Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi /Shaun, Smile. I never acused you of shooting me a load of bull. I had heard about the Hackintosh clones before, but was mmerely pointing out that it doesn't quite operate exactly like a true Mac does. Thanks for the link to the BCT podcast. I listened to it, and it was interesting. I did get one question answered which keys match up with the Macintosh keys. For example alt is equal to command, the windows key is equal to options, etc. That was good to know both fore game development and if I ever plan to try slapping Mac on a PC for kicks some day. shaun everiss wrote: hmmm I got the podcast of blindcooltech. there are some limitations such as the system shutting down, and not turning off. just so you know I am not giving you a load of bull http://media.libsyn.com/media/bct/bct1365Hackintosh.mp3 --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hey, folks! He wants to buy a Mac for game development purposes! Support your game developer! Buy loads of games! (grin) ---If it weren't for the United States military, there would be NO United States of America. - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 5:18 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009 Hi Mike and all, Well, for the time being I will be creating Linux and Windows ports first. It will be a while before I can actually support Mac OS X. The main reason is I personally own a couple of systems running Windows and a PC running Ubuntu Linux on it, but don't personally own a Mac myself. I have plans to purchase a MacBook when my finances will allow it, but until that time comes suppporting Mac OS X directly won't be possible. Though, it is on mmy list of things to do. Still you do have a couple of options. You can run Windows via Boot Camp for my games, or it may eventually be possible to run them through an emulator like Cross Over for Mac. HTH Mike Reiser wrote: Tom, Great news on the decition to go to c++. I'm glad that cross platform, especially mac support is comeing. I'll definitely load windows on my mac to play mota but I'll definitely be happy when the games are natively supported. Keep up the great work, Mike --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi Shaun, Oh, really? How exactly do the Netbooks handle the differences between Macintosh and Netbook keyboard layouts. The Mac computersI've seen have a different keyboard layout from Windows PCS. For example you have a comand key where a Windows keyboard has a Windows key. Instead of an alt key they have an options key. I don't know for certain if an options key returns the same scan code as an alt key or not. As for a the command key I suppose you could use the fn key on the Netbook the same as on a Macbook as an alternative command key. For example, hold down the fn key and f5 to launch VoiceOver. Anyway, I havent' tried this myself, and I'd want to see this in action before I considered in vesting in something like this. shaun everiss wrote: hmmm well with the hackentosh thing they are using legal coppies of linux macos and windows, however its really all legal just on a modified netbook. It does have their limitations though. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi Mike, If you are talking about the new Genesis Engine being written in C++ it should run on 64 byt platforms just fine. Currently it is being compiled as a 32 byt application for x86 processors, and x64 processors should run games that use it with no problems. That is one of the reasons I am dropping support for .NET. The reason STFC and Mysteries of the Ancients won't run on Vista 64 is because I need to recompile the game specifying an x86 platform. Well, thanks to Microsoft the Express version of Visual C# will not let me do that. It defaults to Any Platform which means if you envoke it on a 64 byt .NET framework it will load as a 64 byt application, but the DirectX libraries are compiled for x86 processors. Instant crash. So the application and the libraries it supports have to be specifically compiled with the same target platform in mind. That's something I hope to correct when I can. Smile. Mike Maslo wrote: Thomas: Will it have vista 64 support? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi Charles, Actually, I have several other reasons to purchase a Mac besides porting my games to Mac. Believe it or not like Josh, Will, Cara, and others on this list who own Macintosh computers I have been converted. I got a chanse to use my brother-in-law's Mac last summmer, and I fell in love with the operating system. It blew Windows Vista and Windows 7 away in my opinion. That's really when I decided to purchase a Mac for my personal use, and port many of my games over too it as well. However, most of my paying customers have Windows PCs so if I support Macintosh computers I also have to support Windows. Since I also have a Linux system here, and I use Linux a lot myself, I decided to support it as well. It is a lot of overhead, but I think once I create the cross platform Genesis Engine and get the necessary Mac OS, Linux, and Windows support designed in the engine creating the games should be the easy part. Charles Rivard wrote: Hey, folks! He wants to buy a Mac for game development purposes! Support your game developer! Buy loads of games! (grin) ---If it weren't for the United States military, there would be NO United States of America. