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EA Games Use TransGaming's Cider; To Require Intel Macs
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My bad...I ment video. I work in gaming and it's been years since I worked on rendered frames (TV/Film).
It's nice to have a high average framerate because it suggests that the minimum framerate in heavy bits of the game is high as well.
Rather than chugging down to 5 fps right at the moment you need it.
Some benchmarks actually tell you the minimum FPS, or give you a graph of FPS over time.
Yeah, that's a good point.
Registration with a variety of benefits, downloadable updates (often automatic these days), etc. provide a fair number of options, and I figure the reduction in distribution costs would be worth it.
The other thing that occurs to me is that with dual-format discs, the Mac version is far more likely to reach Mac owners, especiallyt as impulse purchases.
The games that have already launched on the PC appear to be separate. Whether they'll stay that way for the simultaneous launch titles will be interesting to see. I hope they don't, but I'm not encouraged based on what I read... :/
Of course nobody is gaming on institutional machines. They're be kicked out or fired. We're talking about computers bought for the home.
Yeah, but saying nobody games because it isn't done on institutional machines is like saying nobody goes on family roadtrips because it isn't done with company car. There are lines that are firmly established.
Then you agree with what I said earlier. Most computer users DON'T play games on their computers.
One game I don't see mentioned here is the FIFA series, which is developed by EA Canada rather than the US EA group. Will FIFA 08 be Cidered? I don't really play any of their other games
You're making the assumption that everyone is limited to one computer and that's all the use. We're talking about their computers, not the computer of their employers, schools, or the internet cafe/library. We're talking about computers they actually own and get to do whatever they want with. Most people have access to more than one computer during the day and do not go home and do the exact same thing they did at work.
Not true. If it were so than discrete graphics would be as popular as integrated graphics. But as we have seen that is not the case, particularly in the laptop market.
if ea produces buggy games the os has nothing to do with this. the games aren't even native, dude...
[edit]
there is also another new possible bug-source: cider
Just wanted to mention that a lot of stuff I install on my mac has a habit of throwing a bunch of files in my library without me realizing it. Then I get confused, because I'm not sure if the files are in my system library, or in the user library. I agree windows throws more clutter by a wide margin, but I'm curious if other people have the same issue that I do with libraries getting all fat with wierd support files.
Also, I have to say I'm not real surprised that this is only going to be for Intel, (as far as we know.) That's where the money is. So, ya know. That's how it goes.
Back in my testing days, we used to use Finder's labels to colourize files in the revelant system folders, then after installing a package we could easily see what had just been added.
regardless of cider and other details, this means a whole lot for the mac. we are not far from a future where our entertainment will come over the net, with a dedicated house server and workstations/outlets... hence previous rumors of mac getting into the game console market. not that it will happen tomorrow or even at all, but i think this gets steve and company a foot in the door for the future.
Yeah. I guess the big concern people have with that is how EA will know how many Mac users are buying their games (outside of people registering their games, that is).
Although with Cider, it may be less of an issue. The issue used to be that it would be pretty expensive to release a Mac version of a game as well, and thus they would easily decide not to continue supporting the Mac if enough Mac copies of the game weren't being sold.
But Cider might make it cheap enough for them to keep making Mac versions of the games anyway regardless of how many Mac buyers specifically buy them.
I don't think it has ever bothered Blizzard either, as they've always done they hybrid releases in the same box,.
They better use "hybrid" DVDs for their games otherwise 99% of the stores won't have the Mac version.
Since more and more games are played online, it's easy to get PC vs Mac % from the connected players if a company server is used, if only to serve as a hub to connect players together.
Since more and more games are played online, it's easy to get PC vs Mac % from the connected players if a company server is used, if only to serve as a hub to connect players together.
True, the human eye + brain can only process about 20+ individual frames a second, but we can indirectly notice much more by combining/blurring multiple frames as if they were one. This means that the a game at 100 fps will have motion blur, something we naturally observe in real life when something quickly moves across our vision.
If a game running only about 30 fps does not produce enough frames for our eyes/brains to process as motion blur, so fast movements on the screen will look strange to some people. If gaming engines pre-renders motion blur into each frame, then 30 fps would be fine, but I'm not sure if anyone does that.
Hope this clears things up.
Alex R
Yup. This is "ghosting", when you get multiple images of the same thing, each offset by a bit, when you make a sudden movement. Looks crap.
Oh, and Crysis uses motion blur in its engine, so 30fps should be all that this game needs to look great. Can't wait...
No, the more the fps the better. The larger multiplayer game you play, plus all the particles and pretty stuff cranked, the more fps will get eaten. Your 30fps will suddenly be 10fps. Not fun to play. More fps to compensate lost fps.
10fps != 30fps. I said 30. Not 10. Clearly if it drops to 10, it won't look as good. But then it won't be 30, will it???
Motion Blur should allow medium frame rates, ie. 30-40 fps to be indistinguishable from higher framerates, so you should be able to push the graphics settings just that tad higher than you would without it.
That's like me saying "$50,000 will buy a really sweet car!" To which you respond "No! After I buy a new computer, entertainment system, redecorate my house, buy a pool and throw a massive party with all my friends, and all their friends, with food and drink on me, the car you can buy with what's left isn't so great!"
(Vary amount of money as needed for country, party ideas, etc.)
Ideally you want the fps to match the screen refresh rate (mostly 75hz for lcd although I have seen a few higher). The other issue is motionblur. It has to be done properly, which is hard. Our eyes/brain create motion blur. In games motion blur would have to be done based on where the character in the game was looking, but if you aren't focued right it doesn't look right. So most games opt for a faster frame rate.
B3D Discussion on Framerate (fps and Hz)
Another B3d Discussion on the Human Eye
B3D Discussion on Framerate (fps and Hz)
Another B3d Discussion on the Human Eye