OS X Are you going to play Windows or OS X version of Elite: Dangerous?

[steve62388]

Hi fellow Elite: Dangerous player,

Are you going to Beta test the Mac version?

I'm very excited to see the release of Elite: Dangerous on OS X, I'm tired of constantly rebooting back and forth between OS X and Windows. Given you're a fellow Mac user, like me you're probably not a massive fan of Windows.

To get the best possible game, free of bugs and optimised for OS X we must all support it is as much as possible. That means Beta testing, providing good feedback and continuing to run the OS X version after release.

If we stick together and show Frontier Development they have a decent Mac base we will get the game we hope for. That might mean compromising a little bit on performance initially, but hopefully that will only temporary if FD see they have an active and vocal Mac community. If we abandon it to run the Windows version basic economics will take hold and FD won't spend the time and resources to optimise the game for OS X.

What are your thoughts?

 

[shaunp]

I've bought the windows version, but haven't had time to shut everything down and reboot into Windows to play it - I didn't realise an OS X version had been released, but I do now so thanks for posting.

 

[fat jez]

I'll definitely give the OSX Beta a go, although the spec of my MacBook Pro is much lower than that of my PC (8 core processor, 2x Radeon HD7970s in Crossfire) so I'm not expect the performance to be anything to write home about.

 

[fat jez]

I didn't realise an OS X version had been released, but I do now so thanks for posting.

It's not out yet. The OSX beta is due some time mid to late March.

 

[steve62388]

I've bought the windows version, but haven't had time to shut everything down and reboot into Windows to play it - I didn't realise an OS X version had been released, but I do now so thanks for posting.

As a previous poster mentioned, it's not out yet. But because you bought the Windows version you will be getting the Mac version for free.

Hopefully the Beta will be out soonish, and I'm definitely going to run it and help out with the bug testing.

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I'll definitely give the OSX Beta a go, although the spec of my MacBook Pro is much lower than that of my PC (8 core processor, 2x Radeon HD7970s in Crossfire) so I'm not expect the performance to be anything to write home about.

What's your MBP spec? Considering it's a brand new game I have been pleasantly surprised at how low the system requirements are for ED. On my iMac with M295X I can run it at 2560*1440, no AA, all other settings to max and get 60fps in space (Vsync locked so that would be the maximum anyway) and 40fps inside Space Stations.

I think that's pretty darn good for mobile GPU.

 

[fat jez]

What's your MBP spec?

2011 MBP. 2.3GHz quad i7, Radeon 6750M graphics, 16GB of RAM.

 

[steve62388]

2011 MBP. 2.3GHz quad i7, Radeon 6750M graphics, 16GB of RAM.

It will be interesting to see how that goes, it's lower res than my iMac so that will help.

Don't get too discouraged in the Beta, FD should be able to wring out more performance as time goes on.

 

[Janichsan]

I will definitely give the beta a go and decide then. I'd prefer to play under OS X.

 

[Huntn]

I play on Windows because my PC gaming rig is newer and faster than my MBP and cost all most half as much as a Mac with equivalent capabilities (if there is a Mac with equivalent capabilities). For clarification I'm speaking specifically about gaming. Otherwise, my Mac is my main computer for everything else.

 

[whooleytoo]

I set up BootCamp just for this game. It's a bit of a pain, I'd love to play in OSX so hopefully the performance will be pretty close (I only have a 1GB GT 750M).

I think the my HOTAS setup should work even on the Mac version, but I'm getting a TrackIR and I'm not sure about that. It's about weighing up the convenience of a Mac version vs the performance and "accessories" that I might lose on the Mac side. My Mac's a bit marginal on performance as it is (it chugs in a few spots) so I can't really afford for it to be much slower.

 

[fat jez]

It will be interesting to see how that goes, it's lower res than my iMac so that will help.

Don't get too discouraged in the Beta, FD should be able to wring out more performance as time goes on.

screen res is 1680x1050. It manages most games in Windows as long as the settings are turned down.

 

[steve62388]

I set up BootCamp just for this game. It's a bit of a pain, I'd love to play in OSX so hopefully the performance will be pretty close (I only have a 1GB GT 750M).

I think the my HOTAS setup should work even on the Mac version, but I'm getting a TrackIR and I'm not sure about that. It's about weighing up the convenience of a Mac version vs the performance and "accessories" that I might lose on the Mac side. My Mac's a bit marginal on performance as it is (it chugs in a few spots) so I can't really afford for it to be much slower.

Yeah, I'm hoping the performance is good too. If Aspyr can do a decent Borderlands port then fingers crossed FD can.