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Will the most current release be able to have support for 64 bit? -Original Message- From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2009 6:40 AM To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009 Hi Shaun, Oh, really? How exactly do the Netbooks handle the differences between Macintosh and Netbook keyboard layouts. The Mac computersI've seen have a different keyboard layout from Windows PCS. For example you have a comand key where a Windows keyboard has a Windows key. Instead of an alt key they have an options key. I don't know for certain if an options key returns the same scan code as an alt key or not. As for a the command key I suppose you could use the fn key on the Netbook the same as on a Macbook as an alternative command key. For example, hold down the fn key and f5 to launch VoiceOver. Anyway, I havent' tried this myself, and I'd want to see this in action before I considered in vesting in something like this. shaun everiss wrote: hmmm well with the hackentosh thing they are using legal coppies of linux macos and windows, however its really all legal just on a modified netbook. It does have their limitations though. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi Mike, No. That is because I don't currently own a version of Visual C# that will me to change the target platform. HOwever, once I port Mysteries of the Ancients to C++ I'll be able to make it compatible with 64 byt systems. However, 64 byt support isn't going to be coming right away. Mike Maslo wrote: Will the most current release be able to have support for 64 bit? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
hmmm I got the podcast of blindcooltech. there are some limitations such as the system shutting down, and not turning off. just so you know I am not giving you a load of bull http://media.libsyn.com/media/bct/bct1365Hackintosh.mp3 At 11:39 p.m. 4/07/2009, you wrote: Hi Shaun, Oh, really? How exactly do the Netbooks handle the differences between Macintosh and Netbook keyboard layouts. The Mac computersI've seen have a different keyboard layout from Windows PCS. For example you have a comand key where a Windows keyboard has a Windows key. Instead of an alt key they have an options key. I don't know for certain if an options key returns the same scan code as an alt key or not. As for a the command key I suppose you could use the fn key on the Netbook the same as on a Macbook as an alternative command key. For example, hold down the fn key and f5 to launch VoiceOver. Anyway, I havent' tried this myself, and I'd want to see this in action before I considered in vesting in something like this. shaun everiss wrote: hmmm well with the hackentosh thing they are using legal coppies of linux macos and windows, however its really all legal just on a modified netbook. It does have their limitations though. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
well tom if you get paralels working you can have vms running on the mac, I think people have managed to set windows and linux on the same box. At 11:55 p.m. 4/07/2009, you wrote: Hi Charles, Actually, I have several other reasons to purchase a Mac besides porting my games to Mac. Believe it or not like Josh, Will, Cara, and others on this list who own Macintosh computers I have been converted. I got a chanse to use my brother-in-law's Mac last summmer, and I fell in love with the operating system. It blew Windows Vista and Windows 7 away in my opinion. That's really when I decided to purchase a Mac for my personal use, and port many of my games over too it as well. However, most of my paying customers have Windows PCs so if I support Macintosh computers I also have to support Windows. Since I also have a Linux system here, and I use Linux a lot myself, I decided to support it as well. It is a lot of overhead, but I think once I create the cross platform Genesis Engine and get the necessary Mac OS, Linux, and Windows support designed in the engine creating the games should be the easy part. Charles Rivard wrote: Hey, folks! He wants to buy a Mac for game development purposes! Support your game developer! Buy loads of games! (grin) ---If it weren't for the United States military, there would be NO United States of America. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
would the same mota key work on a mac and for windows? if not i want please my key to be held until mac support is available On 2 Jul 2009, at 23:59, Mike Reiser wrote: Tom, Great news on the decition to go to c++. I'm glad that cross platform, especially mac support is comeing. I'll definitely load windows on my mac to play mota but I'll definitely be happy when the games are natively supported. Keep up the great work, Mike On Jul 2, 2009, at 4:24 PM, Thomas Ward wrote: USA Games News July 2, 2009 Introduction Hello gamers, Welcome to the July edition of the USA Games News. A lot has been happening on the programming front, and I think we have some late breaking developments that many of you may be interested in. Genesis 3D In our previous news letter we mentioned we were testing a cross platform version of the Genesis Engine written in Java. Do to technical details the Java version of the engine ran fairly poor on our testers computers. As a result we have decided to discontinue development of the Java based Genesis Engine, and have made the decision to completely rewrite the Genesis Engine from scratch in C+ +. While this is going to be a lot of work it will eventually be worth it in the long run. One of the reasons we have decided to make the switch officially to C++ is the fact our future games will no longer be tied to a specific runtime environment like the Java Runtime Environment, .NET Framework, Mono, Python, etc. Instead each version of the Genesis Engine will be specially designed and compiled for each target operating system. This will have serious advantages over the C# .NET and Java based engines. First, since each version of the engine will be designed for the specific operating system and target platform we can take advantage of each operating systems game programming development libraries. On Linux we could use the SDL API, perhaps use OpenAL for 3d audio support, and take advantage of the Gnome-Speech service natively. On