mac as soon as is possible!

QS =D

 

[CMDRKILLEN]

I'm running ED on a 3yr old Macbook Pro with half a gig on the graphics - it runs fine for me (I'm as surprised as you are!)

I have to say, following Mister Braben's question/answer thread, I did start to doubt if we'd ever see a native Mac version. I just found the responses to the offline question and to the Mac question quite similar:

With regard to offline:
"Have you played the game? Why is the offline (as opposed to single player, which I understand) mode so important to you?"

With regard to Mac:
"Why are you against Bootcamp? I use it all the time on my laptop."

It just feels, to me, like he just doesn't 'get' it. As if he's confuzzled as to why on Earth people would do things differently to him.

It just set off alarm bells in my sheepy head

In the meantime, I will forgo the 'quality of life' reasons for having a native Mac version and play on Bootcamp, as it's currently the only way to do it. But will be switching to native Mac as soon as is possible!

QS =D

Hi, i've been searching these forums for ages to find someone with the same setup as me and i think from your starting comment you may have the same machine I'm dying to play this game. I'm not after spectacular graphics and i know it will be limited but can you tell me how it performs under bootcamp. I'm just starting to bootcamp my machine and any advice would be appreciated

My Spec:
MacBook Pro
13-inch Late 2011
Proc: 2.8 core i7
Mem:8gb
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 512MB

Cheers

 

[Draven Darken]

You know, I just realized there is another reason why Bootcamp isn't a reasonable option for me: I have an Apogee Duet 2-based audio system, which is Mac-only (no Windows drivers available).

Updating the above … things have changed. A lot. And for the better.

Upon beginning to suspect that the originally estimated three months turnaround for a Mac version might have been optimistic, I began to feel that I really couldn't bring myself to wait that long. So I've now done something that I had previously sworn I would never do, which is to buy a copy of MS Windows again. And then to do something else I never thought I would do, which is to actually create a Bootcamp partition and install said Windows version on one of my Macs. Only Elite Dangerous could ever have convinced me to do either one of these things.

As far as the sound issue I mentioned earlier is concerned, it occurred to me just today, as I was getting the Bootcamp partition going, that I had an old set of less accurate, retired studio monitor speakers (Tannoy PBM-8s) sitting in the closet, along with an unused reference amp. Well, since I don't really need studio-quality audio accuracy for the game, just some reasonably good consumer-level sound, I rewired up those old Tannoys as a 2nd monitoring pair and am driving them directly from the iMac's own audio output. This sounds plenty good enough to make ED sound great!

Long story short - I just finished several of the tutorials for ED after getting it up and running a couple of hours ago, and the result is that I am deliriously happy right now, albeit still confused about some of the control mappings. So I'm back on the forums this afternoon to look up some information on that and hopefully get my CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle completely set up. My thanks to those of you who pushed me towards finally seriously considering using Bootcamp … as a result, the week-long vacation I just embarked upon will be filled with the sounds of a Sidey knifing through the cosmos (at least until I can trade up!)

Life is good!