I was thinking about buying a Saitek X52 just for ED, but I had worries about OS X support and lack of space on my desk. Now I'm used to playing with a X360 controller I'll probably stick with that. It can be a pain sometimes having to reach for the keyboard but I think I'll live with it.

 

[Oudinot]

If I were to play it you can bet your hippy it would not be the windows version of anything.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

If I were to play it you can bet your hippy it would not be the windows version of anything.

Amen. lol

I wasn't paying any attention to this game at all because I thought it was only for windows which means it would not be for me. Given this news, I will wait to hear how the Mac port shakes out, etc. and maybe take the plunge at some point.

I did just visit the official site after reading the wikipedia page about the game and I must say it does look very good. I hope the Mac version launch goes smoothly and the game does well whether or not i find time for it myself.

 

[cerote]

I can't wait for the OS X version release.

 

[steve62388]

Amen. lol

I wasn't paying any attention to this game at all because I thought it was only for windows which means it would not be for me. Given this news, I will wait to hear how the Mac port shakes out, etc. and maybe take the plunge at some point.

I did just visit the official site after reading the wikipedia page about the game and I must say it does look very good. I hope the Mac version launch goes smoothly and the game does well whether or not i find time for it myself.

I really like it. The good news is that by the time the Mac version is released some of the things people felt were missing from launch will already be available.

I'm hoping it does well because there are so many more cool features they could add to the game. It's a decent base but the potential is huge. It also has a very active community over at the official forums which is always a good sign.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

I really like it. The good news is that by the time the Mac version is released some of the things people felt were missing from launch will already be available.

I'm hoping it does well because there are so many more cool features they could add to the game. It's a decent base but the potential is huge. It also has a very active community over at the official forums which is always a good sign.

That sounds good. It appears that even though it is a persistent online world they are going with the Guild Wars model of buy it once and just play? I couldn't find anything about having to pay a sub which would instantly kill it for me. I am not doing that for any game anymore.

 

[steve62388]

That sounds good. It appears that even though it is a persistent online world they are going with the Guild Wars model of buy it once and just play? I couldn't find anything about having to pay a sub which would instantly kill it for me. I am not doing that for any game anymore.

That's correct, buy once no subscription model. At the moment they sell extras in their online store which are paint jobs for your ships.

But they will charge for major upgrades. For example there is a goal to allow planetary landings and and all that brings, FD (Frontier Development) have said that is an example of the sort of thing that will go into a major update. I assume it wouldn't be compulsory to buy it, you would just miss out on that feature.

 

[roadbloc]

Neither.

But if I was to play the game, Windows version all the way. Gaming on Windows is far better than gaming on OS X. Even on the same hardware.

 

[Huntn]

I really like it. The good news is that by the time the Mac version is released some of the things people felt were missing from launch will already be available.

I'm hoping it does well because there are so many more cool features they could add to the game. It's a decent base but the potential is huge. It also has a very active community over at the official forums which is always a good sign.

What is to be added in the near future? So far the parts of the game that exist work well. Flying fidelity and graphics are pretty good

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That's correct, buy once no subscription model. At the moment they sell extras in their online store which are paint jobs for your shops.

But they will charge for major upgrades. For example there is a goal to allow planetary landings and and all that brings, FD (Frontier Development) have said that is an example of the sort of thing that will go into a major update. I assume it wouldn't be compulsory to buy it, you would just miss out on that feature.

A near future game has this feature, No Man's Sky. For ED, I wonder how in depth the world's will be and what activities? I assume exploration, possibly mining. NMS has new species identification.

 

[steve62388]

Neither.

But if I was to play the game, Windows version all the way. Gaming on Windows is far better than gaming on OS X. Even on the same hardware.

I'm not sure this has to be the case assuming the graphics drivers are up to date. But then again when I used to run Windows pretty much all my OS crashes were always due to graphics driver issues, and so I appreciate the stability of OS X. It's just that publishers put their time and money into Windows because that's where the market is. This leads back to my original post, we should show support for OS X so we can get the games we deserve.

It's only recently that MS decided to continue development of DirectX, spurned on by AMD pushing forward with Mantle.