Windows we could use DirectX and Sapi. By having the core of the engine specifically designed for the operating system at hand we can take full advantage of its game programming libraries, accessibility services, and so on directly. Second, by compiling the program as a native Windows, Mac, or Linux executable we will be able to get the maximum speed and system performance out of our future games. No matter how much goes into optimizing runtime environments like the .NET Framework, Sun Java Runtime Environment, Python, etc they still have too much over head to compare with a native C++ application. Sometimes some Java and .NET applications are close to native speeds, but they have a long way to go to being equal to a well written native application. Third, by using C++ we will drastically be reducing the size of our software installations. For example, in the passed if an end user needs to upgrade to the .NET Framework 3.5 and include Managed DirectX that means he/she will have to download and install nearly 500 MB of additional software with our games. Not to mention one of our number one technical support issues has been helping end users get those two dependencies installed and running correctly. So we feel the easiest solution will be to eventually drop support for those technologies and use native Windows, Linux, and Mac libraries directly. Fourth, one of the main reasons we have decided to switch is that Microsoft has made things difficult for us to continue using C# .NET for future game development. Back in 2004 when we started developing games Managed DirectX for .NET was brand new, was being heavily promoted, and we decided to begin writing our games using C# 2003 and Managed DirectX. By 2007 Microsoft announced Managed DirectX was being phased out, and they were replacing it with the Managed XNA Framework. Unfortunately, the Managed XNA Framework requires a developer to use an audio tool called XAct that is fairly unaccessible for a blind developer. However, the core C++ XNA libraries don't have this problem. So it only makes sense to design games using C++ which is a more accessible alternative all around. Finally, if we decide to use the SDL sound mixer we will be able to support compressed file types such as mp3or ogg for large background music and ambience loops. Obviously if we can use mp3 and ogg for large files we will be able to make our future games not only smaller, but easier to download and install. Which I think will agree with everyone regardless if they are on dial up access or on a high speed connection. I know it probably seams like we have been going round and round in circles about what programming language, APIs, etc we will be using for the final Genesis release, and in a sense you would be right. It has taken us a long time to experiment with programming languages and APIs to find something
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi Mike and all, Well, for the time being I will be creating Linux and Windows ports first. It will be a while before I can actually support Mac OS X. The main reason is I personally own a couple of systems running Windows and a PC running Ubuntu Linux on it, but don't personally own a Mac myself. I have plans to purchase a MacBook when my finances will allow it, but until that time comes suppporting Mac OS X directly won't be possible. Though, it is on mmy list of things to do. Still you do have a couple of options. You can run Windows via Boot Camp for my games, or it may eventually be possible to run them through an emulator like Cross Over for Mac. HTH Mike Reiser wrote: Tom, Great news on the decition to go to c++. I'm glad that cross platform, especially mac support is comeing. I'll definitely load windows on my mac to play mota but I'll definitely be happy when the games are natively supported. Keep up the great work, Mike --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi William, That is an area of development I haven't really put much thought into. A lot of companies such as Cepstral have different license keys depending on if you purchase the Linux, Windows, or Mac version of the product. Never-the-less I do see your point that someone purchasing the game would want to use the same key for whatever operating system or systems they may be running. It is something I'll have to think about at length. One thing I might do for a situation like yours is provide you with a Windows key, since you paid for it, and when/if a Mac port appears offer a free upgrade for a limited time. Provided of course you have paid for a valid license before the Mac version went on sale. I can make a similar offer for Linux users as well. HTH william lomas wrote: would the same mota key work on a mac and for windows? if not i want please my key to be held until mac support is available --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
hmm what about trying to invest in a hackentosh I know you can make them with a netbook, and I know they exist. At 12:18 p.m. 4/07/2009, you wrote: Hi Mike and all, Well, for the time being I will be creating Linux and Windows ports first. It will be a while before I can actually support Mac OS X. The main reason is I personally own a couple of systems running Windows and a PC running Ubuntu Linux on it, but don't personally own a Mac myself. I have plans to purchase a MacBook when my finances will allow it, but until that time comes suppporting Mac OS X directly won't be possible. Though, it is on mmy list of things to do. Still you do have a couple of options. You can run Windows via Boot Camp for my games, or it may eventually be possible to run them through an emulator like Cross Over for Mac. HTH Mike Reiser wrote: Tom, Great news on the decition to go to c++. I'm glad that cross platform, especially mac support is comeing. I'll definitely load windows on my mac to