Hi Michael, Well, the majority of PC games aren't directly developed for Mac or Linux, but those that are considered to be Mac/Linux compatible are often played using a commercial emulator like Transgamings Cider and Cediga. Transgaming has a huge list of PC games that have been tested with their Mac and Linux game emulators, and EA Games, Activision, and several other mainstream game companies mention Cider or Cediga in their documentation for Mac/Linux compatibility. Its just a way of quickly targeting those platforms without having to rewrite there software.
That said, the majority of commercial games for Mac and Linux such as Quake use SDL for keyboard, mouse, and joystick input, OpenGL for 3d graphics, and OpenAL for 3d audio support. Its not DirectX, but with OpenGL and OpenAL doing the graphics and audio you can get pretty close on non-Windows PCs.In fact, the forementioned emulators above basically emulate DirectX behavior by rendering the graphics behind the scenes with OpenGL and rendering audio with OpenAL because they are the closest matches to Direct3D and DirectSound. So if I were writing a comercial game for Mac OS or Linux that's probably what I would use as well. One other note. FMOD Ex is a comercial audio API for Mac, Linux, and Windows. I've noticed on Firelight's website that several mainstream companies have licensed FMOD for their game engines and use it for cross-platform audio development. So I would say that FMOD is the number one alternative to OpenAL for game companies who can afford the licensing for FMOD and want to write cross-platform games. Cheers! On 12/3/11, Michael Gauler <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Thomas, > I have a few questions here. > Since you talked about open source things like SDL and such I'd like to know > what mainstream games for Mac or Linux use. > They obviously don't have DirectX components, but if a a 3D first person > shooter is created or ported to something non windows, there must be > alternatives for the programmers. > They could create their own sound libraries or use propritary ones. > But the question remains what they use. And even if mainstream games do have > graphics to look for doors or hallways this doesn't necessarily mean that > the positioning of the audio related to said objects has to be only > approximately near the spot. In many mainstream games it is as precise as > you need it for your games or like in Shades of Doom. > Since Mac and linux are not one or two years old, there must be ways to > technically deal with better game controller support or better audio > handling. > Thus I'd like to know what other companies or programmers use when it comes > to either cross platform porting of their games or when a game is directly > developed for a non windows operating system. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
