Epic Games Unveils Unreal Engine 5, Coming in 2021 With Mac and iOS Support

[ArtOfWarfare]

You haven't noticed a difference in graphics since 2005? mkay... try playing a game that wasn't released in 2005.

I played Doom 2016, Zelda BotW, and Mario Odyssey.

Doom 2016 vs 2004's Quake 4 didn't seem like much change. The biggest difference with Zelda and Mario is that prior entries weren't in HD... the prior games basically used pre-2005 technology.

The biggest leap I can think of is Portal vs Portal 2, but that's all just a style/budget choice. Portal was an experimental game with very basic graphics while Portal 2 was a full fledged game making the most of the engine's capabilities.
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That seems unlikely.

2005:

View attachment 914892

2017:
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Instead of running Half Life 2 on a potato, turn the graphics settings up. Instead of picking a sterile urban environment, lets see what the forests of Episode 2 look like.

 

[kingtj]

I'm one of them! I enjoy Tomb Raider, Civ 6, Endless Legend, Diablo 3, Warcraft 3 Reforged, Starcraft 2, Borderlands 1-3, Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2, XCOM 2, and Company of Heroes 2 among others. Plenty to play on my 16" Macbook Pro

That being said, I wish Apple would actually care about Mac OS gaming. It's really a shame that they don't.

Yeah.... I'm one too (have an iMac Pro I play games on occasionally). But Catalina was a pretty big blow to game compatibility. I had a number of games that used to run fine on my Mac but weren't updated for 64-bit support. I believe Deux Ex: Human Revolution was one casualty.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

The macOS support is surprising, but welcome, especially for those (brave few ) that still game on their Macs.

These days, those who are any kind of serious about gaming have at least one console and a PC for that. The driver for consoles is platform-exclusive titles. The driver for PCs is unmatched support and capability.

Given that my need for a Mac has been dwindling to nothing, I wonder how iOS-based machines compare with Macs and PCs in regards to the ability to handle games on all three OS platforms.

 

[b1wils1]

those graphics are insane!

 

[gnipgnop]

Given that my need for a Mac has been dwindling to nothing, I wonder how iOS-based machines compare with Macs and PCs in regards to the ability to handle games on all three OS platforms.

The Unreal Engine has always seemed to work pretty well with iOS. One of the higher profile games for Apple Arcade, Oceanhorn 2, used UE4 and the level of detail seemed lower on a 2017 5K iMac with a 4GB Radeon Pro 570 than on my A13 iPhone XS. No discernible difference in terms of frame rate either.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

No thanks. I prefer Pac Man.

 

[A MacBook lover]

It will be interesting to see how much of this can be kept when scaled down to iOS/iPadOS.

With the cooling fans screaming at full speed.

welcome to gaming on a laptop bud

 

[JamieLannister]

Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Terraria, and Hotline Miami all still work on Catalina, not even to mention the whole Apple Arcade library. Granted, these aren’t AAA games, but they do exist and have a decent fan base on macOS

More like scraping the bottom of the barrel. If you want to game, it’s either on consoles or PC. No real gamer plays on a mac, period.

 

[MacBH928]

MacOS? Games?

**************************************************

Fun Fact: Macs were frowned upon in the work places in 80s/maybe early 90s because it was associated as being a "gaming" computer compared to the Internation Business Machines, and companies did not want their employees to game during working hours.

 

[44267547]

I watched the full demo on YouTube just a few moments ago, and it really is impressive. I do question however, if this is the Actual rendering of what we will see, versus actually ‘tech demo‘. [Tech demo seams to be more glorified], but nonetheless, this is really next GEN level graphics with lighting, physics and overall geometric worlds becoming more intricate and realistic than ever before. Crazy stuff, But as a true gamer, this is why I invest in next level GEN consoles to have the best possible experience.

 

[Smartwatchlover]

Considering that I only play two games, Uncharted and Tomb Rider, this is like a paradise for me.

Can’t wait to see this engine being used to take my two preferred games at an insane level of realism!

 

[44267547]

Considering that I only play two games, Uncharted and Tomb Rider, this is like a paradise for me.

Can’t wait to see this engine being used to take my two preferred games at an insane level of realism!

Eidos (The developer for Tomb Raider) and Uncharted (Naughty Dog) Were both amazing series. I actually have yet In my library to play ‘Shadow of the Tomb raider‘ yet on PS4 Pro.

This is exciting stuff, especially when you take developers on the level of Naughty dog/Rockstar/CDProjektRed, that can ultimately put out this type of work, because they’re clearly capable, especially when it takes about five years worth of development at minimum to release a game.

Side-note:

[Oh, And were almost a month away from the Last of us two’ release for the PS4, should be an epic adventure!

 

[MisterSavage]

Considering that I only play two games, Uncharted and Tomb Rider, this is like a paradise for me.

Can’t wait to see this engine being used to take my two preferred games at an insane level of realism!

I love those two series and I've always wanted a game where you can fly like she does at the end. Yes, I know it's a tech demo but it does give you ideas...

