Major gaming news at WWDC: Metal and New games

[Homy]

Crossover 24 Beta 1 is out:

CrossOver 24 includes an update to Wine 9.0, bringing with it over 7,000 changes that offer improvements to a variety of applications. Wine 9.0 was released last week, and we are pleased to be able to offer a CrossOver version that includes it so quickly. This release also includes an update to Wine Mono 8.1.0, vkd3d 1.10 and MoltenVK 1.2.5.

We are continuing to make improvements so that CrossOver is as user-friendly as possible. To that end, CrossOver 24 includes a few highly-requested UI updates. You can now drag and drop executables into CrossOver to either run or install them. We also added the ability to change the directory where your bottles are stored, which is especially helpful for users who want to store large Windows applications on an external drive.

For our Mac users, CrossOver 24 includes fixes for many games: Planet Zoo now runs again after the latest game update, the Warframe standalone launcher now works, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth no longer crashes, Mafia: Definitive Edition now runs, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition multiplayer works again, and Horizon Zero Dawn and Anno 1800 now work well out of the box.

For our Linux users, we have a couple of nice improvements for Office. New Office 365 installers now work, and we fixed crashes with PowerPoint 2016/365. Please note that it’s still the case that only the 32-bit online Office installers work.

 

[Homy]

Fortnite is returning to iOS in the EU this year.

Fortnite to Return to iOS in Europe Following App Store Changes

Epic Games plans to bring its Epic Games Store to the iPhone and the iPad under Apple's new alternative app store policy in the European Union,...

www.macrumors.com

 

[diamond.g]

Fortnite is returning to iOS in EU this year.

Fortnite to Return to iOS in Europe Following App Store Changes

Epic Games plans to bring its Epic Games Store to the iPhone and the iPad under Apple's new alternative app store policy in the European Union,...

www.macrumors.com

yay?

 

[galad]

Will it return to macOS? Where it hasn't never been blocked, but Epic discontinued it anyway.

 

[diamond.g]

Will it return to macOS? Where it hasn't never been blocked, but Epic discontinued it anyway.

Only in the EU....

 

[Irishman]

Fortnite is returning to iOS in the EU this year.

Fortnite to Return to iOS in Europe Following App Store Changes

Epic Games plans to bring its Epic Games Store to the iPhone and the iPad under Apple's new alternative app store policy in the European Union,...

www.macrumors.com

Sideloadng, eh?

Good news. I do wonder how many versions of Fortnite in different regions they'll support?

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Fortnite is returning to iOS in the EU this year.

Fortnite to Return to iOS in Europe Following App Store Changes

Epic Games plans to bring its Epic Games Store to the iPhone and the iPad under Apple's new alternative app store policy in the European Union,...

www.macrumors.com

Wake me when the Mac version is available again.

 

[Irishman]

Wake me when the Mac version is available again.

The Mac version has been available since 2020, just locked in to that Chapter and Season.

#freefortnite

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

The Mac version has been available since 2020, just locked in to that Chapter and Season.

#freefortnite

I need Fortnite Festival man

The children yearn for the rhythm

 

[jeanlain]

I went to the MAS to look up Death Stranding only to find no result. It's apparently been removed from the store of my country, despite being available for preorder days ago.

 

[Homy]

I went to the MAS to look up Death Stranding only to find no result. It's apparently been removed from the store of my country, despite being available for preorder days ago.

Which country is that? Still available in Sweden/USA. They even have a countdown page:

Death Stranding - From Kojima Productions and 505 Games

From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes an all-new, genre-defying experience.

deathstrandingpc.505games.com

4 REASONS TO PICK UP DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT ON THE APP STORE

Whether you’re a potential new Porter looking to pick up DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT for the first time, or an experienced Porter looking to embark on another quest across America, we’re here today to give you a quick rundown on what to expect.

With just 4 days to go until launch, here are our 4 top reasons you should pick up DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT on the App Store.

UNIVERSAL PURCHASE
DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT will be available as a Universal purchase. Which means you only need to purchase the game once and you can access the Mac, iPhone and iPad version for one single price.

