Will there be a MAC beta program?

[Photron]

Since the beta program will be closing in a few days, and I will be playing ED on my iMac as soon as it becomes available, is there more information on how the beta program (if there will be one) will work for OS X based computers?

Will MAC users get all the benefits the PC users did if we buy into the beta now, or should we just wait and get the final release this next spring?

Thanks

 

[Asp Explorer]

I'm not sure there will be a Mac beta as such - so far the beta has been used to work out gameplay, balance, and networking issues - none of which should significantly change with Elite running on OSX instead of Windows.

I think there will be a short period of "Mac Client ready - please install and see if it works!" but I don't imagine it will be very lengthy.

 

[Draven Darken]

The next to most recent newsletter (#48) indicated pretty clearly that anyone who joins the beta program now will also be automatically added to the Mac beta program when it gets underway. So I would say the answer is most likely "yes". That's exactly why I joined, in fact … I don't have any Windows systems even remotely capable of running ED in my house, and I couldn't bear to wait all the way until the Mac version's release to experience the game. (Fortunately for FD, I'm also a pretty good beta tester if I dare say so myself.)

Quoting from the newsletter:

This also means that the benefits to being an Alpha and Beta backer are extended to anyone who wants to play on Mac if they have joined the Beta before it closes on November 22nd. They will also automatically become part of the Mac Beta (details yet to be released) when that process is started, at no additional charge.

 

[Photron]

Thanks all. Mystic, are you running ED in bootcamp? If so, how well is it running on your MAC hardware? I have a late 2012 iMac (3.4 GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB, GeForce GTX 680MX). I'm really hoping this will be enough to get good FPS. I'm assuming because ED will be using OpenGL instead DirectX 11 on MAC systems, the visuals will not be as good as on the PC.

 

[Draven Darken]

Thanks all. Mystic, are you running ED in bootcamp? If so, how well is it running on your MAC hardware? I have a late 2012 iMac (3.4 GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB, GeForce GTX 680MX). I'm really hoping this will be enough to get good FPS. I'm assuming because ED will be using OpenGL instead DirectX 11 on MAC systems, the visuals will not be as good as on the PC.

No, I'm not running it at all yet, sorry. I don't use Bootcamp because I can't abide the thought of having a Windows OS on one of my beloved Macs. Heck, I need to VPN to my Windows workstation at the office on a daily basis, and I even do that via an Ubuntu VM just to have that extra layer of protection.

As far as the graphics quality goes, my understanding is that FD uses their own graphics engine that can leverage either DirectX or OpenGL under the hood. As such, they may already be limiting themselves to graphics capabilities that are present in both APIs, so the visual difference may not be as large as you fear. But we'll just have to wait and see, huh?

 

[Asp Explorer]

I don't use Bootcamp because I can't abide the thought of having a Windows OS on one of my beloved Macs.

I'm the exact opposite - I only use Bootcamp because I can't abide having to use OSX on a lovely small metal machine like my air. I'd completely wipe the disk and run Windows only, but the airport utility is nasty on windows. Pity the screen is rubbish though

 

[Draven Darken]

I'm the exact opposite - I only use Bootcamp because I can't abide having to use OSX on a lovely small metal machine like my air. I'd completely wipe the disk and run Windows only, but the airport utility is nasty on windows. Pity the screen is rubbish though

Proof that it takes all kinds.