Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Port DirectX Games to the Mac

Posted by pudge on from the we-just-don't-have-enough-games dept.

tassii writes "MacCentral reports that Coderus' MacDX provides PC game developers with a way of moving that DirectX code to the Mac without having to rewrite it from scratch. Coderus claims that most code which uses DirectX can simply be recompiled and linked to the MacDX libraries. Maybe I can finally play the full Command and Conquer series."

7 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. This is bad by IshanCaspian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The DirectX api is cumbersome and very proprietary. This just gives more developers reason to stick with DirectX. I would much rather see work put into expanding the featureset of OpenGL to include some of the more advanced features that have to be implemented as hacks. Even though the OpenGL featureset is a bit behind directx, it is a pleasure to work with, and so I hate to see anything that undermines the reasons for adopting it.

    --

    But there is another kind of evil that we must fear most... and that is the indifference of good men.
    1. Re:This is bad by kwerle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, we should totally keep developers from easily porting games that work on 90% of the worlds computers. We should take away their choices, not give them more. Totally. I so agree with you.

      Oh, wait. That was what the evil-me would have said. Really, I think making it easy to port games is a good thing. I don't give a crap what API folks use, just so long as I get to play the damn game on my bitchin' mac hardware.

      Just as soon as OpenGL 'catches up', and game programmers start flocking to it, I won't give a shit - just as long as I get to play the damn game on my bitchin' mac hardware.

  2. And another thing... by IshanCaspian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This will undermine the potential for games on linux. If the Mac market can be addressed using DirectX, there's less reason to develop opengl apps, which are portable to linux.

    --

    But there is another kind of evil that we must fear most... and that is the indifference of good men.
    1. Re:And another thing... by kwerle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Why is adapting a Windows standard a "great win for linux?"

      Leading is not done by following.

      You're right. But standing still is even worse than following (as MacOS proved for years and years). It seems clear to me that linux is not leading in many respects - gaming APIs being one, market position being another. Even if they had the best damn gaming APIs in the world, unless those APIs were ported to Windows, it would still be a losing proposition.

      Providing software compatability is a great win for linux. OpenOffice is a great example of that. SAMBA is another.

  3. I hope this speeds up porting... by osxuser-02 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hate going to the software store and seeing a Mac game for 49.95, then seeing the same title in PC format in the 9.99 sale bin.

    --

    I went to college for this?...

  4. WinOS2, Win32S on OS/2, WINE, API shift, next... by dpilot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Perhaps this is a necessary Evil, perhaps it's a poison pill. The jury is still out on Wine and its various ilk, but for OS/2 it was clearly a poison pill.

    What's needed is a way to walk the knife-edge down the middle. Perhaps a *good* WINE is just what we don't want. Perhaps a WINE that can be tweaked to do just a few critical things really is living on that knife edge.

    Maybe WinOS2 was just too good at running Win3.1 apps, or at least the perception was too good.

    As long as WINE isn't perceived as good enough, it will be viewed as only a crutch. WinOS2 was perceived as 'good enough' to neglect a native version, even if enough market was anticipated.

    It also remains to be seen how MacDX will be perceived. Hopefully only as a crutch, and a reason to then consider OpenGL and SDL as better solutions.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  5. Re:Worthless,... by Graff · · Score: 5, Informative
    And since network gaming seems to be the place, the gaming industry is heading, imho there is a need for an free network-api, which is designed for gaming, like directplay. There's OpenGL, OpenML, now who will create OpenNL for OpenNetwerkLibrary?

    There is one already. It is called OpenPlay. Here is a quote from the site:
    What is OpenPlay? OpenPlay is a cross-platform network abstraction layer designed to simplify the task of creating programs which communicate across multiple computers.

    While originally designed for multiplayer games, it is useful for any developer who wants an easy, platform-independent way to send messages to programs running on other machines. It completely abstracts both OpenTransport and Winsock, and its plug-in architecture makes it easy for you to support new transport protocols.

    The Myth series uses OpenPlay, as well as some other games
    --
    Sapere aude!