Agreed. Also, while the PS3 does support OpenGL via a wrapper, it's not the native library. The PS3 uses a hybrid system based on OpenGL ES and Cg.
On 15 March 2010 07:26, Zach Kanzler <they4k...@gmail.com> wrote: > Changing the rendering engine is one thing. Rewriting the entire code base > to work on 7 cores is quite another. > > > On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 01:07, Allan Button <abut...@netaccess.ca> wrote: > >> Maybe the Mac is a good test platform for OpenGL, then they are going to >> springboard off this, and jump into PS3 development. >> >> Also, I'd buy a dozen copies of TF2 for the iPhone, so I could play with >> the people I work with. ;) >> >> Allan >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: hlcoders-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto: >> hlcoders-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] On Behalf Of Kyle Jansen >> Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 11:42 PM >> To: hlcoders@list.valvesoftware.com >> Subject: Re: [hlcoders] Steam 2010 mod support and Source for the Mac >> >> Two things: >> >> First, I completely agree with Adam's analysis. From what I see, Valve >> makes most of it's money from Steam, not games. I wouldn't be surprised if >> some of their games actually failed to make a profit, given how long their >> dev times are. Further, the Mac has nothing to compete with Steam, while the >> PC has several dozen competitors. >> >> What I'm hoping is that this Mac port signals a Linux port as well. >> The systems are sufficiently similar that it wouldn't be difficult, and >> Linux has absolutely no competition. Even Mac!Steam has to deal with retail. >> >> Second, I don't think moving into general movie sales would work for Valve. >> They don't really have first-hand experience making and selling movies, so >> they won't be able to be as developer- (or the film >> equivalent) and consumer-friendly as they are with games. Besides the fact >> that they would be up against some fierce competition, and don't have nearly >> the brand recognition many of the movie-digital-distribution players have. >> >> Steam is for gamers. Gamers know about it. Most gamers like it, or at least >> consider it the least evil DRM available. What could work, then, is selling >> game-related media. Put the Source modding tutorial DVDs on. Put game >> soundtracks on. Heck, I'd buy Advent Children if it was on Steam. >> >> Of course, watch all my predictions turn out wrong. I'm guessing a Team >> Fortress feature film, and a port of Steam to the iPhone, just to make my >> predictions look stupid. >> >> > Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:36:33 -0600 >> > From: Nathan Voge <hl2fr...@msn.com> >> > Subject: Re: [hlcoders] Steam 2010 mod support and Source for the Mac >> > To: hlcoders <hlcoders@list.valvesoftware.com> >> > Message-ID: <col116-w380923eee8badc081a07588...@phx.gbl> >> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >> > >> > >> > Don't forget that Steam not only works for digital distribution of games. >> Sure that is mostly what they have now, but I'm guessing that somewhere at >> Valve they are thinking about digital distribution of other things. Movies >> (There was/is that one Zombie Movie. BTW the site www.2chums.com is now >> for sale), songs, professional software... >> > >> > > Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:51:58 +0000 >> > > From: harry101jeff...@googlemail.com >> > > To: hlcoders@list.valvesoftware.com >> > > Subject: Re: [hlcoders] Steam 2010 mod support and Source for the >> > > Mac >> > > >> > > It also re-asserts Steams position as the best digital distribution >> > > system available. Stopping other new platforms such as impulse that >> > > support mac from taking control is a wise move. >> > > >> > > On 11 March 2010 19:08, Kerry Dorsey <kdor...@dorseyinc.com> wrote: >> > > > Adam, you're absolutely right...as I see it. This is much less about >> platform game support than it is about platform distribution support. But >> the latter is useless without the former. You accurately described the Mac >> dev food-chain so I won't be redundant, but the other key aspect of current >> ports to the Mac involves the code itself...native versus virtualization. >> The latest Sims 3 port for Mac is emulated. It's PC code thrown on top of a >> resource hungry virt environment (that's an over simplification, so don't >> get too upset) that runs horribly on all but the latest and strongest >> machines. So while some see "support for the Mac" means that it will run on >> all Macs, that ain't so. In fact, I'm venturing a guess that EA's support >> costs for the average Mac release is INSANE, all because of performance >> issues. If said code were native, most of the problems probably wouldn't >> exist. So I see Valve's decision to port, natively, their OB engine product >> to the Mac to be an effort to a.) throw more sand in Activision's >> distribution eyes, (go Steam!!) , develop a previously untapped market >> segment (Mac), and head off support nightmares with a little preventative >> research and development. >> > > > >> > > > It shows how Valve's business model and management have matured in a >> very short time. Good job! >> > > > >> > > > -Kerry >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > On 3/11/10 10:43 AM, "Adam Buckland" <adamjbuckl...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> > > > >> > > > My $0.02: >> > > > >> > > > I think a lot of people are missing the point here. Valve only >> > > > ported the games because they had to. The real motive here is Steam. >> > > > >> > > > Selling Mac software is very different to selling PC software. For >> > > > PC games, it makes perfect sense to put a boxed copy on a shelf >> > > > where people can go to a shop and buy it. >> > > > For the Mac, however, their users are much more spread out, and >> > > > therefore putting a boxed copy on a shelf isn't such a good idea. >> > > > Most Mac software houses realised this a long time ago and sell >> > > > their software via digital distribution instead. Most don't even >> > > > make boxed copies. Mac games however have never quite got there >> > > > and still sell mainly boxed copies. >> > > > >> > > > The current state of Mac ports of games (with a few exceptions) is >> > > > that a developer will develop a game for Windows, release it, and >> > > > then pass their code to a third-party developer (Aspyr is an >> > > > example), who will then port the game to OS X and sell it. The >> > > > problem here is that it can take a team such as the one at Aspyr a >> > > > year to port a game to OS X, by which time the game's hype is >> > > > almost non-existant, and because the porter, the original >> > > > developer, and the publisher all need to make a profit, the game >> > > > is sold at full-price, while the prices of the other platforms is >> > > > significantly reduced, making the OS X port very unattractive. >> > > > >> > > > While it make take a third-party porting company a year to port >> > > > the game to another platform, the original developer could port >> > > > the game much faster and for a much lower cost, especially if the >> > > > Mac is a release platform. Problem is, they don't bother because >> > > > they don't want to have to deal with trying desperately to >> > > > distribute it digitally themselves. >> > > > >> > > > Valve have spotted an opportunity here. What they're doing is >> > > > they're bringing a digital distribution platform that is mature >> > > > and one that many developers already have experience using to the >> > > > Mac. By doing this, they will (hopefully) entice many other >> > > > developers to move their games to the Mac themselves because a >> > > > distribution method that still gives them a higher-than-normal >> > > > (compared to boxed copies) profit margin is available. >> > > > >> > > > So, why have Valve moved their games to OS X and not just Steam? >> > > > Well, there's a number of reasons >> > > > 1) They need something to launch Steam on the Mac with!! >> > > > 2) If they didn't, other developers would have no reason to have >> > > > any confidence in Steam for Mac. >> > > > 3) Valve now have some valuable knowledge and experience in >> > > > porting to OS X that they can use to help other developers in >> > > > porting their games to OS X. This is useful because while Valve >> > > > are giving away techniques that they've spent considerable money >> > > > trying to develop, more Mac games on Steam = more profit! >> > > > >> > > > So, to sum up, the people who are looking at existing market >> > > > figures shouldn't be. Valve aren't trying to move in on the existing >> market. >> > > > They're trying to create one. >> > > > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders >> >> > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders > > -- Bucky _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
