Catalina for games, WHY??

[PracticalMac]

I have read snippets of information that say Catalina is better for games.
Why?

Is there a "Metal 2" API render?
Is because 64bit only?
Rosetta improvements?

Could not find any clear information.

 

[jeanlain]

I haven't read that Catalina was better. But as with any OS updates, there are bug fixes, optimisations and possibly new features added to the Metal API. Some games require Catalina.

 

[Rodan52]

They may be referring to all of the new games on the App Store Arcade available for all Apple platforms now especially Apple TV.

If your tastes run to FPS like mine do then you will already have realised that great examples like Bio Shock, Thief, the Metro series, Deus Ex, Rage, Doom, Quake etc, etc were all 32bit and are no longer playable on Catalina.

Sadly, mini raceways, pac man, Lego, and third party RPG family board games do not appeal to me as graphically beautiful as they may be.

I just resurrected a 2011 MBP for my daughter which she now no longer wants so I am using that to replay some of those great games mentioned above. Bio Shock Infinity at the moment which has a fantastic (adult) story line and everything I like about a FPS.
All is not lost though, Borderlands 3 has been released and it looks great but as usual has taken advantage of all the current advances in video chips and processor speeds so my 2015 MBP is unable to run it. Have to wait for me to upgrade to the MI or later which I cant justify just yet.

For this MBP I'll just have to be satisfied with Borderlands 2 which continues to be a challenge with expansion packs and different characters.

 

[Irishman]

They may be referring to all of the new games on the App Store Arcade available for all Apple platforms now especially Apple TV.

If your tastes run to FPS like mine do then you will already have realised that great examples like Bio Shock, Thief, the Metro series, Deus Ex, Rage, Doom, Quake etc, etc were all 32bit and are no longer playable on Catalina.

Sadly, mini raceways, pac man, Lego, and third party RPG family board games do not appeal to me as graphically beautiful as they may be.

I just resurrected a 2011 MBP for my daughter which she now no longer wants so I am using that to replay some of those great games mentioned above. Bio Shock Infinity at the moment which has a fantastic (adult) story line and everything I like about a FPS.
All is not lost though, Borderlands 3 has been released and it looks great but as usual has taken advantage of all the current advances in video chips and processor speeds so my 2015 MBP is unable to run it. Have to wait for me to upgrade to the MI or later which I cant justify just yet.

For this MBP I'll just have to be satisfied with Borderlands 2 which continues to be a challenge with expansion packs and different characters.

I am, like you, a huge Borderlands fan, and was pleasantly surprised by MrMacRight’s results showing that both Bl2 and Bl3 play well in Big Sur on M1 Macs, as did Dying Light (the zombie parkour game), under Rosetta 2 emulation).

 

[PracticalMac]

I haven't read that Catalina was better. But as with any OS updates, there are bug fixes, optimisations and possibly new features added to the Metal API. Some games require Catalina.

Exactly, something in Cat is needed by some games.
Latest version of War Thunder, for example, will not run at all on anything less than Cat, even if the hardware is same (made in 2013).

 

[Homy]

If your tastes run to FPS like mine do then you will already have realised that great examples like Bio Shock, Thief, the Metro series, Deus Ex, Rage, Doom, Quake etc, etc were all 32bit and are no longer playable on Catalina.

Bioshock 1-2 Remastered, Metro 2033/Last Light Redux and Deus Ex Mankind Divided are 64-bit games and can replace the old 32-bit versions.

 

[Irishman]

Bioshock 1-2 Remastered, Metro 2033/Last Light Redux and Deus Ex Mankind Divided are 64-bit games and can replace the old 32-bit versions.

I can’t wait to see how well all 3 of the Metro games perform under Big Sur on M1 Macs!!

 

[jeanlain]

They won't perform well I suppose. They're quite demanding, they will run under rosetta and they use openGL.

 

[Rodan52]

Bioshock 1-2 Remastered, Metro 2033/Last Light Redux and Deus Ex Mankind Divided are 64-bit games and can replace the old 32-bit versions.

Where can I get Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 64bit? It's not on the App Store.

 

[Homy]

Where can I get Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 64bit? It's not on the App Store.

You're right. I checked and they're not there. That's one reason I don't buy my games from Mac App Store and love Steam. There are more examples of games on MAS lacking features or DLCs compared to Steam. Deus Ex is on both Steam and Feral's website and it's on sale on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/337000/Deus_Ex_Mankind_Divided/

All of the games I mentioned above are also on sale on Steam.

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[Homy]

They won't perform well I suppose. They're quite demanding, they will run under rosetta and they use openGL.

Dying Light that is a newer OpenGL game runs pretty well on M1 in 1080p so I wouldn't be surprised if Metro also ran well. It's a bit strange that nobody has tested Metro games on M1 yet.