In fact, as some of you may recall, an AMD executive publicly stated a year ago that there was no “DirectX 12″ on the Microsoft roadmap. Microsoft responded to those comments by affirming that it remained committed to evolving the DirectX standard — and then said nothing more on the topic. Then AMD launched Mantle, with significant support from multiple developers and a bevy of games launching this year — and apparently someone at Microsoft decided to pay attention.
Source:- http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/177407-microsoft-hints-that-directx-12-will-imitate-and-destroy-amds-mantle

Also this point about Linux is interesting which shows it doesn't always have to be this way:-

Theoretically, games on Linux can get extra performance out of equivalent hardware, since the operating system itself takes up less overhead. Valve has proven this point itself, with a Linux port of Left 4 Dead 2 that outperforms the frame rate of its Windows counterpart by roughly four percent on the same hardware. That's a small bump, but it could be a selling point for PC gamers that want every last bit of oomph from their gaming rigs.
Source:- http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/02/the-state-of-linux-gaming-in-the-steamos-era/

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What is to be added in the near future? So far the parts of the game that exist work well. Flying fidelity and graphics are pretty good

Walking around your ship is another feature they are looking at, although I don't know if that would lead into some sort of FPS experience and be in the 'near' future. I also believe they are looking into multiple players in the same ship, one piloting, one manning gun turrets etc. And of course lots of minor things in the mean time but I presume these big changes will be paid upgrades.

A near future game has this feature, No Man's Sky. For ED, I wonder how in depth the world's will be and what activities? I assume exploration, possibly mining. NMS has new species identification.

I think that that ED has some advantage being a first mover. I presume by the time Star Citizen and No Man's Sky launch ED will be pretty polished. Of course they might squander that lead but I think it can only help. It reminds me of the Xbox 360 and PS3, the early launch of the X360 gave MS a good head start and they managed to hang on far into the development cycle eventually succumbing to the superior PS3 in terms of market share.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

That's correct, buy once no subscription model. At the moment they sell extras in their online store which are paint jobs for your shops.

But they will charge for major upgrades. For example there is a goal to allow planetary landings and and all that brings, FD (Frontier Development) have said that is an example of the sort of thing that will go into a major update. I assume it wouldn't be compulsory to buy it, you would just miss out on that feature.

Thanks for the confirmation on that. I'm fine with expansions costing money. They need to make a living and assuming the content/changes are substantive, that is something worth paying for in my mind at least. What I don't like are so-called free to play models and subscription payments that cause a game to cost far more than it is worth to me personally.

 

[Huntn]

I'm not sure this has to be the case assuming the graphics drivers are up to date. But then again when I used to run Windows pretty much all my OS crashes were always due to graphics driver issues, and so I appreciate the stability of OS X. It's just that publishers put their time and money into Windows because that's where the market is. This leads back to my original post, we should show support for OS X so we can get the games we deserve.

It's only recently that MS decided to continue development of DirectX, spurned on by AMD pushing forward with Mantle.

In fact, as some of you may recall, an AMD executive publicly stated a year ago that there was no “DirectX 12″ on the Microsoft roadmap. Microsoft responded to those comments by affirming that it remained committed to evolving the DirectX standard — and then said nothing more on the topic. Then AMD launched Mantle, with significant support from multiple developers and a bevy of games launching this year — and apparently someone at Microsoft decided to pay attention.
Source:- http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/177407-microsoft-hints-that-directx-12-will-imitate-and-destroy-amds-mantle

Also this point about Linux is interesting which shows it doesn't always have to be this way:-

Theoretically, games on Linux can get extra performance out of equivalent hardware, since the operating system itself takes up less overhead. Valve has proven this point itself, with a Linux port of Left 4 Dead 2 that outperforms the frame rate of its Windows counterpart by roughly four percent on the same hardware. That's a small bump, but it could be a selling point for PC gamers that want every last bit of oomph from their gaming rigs.
Source:- http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/02/the-state-of-linux-gaming-in-the-steamos-era/

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Walking around your ship is another feature they are looking at, although I don't know if that would lead into some sort of FPS experience and be in the 'near' future. I also believe they are looking into multiple players in the same ship, one piloting, one manning gun turrets etc. And of course lots of minor things in the mean time but I presume these big changes will be paid upgrades.



I think that that ED has some advantage being a first mover. I presume by the time Star Citizen and No Man's Sky launch ED will be pretty polished. Of course they might squander that lead but I think it can only help. It reminds me of the Xbox 360 and PS3, the early launch of the X360 gave MS a good head start and they managed to hang on far into the development cycle eventually succumbing to the superior PS3 in terms of market share.

Hand flying my space ship WWII style is fun, but I keep mentally bumping up to how unrealistic this is. Yes they manually controlled Millineum Falcon's guns, yes, they manually flew Battlestar Gallactica's fighters and dog fighting seems to be this sim's bread and butter, but... No Frack'n autopilot?? I'm still playing though for now.

 

[steve62388]

Hand flying my space ship WWII style is fun, but I keep mentally bumping up to how unrealistic this is. Yes they manually controlled Millineum Falcon's guns, yes, they manually flew Battlestar Gallactica's fighters and dog fighting seems to be this sim's bread and butter, but... No Frack'n autopilot?? I'm still playing though for now.

I have a docking computer, does that count?

 

[Huntn]

I have a docking computer, does that count?

I don't have one of those. How does it work?