OS X List of Mac Metal games

[ErikGrim]

Got some news for this thread, folks -- we're working on the macOS version of BioShock Remastered, which will use Metal.

Can you please explain this? http://www.macgamerhq.com/news/bioshock-remastered-mac/

Because that's a no buy for me if that's the case. I'd rather just run the original in full 5K.

 

[jeanlain]

I think it just means that Feral will show some warning if you increase the resolution beyond 1080p, which they have been doing for several games.
They do for hitman, even though it runs just as well as the Windows version at 4K according to my tests.

 

[EllieFeral]

Can you please explain this? http://www.macgamerhq.com/news/bioshock-remastered-mac/

Because that's a no buy for me if that's the case. I'd rather just run the original in full 5K.

Hmm, this looks like a misunderstanding. (Not from you guys.)

BioShock Remastered for macOS will indeed run at 1080p. However, it will also run on higher resolutions, including that 5K iMac of yours, ErikGrim.

As with all games there may be a performance hit if you go super-high, but you'll get a warning as jeanlain said.

 

[PJivan]

Hmm, this looks like a misunderstanding. (Not from you guys.)

BioShock Remastered for macOS will indeed run at 1080p. However, it will also run on higher resolutions, including that 5K iMac of yours, ErikGrim.

As with all games there may be a performance hit if you go super-high, but you'll get a warning as jeanlain said.

Do you think we will be ever able to reach windows performance or Feral alone can't do much about as the engine has to be written with metal in mind? Or again it's more a driver challenge?

 

[EllieFeral]

Do you think we will be ever able to reach windows performance or Feral alone can't do much about as the engine has to be written with metal in mind? Or again it's more a driver challenge?

What we can say is that BioShock Remastered on macOS is using Metal, which is looking to have a very positive effect. Play the game when it's out and see how the performance feels; I'd be interested to see what you make of it.

 

[ErikGrim]

Hmm, this looks like a misunderstanding. (Not from you guys.)

BioShock Remastered for macOS will indeed run at 1080p. However, it will also run on higher resolutions, including that 5K iMac of yours, ErikGrim.

As with all games there may be a performance hit if you go super-high, but you'll get a warning as jeanlain said.

Perfect, thanks. I can live with that if I can run it at least decently at 2.5K. 1080p looks terrible on a 5K screen.

 

[eksu]

starcraft remastered?

 

[jeanlain]

BioShock Remastered for macOS will indeed run at 1080p. However, it will also run on higher resolutions, including that 5K iMac of yours, ErikGrim.

Well the confusion appears to be widespread. New outlets keep saying that this new Bioshock will run at 1080p, as if it was the main improvement and if the original game didn't support this resolution.
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starcraft remastered?

I couldn't find any information, but my bet is that it still uses an old openGL renderer. Some say it doesn't run well on the Mac, which is crazy for a 20-year-old game.

EDIT: the game can run on Yosemite and on pre-2012 GPUs, which means it uses OpenGL. I doubt they made a Metal version.

 

[Janichsan]

I couldn't find any information, but my bet is that it still uses an old openGL renderer. Some say it doesn't run well on the Mac, which is crazy for a 20-year-old game.

The "old" OpenGL renderer is in fact a new OpenGL renderer, as the original StarCraft only had software rendering. OpenGL support was only added with the recent 1.18 patch for the original SC. SC:R uses the same codebase.

 

[jeanlain]

I added Observer to the list. It's almost certain the game will use Metal since it's a UE 4 game published by Aspyr. I assumed they will use the Metal version of UE 4 by Epic Games.

 

[marksatt]

I added Observer to the list. It's almost certain the game will use Metal since it's a UE 4 game published by Aspyr. I assumed they will use the Metal version of UE 4 by Epic Games.

Depends who is doing the work - the original developer probably would (and should) use the native UE4 Mac support, but I would expect Feral and Aspyr to use their own porting libraries when bringing a UE4 game to Mac.

They'll get the behaviour they expect from their own code and bugs they fix or optimisations they make in their porting library carry over into their future games. It also means they avoid having to recook game data which UE4 does make easier than most engines but still isn't desirable when porting.

I'd like them to be able to use the native Mac support and have it be a case of just running the Editor and packaging a Mac build, but I am old enough and experienced enough to understand that is unlikely. I'll happily be corrected if I'm wrong though.

 

[JordanNZ]

Depends who is doing the work - the original developer probably would (and should) use the native UE4 Mac support, but I would expect Feral and Aspyr to use their own porting libraries when bringing a UE4 game to Mac.