play mota but I'll definitely be happy when the games are natively supported. Keep up the great work, Mike --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Thomas: Will it have vista 64 support? -Original Message- From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 7:31 PM To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009 Hi William, That is an area of development I haven't really put much thought into. A lot of companies such as Cepstral have different license keys depending on if you purchase the Linux, Windows, or Mac version of the product. Never-the-less I do see your point that someone purchasing the game would want to use the same key for whatever operating system or systems they may be running. It is something I'll have to think about at length. One thing I might do for a situation like yours is provide you with a Windows key, since you paid for it, and when/if a Mac port appears offer a free upgrade for a limited time. Provided of course you have paid for a valid license before the Mac version went on sale. I can make a similar offer for Linux users as well. HTH william lomas wrote: would the same mota key work on a mac and for windows? if not i want please my key to be held until mac support is available --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Hi Shaun, The problem with the so-called Hackentosh Netbooks is they are just hacks. I've seen all kinds of hacks out there that try to emulate Mac OS X on standard PC hardware, but they are all flawed in some way. For example, there is suppose to be a hacked Mac OS Leopard image ffloating around on the internet that you can extract to an empty hard drive on your PC, reboot, and run Mac OS X Leopard on various desktops and laptops from HP, Compaq, Del, etc. However, it is very problematic. In some cases I've heard it runs fine, but in a lot of cases it won't even boot, or it gets to the startup screen and crashes. Anyway, the point is I think if a person wants to go Mac it is a good idea to actually own a Mac. It is much easier to run Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp than it is to run Mac OS on a Windows PC using PearPC or other emulation software. shaun everiss wrote: hmm what about trying to invest in a hackentosh I know you can make them with a netbook, and I know they exist. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Not only that, but I'd hate to get caught with one of those hacks by the folks who matter. I know Microsoft builds what for want of a better word I'll call a backdoor into their programs, which allows them to tell if they've been tampered with in any way. I came very close to getting into trouble with this a few years ago before I started college here in Idaho. I needed Microsoft Office 2003, but the version on my laptop was just a trial. My former neighbor at the time had a daughter whose boyfriend offered to let me use a copy of the program he'd bought. Problem was that it had already been installed on the allowed three computers. I held the CD in hand and was tempted, but on reflection I decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught and, at the very least having to pay a heavy fine I actually couldn't afford or spending time in prison. I imagine it's much the same with these Hackentosh netbooks. No pizza. Only Khlav Kalash. - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 8:43 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009 Hi Shaun, The problem with the so-called Hackentosh Netbooks is they are just hacks. I've seen all kinds of hacks out there that try to emulate Mac OS X on standard PC hardware, but they are all flawed in some way. For example, there is suppose to be a hacked Mac OS Leopard image ffloating around on the internet that you can extract to an empty hard drive on your PC, reboot, and run Mac OS X Leopard on various desktops and laptops from HP, Compaq, Del, etc. However, it is very problematic. In some cases I've heard it runs fine, but in a lot of cases it won't even boot, or it gets to the startup screen and crashes. Anyway, the point is I think if a person wants to go Mac it is a good idea to actually own a Mac. It is much easier to run Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp than it is to run Mac OS on a Windows PC using PearPC or other emulation software. shaun everiss wrote: hmm what about trying to invest in a hackentosh I know you can make them with a netbook, and I know they exist. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
hmmm well with the hackentosh thing they are using legal coppies of linux macos and windows, however its really all legal just on a modified netbook. It does have their limitations though. At 05:09 p.m. 4/07/2009, you wrote: Not only that, but I'd hate to get caught with one of those hacks by the folks who matter. I know Microsoft builds what for want of a better word I'll call a backdoor into their programs, which allows them to tell if they've been tampered with in any way. I came very close to getting into trouble with this a few years ago before I started college here in Idaho. I needed Microsoft Office 2003, but the version on my laptop was just a trial. My former neighbor at the time had a daughter whose boyfriend offered to let me use a copy of the program he'd bought. Problem was that it had already been installed on the allowed three computers. I held the CD in hand and was tempted, but on reflection I decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught and, at the very least having to pay a heavy fine I actually couldn't afford or spending time in prison. I imagine it's much the same with these Hackentosh netbooks. No pizza. Only Khlav Kalash. - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 8:43 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009 Hi Shaun, The problem with the so-called Hackentosh Netbooks is