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Steam for Mac Details: Native Performance, Chipset Limitations, Closed Beta Underway

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Apr 12, 2001
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Last month, Valve Software announced that its Steam game distribution platform and its own library of games would be coming to Mac OS X in April. In recent weeks, Valve has kicked off a closed beta for Steam, and an extensive thread in the Steam user forums has led to a nice summarization of where things stand.


162312-steam_mac_500.jpg


Reports confirm previous claims that Steam and the Source gaming engine will run natively on Mac OS X using OpenGL instead of relying on a wrapper such as Cider to translate the Windows versions to Mac. That commitment and designation of Mac OS X as a "Tier-1 Platform" offer evidence that Valve is seeking to make the Mac gaming experience as equal to the Windows experience as possible.

Steam itself will also be Intel-only and require Mac OS X Leopard, although individual games may require newer versions of Mac OS X. Reports also indicate that systems using Intel's X3100 or 900-series integrated graphics will not be supported for Source-based games, although testers have been able to get the Mac version of Portal running at 10-15 frames per second on lowest settings on these systems.

Other details coming out of the beta testing are confirmation regarding Steam Play, which will allow users to purchase a game only once and play it on multiple systems, as well as corroboration that Windows and Mac users will play on the same servers with the ability to join the same lobbies.

Beta users are reportedly still limited to Portal for testing, although word is that Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 will be added shortly. Other confirmed games for Mac include the remainder of the Half-Life series, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, and the upcoming Portal 2.

Despite a refresh of the Steam client user interface released today, Valve has yet to announce a specific release date for the Mac version of Steam, continuing to hint only "coming soon".

Article Link: Steam for Mac Details: Native Performance, Chipset Limitations, Closed Beta Underway
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/26/steam-for-mac-details-native-performance-chipset-limitations-closed-beta-underway/
great news for mac users. can't wait to try this out on my system. especially tf2.
 
Valve are a touch crowd to win over, this is quite a win for Apple and they haven't really done anything to deserve it. If Valve are now treating the Mac as a tier 1 platform then maybe it's time Apple started treating gaming like a tier 1 use of a Mac.

That means decent GPUs, for the love of christ, decent GPUs worthy of the money we shell out for this machines. For too long have we been left with the absolute drudge of the industry each time Apple revise their Macs.
 
Yixian said:
Valve are a touch crowd to win over, this is quite a win for Apple and they haven't really done anything to deserve it. If Valve are now treating the Mac as a tier 1 platform then maybe it's time Apple started treating gaming like a tier 1 use of a Mac.

That means decent GPUs, for the love of christ, decent GPUs worthy of the money we shell out for this machines. For too long have we been left with the absolute drudge of the industry each time Apple revise their Macs.
Click to expand...

agreed. one big step towards mac gaming =P
hopefully, they'll optimize some games for mac. AT LEAST some...

and i really like how it says mac and pc will be able to play on the same servers.
 
I can't wait

Gaming is the last thing the PC does better than a Mac. Getting Steam and the core Steam games is HUGE and should make the Mac more attractive.

Now for a desktop system that is more powerful than the iMac but not a server/workstation class Mac like the MacPro.
 
Yixian said:
Valve are a touch crowd to win over, this is quite a win for Apple and they haven't really done anything to deserve it.
Click to expand...

What exactly did you want Apple to do to "deserve" it? Microsoft doesn't do anything, they just make the OS and the developers make games. It's up to the developers to cater to the customers, not the OS manufacturer. :rolleyes:
 
Yixian said:
That means decent GPUs, for the love of christ, decent GPUs worthy of the money we shell out for this machines. For too long have we been left with the absolute drudge of the industry each time Apple revise their Macs.
Click to expand...
Last couple of gens of iMac and MBP GPUs haven't been *that* bad if you opt for the highest end options.. L4D2 runs very nicely on the 8800GS based iMac, and that's probably the most demanding Source-based game right now. Presumably its even smoother on the newer iMacs.

I think the MacPro needs to have a much higher base level graphics card though, just so it is actually powerful. Especially now OpenCL is supposed to start taking off.
 
Good ole' Valve time. At least let me into the closed beta, Valve. I was a faithful tester of the original Steam client.

Pechente said:
No. It doesn't use the Source-engine, that's why Valve can't port it easily.
Click to expand...
If they can port over the rest of the Half-Life series, as has been hinted at and mentioned in every recent writeup that I've seen regarding Steam for Mac, then the rest of the GoldSource engine games would be a cinch to port over with it. That means old CS.
 
Yixian said:
Valve are a touch crowd to win over, this is quite a win for Apple and they haven't really done anything to deserve it. If Valve are now treating the Mac as a tier 1 platform then maybe it's time Apple started treating gaming like a tier 1 use of a Mac.

That means decent GPUs, for the love of christ, decent GPUs worthy of the money we shell out for this machines. For too long have we been left with the absolute drudge of the industry each time Apple revise their Macs.
Click to expand...

It would be fantastic, wouldn't it? Sadly, I think it's unlikely.

I don't think Apple ever wants to push the Mac as a gaming platform too much, as it's one area where it doesn't stack up too well against the PC (they'd prefer to not compete, instead of competing and coming second).

The problem isn't just price and specs, it's more the nature of the gaming market. Most people are happy on the Mac with one decent spreadsheet, or one decent wordprocessor, one or two decent browsers, etc. But gamers will want the choice of many dozens of games - it's the one area where the small market-share is a real disadvantage.
 
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I hope it will be released soon so I can download my -source engine- steam games (Team Fortress II, Half Life 2 + episodes, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2) to my MacBook Pro and play them without rebooting into Bootcamp :) Out of curiosity; does anybody know of benchmarks on how the Mac versions of the games perform compared to the Windows versions on the same machine?

ps. wallpaper can be found here... ;)

 
This is so cool!!!!

iPad, iPhone, etc.. all über-gr8.
But getting Steam to the Mac natively using OpenGL is best news of all! Not that it would influence the AAPL value, but it will do so much good to the last "issue" of the Mac vs. Windows: gaming.

Steam, we welcome you!
And I will happily buy Half Life 2 all over again! :)
 
HLdan said:
What exactly did you want Apple to do to "deserve" it? Microsoft doesn't do anything, they just make the OS and the developers make games. It's up to the developers to cater to the customers, not the OS manufacturer. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Um... ever heard of DirectX?

Piss poor GPUs for your buck, no attempt to actively coax game engines to the Mac (Havoc could have been bought, Apple didn't bother, responsible over the last 5 years for a large number of AAAs never coming to the Mac) etc - Apple have done almost nothing with OS X besides the Intel transition to encourage gaming on the Mac at all. Steve has long considered gaming a waste of time, until he realised on the App Store that give people the option and they will game in vast numbers on Apple products.
 
I am anxiously awaiting a more open beta. this is great.

but... also i hope for more games i like. like having Battlefield Bad Company 2

or their releasing older mac games on their system like ETQW to get more sales on games already coming out.

also, i'd love to buy Starcraft 2 via Steam.
 
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