 

[star-affinity]

Hello!
I've played a bunch of games on my Macs. Feral ports especially run really well actually. Aspyr ports generally not so much, but at least they run. Lots of good stuff out there. - And no I have no console or gaming PC, but I have had Windows installed on my Macs for the non-macOS compatible games, but still running on my Macs.

While their ports are pretty good, the performance (frame rate) in Windows running the same game on the same hardware is vastly better as my test here shows:

Sketchy Rumor Claims Apple Plans to Announce High-End Gaming MacBook or iMac at WWDC 2020

Software challenges indeed. One problem that still seem to remain – despite game titles using Metal in MacOS – is that performance still is significantly better in Windows on the same hardware. I guess it varies between titles, but here I have compared Tomb Raider (which Feral Interactive has...

forums.macrumors.com

This is despite the Tomb Raider utilizing Metal for the graphics on MacOS. While I understand it's reasonable the game runs better in Windows (for various reasons) I wish the difference could be smaller. This is just one game, but in my experience this the result is similar with other games I've tried (Dirt Rally for example).

 

[Six Mac Abs]

With the cooling fans screaming at full speed.

As a Mac gamer, I can agree that this is true. However, the MBP fans are not that loud and I personally don't find it a problem, I usually have music on when I'm playing games and can't hear the fans. Even without music on the fan noise isn't bad. To be honest, if you want to be fully immersed in the games environmental audio, you'll have headphone on anyway, or have your MBP hooked up to a decent audio rig.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say the MBP has the quietest fans I've heard on any laptop, period. It's also much quieter than my PS4 Pro.

 

[MisterSavage]

As a Mac gamer, I can agree that this is true. However, the MBP fans are not that loud and I personally don't find it a problem, I usually have music on when I'm playing games and can't hear the fans. Even without music on the fan noise isn't bad. To be honest, if you want to be fully immersed in the games environmental audio, you'll have headphone on anyway, or have you MBP hooked up to a decent audio rig.

Yeah when I tried running Thronebreaker through Bootcamp my fans were screaming on my iMac.

 

[casperes1996]

While their ports are pretty good the performance (frame rate) in Windows running the same game on the same hardware is vastly better as my test here shows:

The frame rate will almost always be better in Windows, yes. But it's serviceable in most cases with Feral ports. As I wrote in my original post I also had Windows installed - For some games that were available on both operating systems it was worth running the Windows version, like Aspyr's port of Civ 6 that could run at 4K where the Mac version struggled at 1080p. For others the difference just wasn't big enough that I cared though.

This is despite the Tomb Raider utilizing Metal for the graphics on MacOS. While I understand it's reasonable the game runs better in Windows (for various reasons) I wish the difference could be smaller. This is just one game, but in my experience this the result is similar with other games I've tried (Dirt Rally for example).

It vastly depends on the game though, not just the API. F1 games and Hitman have been shown to have like ±5% difference on some hardware; And that's ± for a reason, cause in a single test, an F1 game actually ran slightly faster on macOS. - But it's both hardware and game dependant since some GPUs act differently to Metal and DX relative to others and all sorts. In 99% of cases the Windows version of a given game will run better since it's the primary development target, but Feral ports in my experience are often close enough that it doesn't matter all that much

 

[decisions]

MacBook Pro 16 inch would like a word with you.

I run bootcamp windows, and play almost every game maxed out.

CoD Warzone? Maxed out
Apex Legends? Maxed out

What are the specs of your MBP?

 

[tranceking26]

The engine looks really really nice. I'm sure there will be some cracking looking games out eventually. Just need gameplay to match!

 

[throAU]

I am laughing so hard ... my stomach aches !!
You absolutely nailed it down. Apple & state of the art graphics just don‘t match (unless you spend > 10 grand) ...

Yeah it's such a shame.

I actually emailed Steve before he died basically pleading for Apple to release gaming hardware. Didn't even get a response (from a staffer).
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As a Mac gamer, I can agree that this is true. However, the MBP fans are not that loud and I personally don't find it a problem, I usually have music on when I'm playing games and can't hear the fans. Even without music on the fan noise isn't bad. To be honest, if you want to be fully immersed in the games environmental audio, you'll have headphone on anyway, or have your MBP hooked up to a decent audio rig.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say the MBP has the quietest fans I've heard on any laptop, period. It's also much quieter than my PS4 Pro.

Even a MacBook Pro 16 won't run all games with max details at 4k in any sort of acceptable frame-rate, fan noise or not.

My desktop won't do that with a Vega 64, and that's not far off the highest spec eGPU that will run on macOS as far as game performance goes. And that's on PCIe x16 not thunderbolt. Vs. a mobile GPU in the MacBook? Hahaha

 

[BlankStar]

And how this "new gaming engine for all platforms"-topic became a topic on "you can't game on a Mac Vs yes you can, because I do it"-topic...

Nevertheless: tech demos usually are way fancier than what we get in games, but the difference here is: this is a fully playable demo. The lights are rendered realtime, not fixed in advance and it's running on a PS5, not some super powerful server that has been optimised for the tech demo. And that is what makes this demo even more impressive! A fotorealistic Uncharted 5 or new Tomb Raider is on the horizon... I can't wait for developers to unleach this engine's potential.

