I was wandering about Planet Coaster compatibility. I know that it doesn't support Apple software, but Apple just announced their new release of the new iMac Pro (December 2017) with much better processor and graphics cards that support 4k video, 3D modeling, game development and more. Is it possible that Planet Coaster could actually be made for a Mac now, when they release this new Mac computer? Also, I was looking into purchasing an Dell Alienware PC or Laptop is Planet Coaster compatible with all Alienware models? Because I might purchase the laptop so I don't have to pay the price for a desktop PC
Plannet Coaster expanded???
- Thread starter Swanda
- Start date
Mac support is not going to happen. It's not about their hardware not being strong enough though. Mac OS has outdated support for modern graphics technologies used in many games, including Planet Coaster. To make the game run on Mac OS Frontier has to make many compromises and sacrifices that will bring down the quality of the game, and even then, the amount of people who actually use a Mac for gaming is too small to make it worth all the extra spent time.
Alienware is just a brand of computers using the Windows OS, so they do support Planet Coaster (as long as the hardware of the particular model you are interested in meets the minimum requirements of the game, of course). You say you might be interested to purchase a laptop because you don't want to pay the price of a desktop? What do you exactly mean by this? Desktops are a lot cheaper than gaming laptops, a lot. Especially Alienware computers are extremely overpriced (just like Apple [tongue]). If you would build your own desktop it would be even more cheaper.
Alienware is just a brand of computers using the Windows OS, so they do support Planet Coaster (as long as the hardware of the particular model you are interested in meets the minimum requirements of the game, of course). You say you might be interested to purchase a laptop because you don't want to pay the price of a desktop? What do you exactly mean by this? Desktops are a lot cheaper than gaming laptops, a lot. Especially Alienware computers are extremely overpriced (just like Apple [tongue]). If you would build your own desktop it would be even more cheaper.
As Chems notes, the issue with the Mac is not with the hardware, but with the graphics APIs they provide. Currently the version of OpenGL that is shipped with OSX does not support the features that Planet Coaster requires, and while Metal is better it still doesn't have strong support for compute shaders. The next versions of OSX should ship with Metal 2, which *may* be more suited to a game like Planet Coaster, but it would still require a lot of research and development work for Frontier to first determine if it's capable, and if so, port the engine to support it. This is likely to be a lot of work, so I wouldn't get your hopes up for a native port of the game any time soon (if at all).
As always, Bootcamp is probably the best bet for running Planet Coaster on a Mac.
As always, Bootcamp is probably the best bet for running Planet Coaster on a Mac.
^ Forgot to mention Bootcamp. It is a great way to game on a Mac, especially now since their hardware is getting better. You don't need to purchase Windows 10 either. The free unactivated version restricts the ability to personalize your desktop, etc, but otherwise gives full Windows 10 functionality to play games. You likely will use Mac OS for regular use and Windows only for playing games anyway.
Does anybody have any experience running PC on the 27' imacs? And whether the new maxed out 27' 2017 model would run PC to a good level. Played it on an older Macbook pro and didnt run very well. So hoping to the new 27' will run it better. Any response is helpful and appreciated! CHEERS
