#nogaems

[didyooknowgaming]

Glorified Emulator

[sneakernets]

The consequences of standards (Or, why OS X doesn't have games)

If there is one meme that just won’t die, it’s “X got no games”. PS3? No games. Wii? NO GAMES! PS4? No gaems!!!

But one that’s been true for a while is OS X = No games. While a lot of it may be due to Windows exclusives, those games that are Linux and Windows compatible have an additional “hurdle”.

In terms of every computer platform that isn’t Windows, OpenGL must be used. OpenGL is a graphics API standard that powers id Software’s RAGE, and recently, Valve’s Dota 2. These games are also available on OS X. But what about those games that aren’t for OS X but get Linux releases? That’s where Standards (and lazy programmers) come into play.

Apple has incorporated OpenGL into the OS X Core - Unlike on Linux, where it’s an extension (and Linux runs just fine without OpenGL or even a graphics card), OS X uses OpenGL to render just about everything. Apple has also decided to cut away the “crufty” compatibility modes that allow OpenGL applications that use OpenGL 2.x coding styles and functions access higher-level 3.x and 4.x functions.

The real issue here? Games that request newer extensions in a < 3.0 context are doing it wrong. This means that any legacy OpenGL < 3.0 code must be rewritten to work on recent Apple hardware. Unfortunately, some have neglected to do that, or don’t have the resources to do it. Because of this, it’s very safe to say that OS X is “Stuck” with OpenGL 2.x, when in reality it is nowhere close.

But because of drivers on other systems not enforcing the GL 3.x standards and allowing compatibility modes, a lot of low-level code suddenly doesn’t work anymore when ported to OS X.

A lot of this may be due to programmers still coding in the style that they learned long ago - back in the GL 1.2 days, and they can’t give it up, or don’t see the benefits of using the new standards. Some may be doing it out of spite, due to the controversy the 3.0 standards caused. But, that was years ago. There has been enough time to convert source code, and newer releases shouldn’t get a pass when their programmers use archaic coding practices, all the while complaining when the half-assed attempt at an OS X port “wouldn’t work”.

If you’re a programmer that has refused to port your software to OS X when it ports easily to Linux, there needs to be a better excuse to bring to the table than “I don’t like coding that way”.