they are just hacks. I've seen all kinds of hacks out there that try to emulate Mac OS X on standard PC hardware, but they are all flawed in some way. For example, there is suppose to be a hacked Mac OS Leopard image ffloating around on the internet that you can extract to an empty hard drive on your PC, reboot, and run Mac OS X Leopard on various desktops and laptops from HP, Compaq, Del, etc. However, it is very problematic. In some cases I've heard it runs fine, but in a lot of cases it won't even boot, or it gets to the startup screen and crashes. Anyway, the point is I think if a person wants to go Mac it is a good idea to actually own a Mac. It is much easier to run Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp than it is to run Mac OS on a Windows PC using PearPC or other emulation software. shaun everiss wrote: hmm what about trying to invest in a hackentosh I know you can make them with a netbook, and I know they exist. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] USA Games News 7/2/2009
Tom, Great news on the decition to go to c++. I'm glad that cross platform, especially mac support is comeing. I'll definitely load windows on my mac to play mota but I'll definitely be happy when the games are natively supported. Keep up the great work, Mike On Jul 2, 2009, at 4:24 PM, Thomas Ward wrote: USA Games News July 2, 2009 Introduction Hello gamers, Welcome to the July edition of the USA Games News. A lot has been happening on the programming front, and I think we have some late breaking developments that many of you may be interested in. Genesis 3D In our previous news letter we mentioned we were testing a cross platform version of the Genesis Engine written in Java. Do to technical details the Java version of the engine ran fairly poor on our testers computers. As a result we have decided to discontinue development of the Java based Genesis Engine, and have made the decision to completely rewrite the Genesis Engine from scratch in C+ +. While this is going to be a lot of work it will eventually be worth it in the long run. One of the reasons we have decided to make the switch officially to C ++ is the fact our future games will no longer be tied to a specific runtime environment like the Java Runtime Environment, .NET Framework, Mono, Python, etc. Instead each version of the Genesis Engine will be specially designed and compiled for each target operating system. This will have serious advantages over the C# .NET and Java based engines. First, since each version of the engine will be designed for the specific operating system and target platform we can take advantage of each operating systems game programming development libraries. On Linux we could use the SDL API, perhaps use OpenAL for 3d audio support, and take advantage of the Gnome-Speech service natively. On Windows we could use DirectX and Sapi. By having the core of the engine specifically designed for the operating system at hand we can take full advantage of its game programming libraries, accessibility services, and so on directly. Second, by compiling the program as a native Windows, Mac, or Linux executable we will be able to get the maximum speed and system performance out of our future games. No matter how much goes into optimizing runtime environments like the .NET Framework, Sun Java Runtime Environment, Python, etc they still have too much over head to compare with a native C++ application. Sometimes some Java and .NET applications are close to native speeds, but they have a long way to go to being equal to a well written native application. Third, by using C++ we will drastically be reducing the size of our software installations. For example, in the passed if an end user needs to upgrade to the .NET Framework 3.5 and include Managed DirectX that means he/she will have to download and install nearly 500 MB of additional software with our games. Not to mention one of our number one technical support issues has been helping end users get those two dependencies installed and running correctly. So we feel the easiest solution will be to eventually drop support for those technologies and use native Windows, Linux, and Mac libraries directly. Fourth, one of the main reasons we have decided to switch is that Microsoft has made things difficult for us to continue using C# .NET for future game development. Back in 2004 when we started developing games Managed DirectX for .NET was brand new, was being heavily promoted, and we decided to begin writing our games using C# 2003 and Managed DirectX. By 2007 Microsoft announced Managed DirectX was being phased out, and they were replacing it with the Managed XNA Framework. Unfortunately, the Managed XNA Framework requires a developer to use an audio tool called XAct that is fairly unaccessible for a blind developer. However, the core C++ XNA libraries don't have this problem. So it only makes sense to design games using C++ which is a more accessible alternative all around. Finally, if we decide to use the SDL sound mixer we will be able to support compressed file types such as mp3or ogg for large background music and ambience loops. Obviously if we can use mp3 and ogg for large files we will be able to make our future games not only smaller, but easier to download and install. Which I think will agree with everyone regardless if they are on dial up access or on a high speed connection. I know it probably seams like we have been going round and round in circles about what programming language, APIs, etc we will be using for the final Genesis release, and in a sense you would be right. It has taken us a long time to experiment with programming languages and APIs to find something that works with Mac, Windows, and Linux equally. At last I think we have done it. Admittedly it is more work than I had planned on, but I think it will be well worth it
