Mac OS X Discussion Thread

[Mangr0v3]

Please do NOT start Mac vs PC (or Linux) wars, as it interrupts any serious discussion. Same goes for complaining about lack of PlayStation 3 support.

Mentions of single-button mice just make you look like an idiot.

What we think/know about Steam for Mac

• It will require Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.
• Source games for Mac will require Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher (Leopard), or 10.6.3 or higher (Snow Leopard).
• It will be Intel only, PowerPC will not be supported.
• Source games will not run are not supported on the X3100 or 900-series Intel chipsets. [1]
  An anonymous source in the Beta program told me that while the X3100 and 900-series GMAs are not officially supported, you can still run Mac Portal, and get 10-15 FPS on lowest settings on the X3100.
• Steam Play mean that you do not need to purchase separate Windows and Mac versions of the same game. Implementation will probably depend on the publisher.. The Steam Play icon will look like this.
• The Steam Overlay will require "Enable access for assistive devices" checked in System Preferences -> Universal Access [2]
• (Some?) games will require the Windows Media Components for Quicktime [2]
• Mac games will get their own category automatically. [3]
• The Steam Store may sell Mac-exclusive games. [4]
• It will not be released on Monday the 26th, but will come later. GameInformer allegedly pins the release to May [5], despite Valve announcing April.
  Kotaku announced today that they recieved word from Valve that Steam for Mac will be released May 12th. [6]
• Steam and Source will run natively, not through Wine/Cider/Crossover/etc.
• Source will run on OpenGL.
• Mac OS X will be treated "as a tier-1 platform".
• Mac OS X and Windows users will play on the same servers, join the same lobbies, etc.
• The first Steam client for Mac OS X will be the same as the Steam version to be released on April 26th.

Regarding the Beta

• The closed Beta is now underway.
• Beta participants are communicating with Valve via a mailing list.
• Only those in the beta can log in to the Mac beta client.
• Please do not post links to or workarounds for the leaked Mac Beta client.
• The only game Beta participants can play is Mac Portal (AppID 52003)
  Beta participants now have access to Portal and Team Fortress 2.
• If you were invited to the Beta, you would know, as it appears (thank you Twitter) that Beta participants have been automatically signed up to the mailing list.
• Release appears very close, with dylibs (Mac OS X library files) appearing in the Team Fortress 2 and Day of Defeat: Source GCFs after today's Orange Box engine update. (They may be in other games, I haven't checked yet.) [8]

Regarding Mods

• The Source SDK, including the OpenGL Source codebase, will be coming to Mac OS X. [9]
• Non-binary Mods (Mods which are just map packs, skins, etc.) should work on day 1. (E.g Portal: Prelude)
• Mods which use custom binaries will need to be ported to Mac. (E.g. Dystopia)
• Mod(erator)s are fearsome.

Regarding Games
Steam coming to Mac OS X does not magically make your games run on Mac OS X.
The availability of non-Valve games is up to the developer and publisher.

The following games have been confirmed for Mac OS X:

• Counter-Strike (presumably Source)
• "The Half-Life Series"
• Left 4 Dead
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Portal
• Portal 2 (upcoming)
• Team Fortress 2
• Madballs in...Babo:Invasion [10]
• Killing Floor [15]
• Red Orchestra [15]
• Torchlight [12][15]

The following games have been semi-confirmed (teased/hinted) for Mac OS X:

• Killing Floor [11]

The following games have metadata indicating a Mac OS X version [13] [14]:

• Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
• Chuzzle Deluxe
• BookWorm Deluxe
• Peggle Nights
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1 - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2 - The Siege of Spinner Cay
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 - Lair of the Leviathan
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 4 - The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 - Rise of the Pirate God
• Sam & Max 301: The Penal Zone
• Brainpipe
• Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
• Cooking Dash
• Diaper Dash
• Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
• Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
• Emerald City Confidential
• Wandering Willows
• DinerTown Tycoon
• DinerTown Detective Agency
• Fitness Dash
• Parking Dash
• Mahjong Roadshow
• Trijinx
• Valerie Porter
• Gemini Lost
• Hotel Dash
• Machinarium
• Galcon Fusion
• KrissX
• Braid
• Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
• Zenerchi
• Altitude

[Oddi]

I thought they were going to call it Steam Play...

Also, when you say trackpad you mean touchpad right? I don't think any serious gamer plays with that. Way too slow and inaccurate.

My friend is stoked about this, he has a Mac...Thanks Valve.

[Mangr0v3]

Touchpad, Trackpad. Tomato, Tomato.