 

[maikerukun]

Uncharted 4 would like to have a word with you. Granted, it took Naughty Dog quite a while to release it (3 years after PS4’s debut), but it can be done. Actually, now I want a new Uncharted, which is what this trailer reminds me of.

EXACTLY. As soon as this demo started, I IMMEDIATELY thought to myself "Aww man this would make for a fantastic engine for Uncharted 5, and I would love if this was just a new series all together, as it looks like something I would love to play".

People on this site don't really seem to be gamers, as the ones saying this is impossible and just a demo, have absolutely not played Uncharted 4, which honestly, for the most part, looks like this, minus the new tech introduced in this demo. Extremely close already in terms of graphical capability though.

This demo is beautiful though and I'm definitely positive it can push the pixels that people seem worried about "during fights, tons of debris flying everywhere, etc...Epic doesn't play around "no pun intended" when it comes to maxing out potential with their engine. There's a reason Fortnite looks gorgeous in ultra settings across all platforms from power hungry pc's all the way down to iPhones. This engine is extremely flexible. Always has been.
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Too bad there aren't any Macs that can actually run any of these games in maximum quality (except a Mac Pro with a good graphics card of course).

Actually, Macs are completely capable, even without an eGPU. Just install bootcamp with windows on your Mac, and I promise if it's a 2017 or newer, you will be running all windows games MAXED OUT at around 100 to 180fps I know because I do it on my 2019 iMac "while I'm streaming on twitch no less" and I do it on my 2017 MacBook Pro.

Happy gaming.

 

[star-affinity]

The frame rate will almost always be better in Windows, yes. But it's serviceable in most cases with Feral ports. As I wrote in my original post I also had Windows installed - For some games that were available on both operating systems it was worth running the Windows version, like Aspyr's port of Civ 6 that could run at 4K where the Mac version struggled at 1080p. For others the difference just wasn't big enough that I cared though.

It vastly depends on the game though, not just the API. F1 games and Hitman have been shown to have like ±5% difference on some hardware; And that's ± for a reason, cause in a single test, an F1 game actually ran slightly faster on macOS. - But it's both hardware and game dependant since some GPUs act differently to Metal and DX relative to others and all sorts. In 99% of cases the Windows version of a given game will run better since it's the primary development target, but Feral ports in my experience are often close enough that it doesn't matter all that much

I remember reading some years ago an F1 game being close to Window in performance on MacOS, but can't seem to find that article now.

Anyway, I decieded to benchmark one myself. Went for F1 2016 since that is the only one I have. It is utilizing Metal on MacOS – F1 2016 gets you back on track with the exciting 2016 season, refined for Mac using Metal, Apple’s shiny new graphics API.

Below are my results from a MacPro 2010 (6-core) using a RX 5700 XT graphics card on MacOS 10.15.4 and Windows 10 running at display resolution 1920 x 1200 with all graphics settings maxed out. I wasn't able to turn off VSYNC in the MacOS version of the game so I went for VSYNC interval set to auto in both MacOS and Windows.

MacOS:

Windows 10:

So, unfortunately not even the F1 games run very well on MacOS even with Metal.

Here's an older post I found about F1 2017 with the poster having similar results in that game:

'F1 2017' Racing Game Now Available From Mac App Store

It can barely hit 40fps on my 2010 Mac Pro with 32GB RAM, a 3.46GHz hex core and a GTX 980 Ti in it. In Windows it'll sit comfortably at 60fps at the same resolution. I mean, it's nice that games get Mac support but they're total garbage compared to their Windows versions. I'm not sure if that...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Six Mac Abs]

Interesting. Why is this the case with Apple computers? Is it just because they don't use a gaming oriented GPU, or is it software related?

Also, is that a separate windows machine you ran the test on, or in boot camp?

 

[star-affinity]

Interesting. Why is this the case with Apple computers? Is it just because they don't use a gaming oriented GPU, or is it software related?

Also, is that a separate windows machine you ran the test on, or in boot camp?

It's about the software for sure since it behaves differently in Windows compared to MacOS on the same hardware – I'm using the same GPU and Mac Pro (Mid 2010) for both Windows 10 and MacOS Catalina, so yes ”Boot Camp” (although I didn't install Windows 10 using the Boot Camp Assistant).

My somewhat educated guess is that the reason behind the performance difference is partly because of the porting process – you have a game that's designed for Windows and then that has to be converted to MacOS. At the same time I think Feral Interactice knows what they're doing, so maybe it's more because of the fact that Microsoft has spent a lot focus and money over the years on DirectX and Direct3D and the driver developers (AMD and NVIDA) has a lot of gaming in focus when they develop their drivers.

Not sure how a game using Vulkan in Windows fares vs the same game using Metal in MacOS, but can imagine it will run better in Windows on Vulkan too. I guess only Apple knows best about the the reason for the performance difference – maybe there's a good reason? 🤔