Topic: Valve Invents OSX Gaming (Read 11744 times)

Ozymandias · « **on:** 03 Mar 2010, 17:12 »

Well, "invent" might be too strong a word, but it's not that far off. Steam is coming to Macs and, with it, Valve cornering a near monopoly on Mac gaming, opening the door for other developers to follow suit.

That's fairly big news on its own. What's super awesome are the ads that are accompanying this announcement:

If you can't read the fifth one:

Quote

"Introducing Steam. For the rest of us.

In the olden days, people had to go to stores to buy games. It was awful. Not many people knew how.
And not many people wanted to learn. Seminars. Wallet Manuals. Walking classes. Remembering to carry
money. It was so complicated you'd have to be a store expert to understand it all.

But then, on a bright day in Bellevue, Seattle, the people who didn't go to stores got together with the
people who make things for money to figure out a solution. After half an hour nobody had come up with
any ideas, and tempers were running high. Then somebody had an idea: they should get into a fight.

Later, at the hospital, a doctor said, "You guys should really invent something that lets you buy games
without leaving the house." Everybody told him he should shut up if he didn't want a fat lip. "Man, I
don't want a fat lip," the doctor thought, so he didn't say anything more about it.

A couple of days later, though, everybody agreed that mouthy doctor might have been onto something,
and so they built a thing that let them buy games on their computers without leaving the house.

"There's different types of computers, though," said one guy. "We'll figure that out later," said another guy.

And, years later, they did."

scarred · « **Reply #1 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 17:14 »

Of all the companies to monopolize Mac gaming, I'm OK with it being Valve.

As long as I can still play Starcraft 2, when it comes out in 2016.

JD · « **Reply #2 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 17:20 »

Those are some clever ads

KvP · « **Reply #3 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 17:42 »

I'm wondering how they'll get over the OpenGL hump. A Steam platform for the Mac is all well and good but Steam isn't what a Mac OS needs to play games, ultimately.

Catfish_Man · « **Reply #4 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 18:39 »

Somewhere Blizzard sheds a tear for deeds unremembered.

McTaggart · « **Reply #5 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 19:28 »

I knew that's what they were doing when the steam ui beta switched from ie to webkit. Still, is it Steam coming to osx or Steam bringing games to osx?

Ozymandias · « **Reply #6 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 21:29 »

Both. I imagine this also represents the Orange Box coming to OSX.

Be My Head · « **Reply #7 on:** 03 Mar 2010, 22:00 »

Quote from: KvP on 03 Mar 2010, 17:42

I'm wondering how they'll get over the OpenGL hump. A Steam platform for the Mac is all well and good but Steam isn't what a Mac OS needs to play games, ultimately.

Well if they do somehow make all of those games run on OpenGL that means we can play them on other Unix based systems.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #8 on:** 04 Mar 2010, 02:30 »

Oh man this would be so fucking awesome if the GPU in my Macbook wasn't a fat pile of dogs bollocks

Buttfranklin · « **Reply #9 on:** 04 Mar 2010, 13:50 »

David_Dovey took the words straight out of my mouth. I wish he'd put them back.

But yes, my GMA 950 can only handle Warcraft III on Medium. (It can run Neverwinter Nights on maximum, but that's not saying much.)

Zingoleb · « **Reply #10 on:** 04 Mar 2010, 20:53 »

Quote from: Catfish_Man on 03 Mar 2010, 18:39

Somewhere Blizzard sheds a tear for deeds unremembered.

I still like Warcraft II more than III.

This is going to be pretty bitchin'. My computer's like 10 years old, though...still running a G4 model from 2000. We'll see how everything matches up.

jhocking · « **Reply #11 on:** 05 Mar 2010, 05:14 »

I came to post this news in the thread asking about Mac games, but I see it's already been posted. My laptop is pretty excited about possibly getting Portal.

Tom · « **Reply #12 on:** 05 Mar 2010, 11:37 »

Sweet.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #13 on:** 05 Mar 2010, 11:47 »

Quote from: jhocking on 05 Mar 2010, 05:14

My laptop is pretty excited about possibly getting Portal.

Hopefully it runs okay.

I hear those emotion generators take up a lot of RAM, or something.

messeduplilkid · « **Reply #14 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 01:03 »

Not sure if I'm the only one wondering this... but wasn't the solution to Mac gaming Boot Camp?

And since this is gonna be for games of the Half Life 2- era (Portal, TF2, ect), won't you need decent specs to play on it? IE: the later Intel based compys?

I suppose a powermac g5 could run this stuff pretty well. But I can't think of anything below that threshold that'll have enough power to run modern games.

KvP · « **Reply #15 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 01:20 »

You don't really need a hog to play Source games, seeing as the engine's so old. It might've needed a formidable rig like 6 years ago. I think the Macbooks at the very least should be able to handle it.

jhocking · « **Reply #16 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 06:16 »

Quote from: KvP on 03 Mar 2010, 17:42

I'm wondering how they'll get over the OpenGL hump.

Well part of any OpenGL hump is Microsoft propaganda, like how they tried to use propaganda about DirectX 10 to get everyone to switch to Vista. Or who knows, maybe Apple is bribing them to care about Mac all of a sudden.

Quote from: messeduplilkid on 07 Mar 2010, 01:03

won't you need decent specs to play on it? IE: the later Intel based compys?
I suppose a powermac g5 could run this stuff pretty well. But I can't think of anything below that threshold that'll have enough power to run modern games.

This is kind of an odd point, since it's not like PC gamers expect to run modern games on 5 year old computers. Most hardcore PC gamers have a ridiculous obsession with cutting edge hardware that leads them to consider videocards obsolete after 1 year.