METAL 3 COMPATIBILITY
The Mac edition of DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT will make full use of Metal 3 compatibility, allowing for unbeatable graphical fidelity thanks to its proprietary MetalFX Upscaling.

CROSS PROGRESSION
In-game progress will be shared across all Apple devices using iCloud. Which means Mac users can enjoy venturing across America from the comfort of their own home, then continue their journeys on the go on their iPhone / iPads!

ENJOY UP TO 50% OFF
For a limited time, we are offering new Porters up to 50% off DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT on the App Store! Pre-order now to take advantage of this offer.

Building connections is a theme that runs deep in DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT, and we cannot wait to welcome more Porters to this incredible community.

We will see you on January 30th!

Death Stranding - From Kojima Productions and 505 Games

From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes an all-new, genre-defying experience.

deathstrandingpc.505games.com

It's funny that Valve keeps ignoring the Mac while DS has "cross-over content from Valve Corporation’s HALF-LIFE series and CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077".

Death Stranding - From Kojima Productions and 505 Games

From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes an all-new, genre-defying experience.

deathstrandingpc.505games.com

 

[jeanlain]

Which country is that?

France.
The game is still nowhere to be found as of today.

 

[galad]

Are you on an Intel Mac? The App Store search feature won't show Arm only apps on Intel Macs, the only way to see them is either the top sale chart of a featured story, or a direct link.

 

[Nugat Trailers]

Introducing the Backbone One - DEATH STRANDING Limited Edition Controller | Backbone Blog

Backbone is proud to announce a new limited-edition controller for the new release of Hideo Kojima's DEATH STRANDING, available to play on iOS.

playbackbone.com

For Backbone’s first-ever game collaboration, we’ve partnered with the legendary Kojima Productions to bring you the Backbone One - DEATH STRANDING Limited Edition controller.

This collaboration commemorates the release of DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT for iOS. The Backbone One controller features custom product and packaging designs that blend the innovative design of the Backbone One with the artistic vision of Hideo Kojima and his award-winning title, DEATH STRANDING.

Backbone One - DEATH STRANDING Limited Edition includes a free copy of DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT for iOS. Your complimentary copy of the game also gives you the ability to play it on iPad and Mac.

 

[jeanlain]

Are you on an Intel Mac? The App Store search feature won't show Arm only apps on Intel Macs, the only way to see them is either the top sale chart of a featured story, or a direct link.

No, I'm on my M1 Pro MBP or my Mac Studio.

 

[Homy]

Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge is in EA and free to play on Mac.

Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge on Steam

A free-to-play digital collectible card game set in the 41st millennium, Warpforge brings together the major factions of the Warhammer 40,000 universe as digital cards for players to collect and do battle with in brutal and fast-paced skirmishes.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Homy]

France.
The game is still nowhere to be found as of today.

I found this link but it doesn't load the page. It says "Connexion en cours" and it wants to open App Store and in the app store it loads the page for Death Stranding in my country. See if it works for you.

‎DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT

‎L'expérience révolutionnaire du légendaire Hideo Kojima revient encore plus étoffée dans l'édition ultime DIRECTOR'S CUT. Dans le futur, un événement mystérieux connu sous le nom de Death Stranding a ouvert une porte entre les morts et les vivants, conduisant à la propagation de créatures...

apps.apple.com

 

[jeanlain]

I found this link but it doesn't load the page. It says "Connexion en cours" and it wants to open App Store and in the app store it loads the page for Death Stranding in my country. See if it works for you.

‎DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT

‎L'expérience révolutionnaire du légendaire Hideo Kojima revient encore plus étoffée dans l'édition ultime DIRECTOR'S CUT. Dans le futur, un événement mystérieux connu sous le nom de Death Stranding a ouvert une porte entre les morts et les vivants, conduisant à la propagation de créatures...

apps.apple.com

It says the app is unavailable in my region.

 

[Homy]

This is sad. Embracer cancels the next Deus Ex game that's been in development for two years which makes Eidos Montreal to lay off 97 people. Was hoping it would come to Mac.