They'll get the behaviour they expect from their own code and bugs they fix or optimisations they make in their porting library carry over into their future games. It also means they avoid having to recook game data which UE4 does make easier than most engines but still isn't desirable when porting.

I'd like them to be able to use the native Mac support and have it be a case of just running the Editor and packaging a Mac build, but I am old enough and experienced enough to understand that is unlikely. I'll happily be corrected if I'm wrong though.

On the topic of another (possible metal) game. What's the deal with Ark?

They're listing that they've upgraded to the latest version of UE4. But the requirements on the steam store list a mac with OpenGL 3.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/0/594820656447032287/

 

[jeanlain]

Most likely, they haven't updated the store page.
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Depends who is doing the work - the original developer probably would (and should) use the native UE4 Mac support, but I would expect Feral and Aspyr to use their own porting libraries when bringing a UE4 game to Mac.

They'll get the behaviour they expect from their own code and bugs they fix or optimisations they make in their porting library carry over into their future games. It also means they avoid having to recook game data which UE4 does make easier than most engines but still isn't desirable when porting.

I'd like them to be able to use the native Mac support and have it be a case of just running the Editor and packaging a Mac build, but I am old enough and experienced enough to understand that is unlikely. I'll happily be corrected if I'm wrong though.

In the case of Observer, Aspyr publishes all versions of the game. But they are not listed as developers. Maybe the devs (Bloober Team) are the one who will make the Mac and Linux versions. In that case, I guess it is easier for them to use the official editor.

 

[Janichsan]

In the case of Observer, Aspyr publishes all versions of the game. But they are not listed as developers. Maybe the devs (Bloober Team) are the one who will make the Mac and Linux versions. In that case, I guess it is easier for them to use the official editor.

If I recall correctly for Bloober's previous game, they developed the Mac and Linux themselves and Aspyr only provided some support and acted as distributor. I guess it's the same now.

 

[pat500000]

starcraft remastered?

It's out in stores? Or from website?

 

[jeanlain]

F1 2017 is out in a week. That'll be 6 Mac Metal games by Feral alone in just a few months.

 

[marksatt]

Most likely, they haven't updated the store page.
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In the case of Observer, Aspyr publishes all versions of the game. But they are not listed as developers. Maybe the devs (Bloober Team) are the one who will make the Mac and Linux versions. In that case, I guess it is easier for them to use the official editor.

If I recall correctly for Bloober's previous game, they developed the Mac and Linux themselves and Aspyr only provided some support and acted as distributor. I guess it's the same now.

And there we are folks, I stand corrected - sounds like you two know more about this case than I do.

 

[ErikGrim]

Fingers crossed that Feral will continue working with Relic for the upcoming Age of Empires 4.

 

[Janichsan]

Fingers crossed that Feral will continue working with Relic for the upcoming Age of Empires 4.

I wouldn't get my hopes too high: AoE 4 is published by Microsoft, which haven't brought any of their games to the Mac in the last 12 years. Incidentally, AoE 3 was the last one. And they seem to be hellbent to make AoE 4 and the upcoming "Definitive Editions" of the previous games in the series Windows 10 exclusives.

 

[EllieFeral]

Next up on Feral's growing repertoire of Metal games is BioShock Remastered, which is out as of... *checks watch*... now.

Then we'll have F1 2017, out in just a few days simultaneously with the Windows release (25 August).

 

[ErikGrim]

Next up on Feral's growing repertoire of Metal games is BioShock Remastered, which is out as of... *checks watch*... now.

Purchased and downloaded.

 

[jeanlain]

I just want to point out that Feral has now released 6 Metal games, which use 5 different game engines, in just a few months. They are firing on all cylinders and beat any other Mac game developer on that front.
Got that, Aspyr? I hope you have something awesome in the works.

 

[scotttnz]

I wouldn't get my hopes too high: AoE 4 is published by Microsoft, which haven't brought any of their games to the Mac in the last 12 years. Incidentally, AoE 3 was the last one. And they seem to be hellbent to make AoE 4 and the upcoming "Definitive Editions" of the previous games in the series Windows 10 exclusives.

I agree, they do seem to want to keep them as Windows 10 only. The tactic might just work on me, these AoE games might just get me to use boot camp, and pay for a Windows 10 license for the first time. I've stuck to Mac native games since I switched, but I played AoE to death 20 years ago, and I'd love to play updated versions.

 

[Jeffylew77]

I've created a section on the Metal Wiki for all of the metal supported games, including the games listed on this forum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_(API)

 

[jeanlain]

Nice, but it should be specified that this list only covers macOS. There are many, many more iOS games using Metal.