Anyway I would doubt Valve is planning to port Source to G5 chips. I can't think of many software developers going to the trouble of building universal binaries these days because, well, there's not much value in supporting 5 year old computers unless you're writing software for schools to use.

messeduplilkid · « **Reply #17 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 11:35 »

Sorry if I wasn't clear Joe.

I'm just confused, because I have a first gen and second gen Macbook... and via bootcamp neither runs counter strike source well at all (even with an overtly modified exec file).

What would be the point in having valve port their games over to open GL when they could just ask us to use boot camp? As you said this isn't going to be for people on old power pc chips. The people that CAN play games (like portal 2 that's been announced for os x) will or should or can have boot camp. Is it really that inconvenient to restart your computer and hold the option key?

I mean, Catfish Man made an excellent point, Blizzard and even Bungie released games for the Apple crowd. But the point I'm trying to make is: with the advent of Intel Chips aren't we blurring the lines between how accessible these games are? Aren't these games easily accessible already?

But all in all, I'm not COMPLAINING. And I know I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth. I'm just so confused over why someone would spend money on porting these games over?

Tom · « **Reply #18 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 11:43 »

Wait, isn't the steam platform for OSX just going to be like a habitat for windows-game associated files removing the need for people to have to use Bootcamp/Parallels + a MS OS inorder to play games on their Mac?

Ozymandias · « **Reply #19 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 11:45 »

They haven't said what it actually is. That seems pretty hard though since (almost) all modern computer games run on Direct X which is a Microsoft platform and not in OSX.

Dimmukane · « **Reply #20 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 16:23 »

Gizmodo had some scans of the new Game Informer that showed Portal 2 was coming out for Macs. Just puttin' that out there.

bicostp · « **Reply #21 on:** 07 Mar 2010, 16:37 »

Quote from: KvP on 07 Mar 2010, 01:20

You don't really need a hog to play Source games, seeing as the engine's so old.

Remember, they've been constantly working on the Source engine since it was released. Left 4 Dead 2 doesn't run on the same exact version of Source that Counter-Strike does (or even TF2 for that matter). My laptop can run Half-Life 2 just fine, but it chokes on TF2 and can't run Left 4 Dead 1 at all. (Its Radeon x200m doesn't fully support DirectX 9.0c.) Granted Source is nowhere near as demanding as CryEngine, but it's not the same engine it was in 2003.

As far as I remember, the newer Macbooks should have GeForce 9400m graphics and Core 2 processors; they should be able to run these games fine. (According to YouTube, they do under Boot Camp.)

Ozymandias · « **Reply #22 on:** 08 Mar 2010, 12:30 »

It's been confirmed that all Source games are being ported (Half-Life 2 to Portal 2), that they're native ports, and that Steam Play will allow anyone who bought the PC version to also have the Mac version free of charge (and vice versa).

Tom · « **Reply #23 on:** 09 Mar 2010, 11:27 »

Looks like i'll keep having to emulate.

Buttfranklin · « **Reply #24 on:** 10 Mar 2010, 12:33 »

Quote from: Ozymandias on 08 Mar 2010, 12:30

It's been confirmed that all Source games are being ported (Half-Life 2 to Portal 2), that they're native ports, and that Steam Play will allow anyone who bought the PC version to also have the Mac version free of charge (and vice versa).

Three words: fucking awesome

Tom · « **Reply #25 on:** 09 Jun 2010, 16:46 »

JD · « **Reply #26 on:** 09 Jun 2010, 17:30 »

That is a very shiny hat

Ozymandias · « **Reply #27 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 14:50 »

TF2 Mac Update is Live and Fucking Awesome

Watch the video! Read the comic! Get some earbuds!

jhocking · « **Reply #28 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 15:39 »

Quote from: Ozymandias on 10 Jun 2010, 14:50

TF2 Mac Update is Live and Fucking Awesome

Watch the video! Read the comic! Get some earbuds!

The visual history comic is amazing.

jhocking · « **Reply #29 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 15:51 »

So how do these free weekends work? I just went to Steam and I don't see any link to download the game, only purchase.

Ozymandias · « **Reply #30 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 15:54 »

Go to your library, it should already be there. Just double click it and it'll download.

jhocking · « **Reply #31 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 16:31 »

sweet, thanks

est · « **Reply #32 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 16:41 »

PROPERTY DAMAGE!

JD · « **Reply #33 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 17:03 »

BRAVE PRESS!

JD · « **Reply #34 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 17:04 »

Also did you see that bitching shotgun the red engie had?

It has a scope

Tom · « **Reply #35 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 17:08 »

I HAVE EXAMS

David_Dovey · « **Reply #36 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 20:33 »

BUT IT IS MINE AND AAAGGHH IT IS ON FIRE

bicostp · « **Reply #37 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 23:03 »

They limited mat_picmip to -1 and made the interface godawful.

McTaggart · « **Reply #38 on:** 10 Jun 2010, 23:33 »

What'd they do to the interface? I haven't had it installed for a while so I can't check on mine.

bicostp · « **Reply #39 on:** 11 Jun 2010, 07:31 »

Before:

After:

(Minus the chat notification and Fraps counter)

However it only took a couple hours for someone on the Steam forum to make the menu much nicer:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1302097

And a short while after that, an emulation of the old menu:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1303356

EDIT: It puts up all the help bubbles by default, and I don't see an option to disable them at the moment, so the only way to get rid of them is to go through the entire interface closing them individually. :\

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Valve Invents OSX Gaming (Read 11744 times)

Zingoleb