(That doesn't come out right in print. )

[>X2<]

Lets hope that it all works well, the more OS's steam works on the better for all of us.

[youRrich]

Originally Posted by Oddi

I thought they were going to call it Steam Play...

Also, when you say trackpad you mean touchpad right? I don't think any serious gamer plays with that. Way too slow and inaccurate.

My friend is stoked about this, he has a Mac...Thanks Valve.

My brother plays L4D2 on his MacBook Pro without a mouse quite often, and it doesn't seem to slow him down from playing well. Although, it would probably be much easier for him to play with a mouse.

[Mangr0v3]

Originally Posted by >X2<

Lets hope that it all works well, the more OS's steam works on the better for all of us.

I wonder how many publishers are quietly eying this, to see how it goes and if it's worth it for them.

[d10sfan]

I cant stand the touchpad when gaming. Have to use the mouse.

I for one am looking forward to it. I hope many devs get behind this and release mac versions of their games.

The games I would really like to see that arent on source on os x are these:

Battlefield 2
Bioshock
Company of Heroes
Killing Floor
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
Serious Sam HD
Torchlight
Unreal Tournament 3

[Mangr0v3]

I'd like to see, in addition to Valve's collection:

• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• Age of Empires II (fat chance)
• Age of Empires III (fat chance)
• Battlefield 2142

[Cow002]

Wooot!

The way I found out was by teasing my fiance by reading a game informer magazine and pretending to ignore her. When I saw the article, I actually started ignoring her.

I was a little disappointed that it's only for a few games, but it's a start. And I realize they can't make Mac copies of other peoples games. Still, no more rebooting for l4d2. And maybe some of the capabilities will work on the native side that don't seem to work on the windows side (internal mic, touchpad). Outside of intense shooters, I really don't mind using just the touchpad. The two finger scroll even works to zoom in and out for fallout 3 when looking at the map. It's little things like that which make the game feel more smooth to me.

In any case, I think this is a huge step for apple, seeing as windows big trump card is video games.

[Ripcord]

I assume it will be publisher's choice on whether their Mac game uses "Steam Play" or not? Some publishers charge so much more for Mac version, I have a tough time believing they'll ALL go for single-purchase, same-pricing.

[Mangr0v3]

I assume so too.

Originally Posted by Cow002

The way I found out was by teasing my fiance by reading a game informer magazine and pretending to ignore her. When I saw the article, I actually started ignoring her.

LOL

[olly12345]

Originally Posted by Mangr0v3

I'd like to see, in addition to Valve's collection:

• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• Age of Empires II (fat chance)
• Age of Empires III (fat chance)
• Battlefield 2142

Most of those are Mac compatible anyway.... unless you mean you want them available on steam.

[RambJoe]

1.6 should be on OSX, it has OpenGL anyway.

[JonasHoeiberg]

I just have a quick question for the techies: Does this mean that it will be easier to make Source and Steam work under a Linux environment without too much tweaking? I figured it would, as Mac OSX is a lot more like Linux than Windows, and since the games have most likely been ported to OpenGL, meaning you won't need pretend DX libraries to make it work.

I'd just like to hear if my presumptions are true?

Originally Posted by Mangr0v3

Possibly it'll run on OpenGL 3.0. If it does, that would mean that Mac OS X 10.6.3 will be here soon. It's feasible

Nope, won't happen. Any developer with any common sense won't want to tie themselves down to just the latest update of the latest operating system. Also, I doubt Valve either know or can influence the release of the 10.6.3 update

Originally Posted by Mangr0v3

What will Steam for Mac OS X be called?

It's going to be called... *drum roll*..."Steam"! :P

If Valve called something else, it would make people think that Steam on the Mac was a different product to Steam on the PC, which of course it's not. Why do you think they don't call the Mac version of Photoshop "iPhotoshop"?

Originally Posted by JonasHoeiberg

I just have a quick question for the techies: Does this mean that it will be easier to make Source and Steam work under a Linux environment without too much tweaking? I figured it would, as Mac OSX is a lot more like Linux than Windows, and since the games have most likely been ported to OpenGL, meaning you won't need pretend DX libraries to make it work.

It does take *some* of the work out of porting to Linux, but many people look at a game engine, and just see graphics. There's a HELL of a lot more to a game engine than it's graphics system. There'd be quite a lot of other work to do.

Although since Valve were advertising for Linux developers a while ago, I reckon that Steam and Source are headed there, but they've either had a setback or they're scheduled for later. Valve had to announce the Mac versions now though because of GDC, so they can market both Steam and Source there