Embracer cancels Deus Ex game in development for two years

An unannounced video game in the Deus Ex series has been cancelled by Embracer Group.

www.eurogamer.net

 

[Chancha]

Death Stranding just now open to be download. I already got my iPhone 15 PM running the game, while the Mac App Store still only getting like 300KB/s lol.

I remember RE4 taking me close to half a day to finish, this looks like it will take longer.

 

[diamond.g]

Death Stranding just now open to be download. I already got my iPhone 15 PM running the game, while the Mac App Store still only getting like 300KB/s lol.

I remember RE4 taking me close to half a day to finish, this looks like it will take longer.


View attachment 2342870

How big is the initial iOS download? And does the iOS version look sharp?

 

[Chancha]

How big is the initial iOS download? And does the iOS version look sharp?

iOS is only a 1.79GB initial App Store download.

Once in-app, the asset download was 25GB or so and it asked for 40GB of space.

After all is downloaded and installed, now I check iPhone storage, the report occupied space is 53GB.

I must note that the 25GB asset download was REALLY fast, so fast I thought it didn't finish properly, like in 3 minutes (I was using my company WiFi)

Meanwhile the MacBook / Mac App Store is giving me 70KB/s... only 6GB downloaded so far, which I started 7 hours ago lol.

The graphics of the iOS looks noticeably better than the RE4 port, on iPhone at least. I don't think it can be called sharp but it looks like some effort was put in tuning how much anti-aliasing should be done. But I get stutter and even crashes just trying to fool around the starting area, not detrimental but they are there. The visual design itself is pleasing to look at and the sceneries are just nature so it may be an easier game to look good on an iPhone screen.

EDIT:
I just started a download on the iPad Pro and read the in-game message clearer (I was wrong): game will start once 12GB of game data is installed, while the remaining data will consume (another) 40GB.

 

[diamond.g]

iOS is only a 1.79GB initial App Store download.

Once in-app, the asset download was 25GB or so and it asked for 40GB of space.

After all is downloaded and installed, now I check iPhone storage, the report occupied space is 53GB.

I must note that the 25GB asset download was REALLY fast, so fast I thought it didn't finish properly, like in 3 minutes (I was using my company WiFi)

Meanwhile the MacBook / Mac App Store is giving me 70KB/s... only 6GB downloaded so far, which I started 7 hours ago lol.

The graphics of the iOS looks noticeably better than the RE4 port, on iPhone at least. I don't think it can be called sharp but it looks like some effort was put in tuning how much anti-aliasing should be done. But I get stutter and even crashes just trying to fool around the starting area, not detrimental but they are there. The visual design itself is pleasing to look at and the sceneries are just nature so it may be an easier game to look good on an iPhone screen.

MrMacRight posted a YT review of the game for iPhone and noted all the crashing. I was more curious about the smeared vaseline look (that basically is the calling car of upscaling these days, well ignoring DLSS). I still can't figure out why MetalFX in these instances looks so poor for them supposedly using iPhone hardware for upscaling. I wonder if @leman or @Homy have any ideas as to why.

 

[salamanderjuice]

MrMacRight posted a YT review of the game for iPhone and noted all the crashing. I was more curious about the smeared vaseline look (that basically is the calling car of upscaling these days, well ignoring DLSS). I still can't figure out why MetalFX in these instances looks so poor for them supposedly using iPhone hardware for upscaling. I wonder if @leman or @Homy have any ideas as to why.

It uses the hardware to make the upscaling less demanding, RE4 on iOS at least was up-scaling from a native res of 300p-ish. Upscaling works better when there's more to work with. 300p is just too low to get great results. Even DLSS at such low resolutions doesn't look great.

 

[diamond.g]

It uses the hardware to make the upscaling less demanding, RE4 on iOS at least was up-scaling from a native res of 300p-ish. Upscaling works better when there's more to work with. 300p is just too low to get great results. Even DLSS at such low resolutions doesn't look great.

I've only been able to find something about Control running at 540P upscaled to 1080p and it not looking like Vaseline smeared mess. Are there other examples of using DLSS at such low resolutions?