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Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

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Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#291

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Honestly, I wouldn't use the phrase "this well" non-sarcastically for ~15fps at 1440x900 like shown in the video.

this is on Ultra graphics settings.. not lot of laptop could even run it on Low Cyberpunk is known to be a VERY demanding open world game on lowest setting, this should probably be fine

It says Ultra, but ray tracing is not supported so it is not really "ultra".

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#292

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I mean, for the work I do that’s probably true. My work is 99% CPU/RAM/disk dependent. GPU obviously not, but maybe that claim would hold water at some arbitrary wattage limit. My takeaway is that the GPU “doesn’t completely suck” and that Apple are dedicating continuing resources to making their platform actually usable, which I was worried about. I mean, it seems difficult just to intentionally use the Apple Neural…

If it's disk dependent, then the m2 ssds are half as fast as the m1 ssds because it's single lane, unless you upgrade

Yeah I don't think laptops should be sold at all with 512GB -- I think that's as absurd of a product as a laptop with 128GB. Personally I spec out 2TB and judge price value based on that.

So the speed issue doesn't affect me personally. I just wish they wouldn't sell that model and then it wouldn't affect anyone.

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#293

Keep in mind, it's getting 15fps at 1440x900. It's not saying that Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 is a great experience. It's merely pointing out that it's technically possible (which is a massive achievement).

"Technically possible" is a non statement. Of course its technically possible. The question is how much money is Apple willing to throw at making games run well on their gpu.

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#294

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Speaking only for myself, I use Macs to get work done. The lack of games is actually a plus, as I can get compulsive with games. It's funny, when people denigrate the worst gaming platform in the world as a "toy computer." People get Macs, that want to get work done. As noted previously, there's really nothing that can beat a well-built PC gaming rig. I don't really think Apple has ever cared about the Mac as a gamin…

> I use Macs to get work done Ok, uninstall Steam then, I guess? Games do currently exist on Mac, both in the App store and on Steam. It's just that there's a big swath of games that haven't been ported to Apple Silicon in particular, due to difficulty. I grew up playing games on the Mac, so I'm not sure what your point is.

So why the challenging and abrasive approach? Did what I write offend you? I certainly didn’t mean to, and apologize for my tone.

I have no interest in picking fights online, especially in a professional venue, where folks that could have a significant impact on my career are watching how I interact with others.

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is on Ultra graphics settings.. not lot of laptop could even run it on Low Cyberpunk is known to be a VERY demanding open world game on lowest setting, this should probably be fine

Without RT it's actually not that demanding. I mean, here's the game on Ultra on a Steam Deck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHeso2jc_L0

Comparison is not fair, game porting toolkit also does X86 -> ARM, so it's missing perf on lot of HW intrinsics

Also this is the 1st gen M1, which was released in 2020, I wonder what's the performance like on the newest models?

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#296

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Most of the "sizable" mobile developers are entangled in the PC/Console game developers if in no other place than on the broad sheet with one generating revenue to pay for the increasingly expensive other. King is a part of Activision Blizzard (and a part of the pending sale to Microsoft). Zynga is a part of Take-Two (Rockstar/2K). Riot is obviously Riot. A half-dozen others are arms of Tencent in one way or another,…

I have to wonder if that’s because a lot of the hot mobile gaming companies flew too close to the sun, could not maintain their explosive growth even as they pursued F2P microtransactions hell policies, and ended up getting bought by said PC/console game developers.

My theory reverses your theory's cause and effect: King was a reverse merger that was very nearly a takeover of Activision Blizzard at the time. Zynga was thought to be the same for Take-Two (which at the time was particularly bloodied by bankruptcy-related issues and in a position to be eaten). The EA and Popcap merger is another one that was questionably a reverse merger/near takeover, especially in the way it shook up the executive board at the time. (I forgot about Popcap in the above summary because as a brand to themselves they've quietly sort of disappeared from modern mobile trends, but their logo still often shows up in EA presentations.)

In general, "lowly" mobile gaming still has more active players spending more real-world money at any given time. It's very hard not looking at the bottom lines of some of these companies, especially today's weird Activision Blizzard and not see "the tail wagging the dog" and mobile games effectively sponsoring and/or subsidizing development costs on every other form factor of videogame. The biggest exceptions seem to be Sony and Microsoft themselves, and Microsoft dabbled in mobile gaming over the years, has a big mobile gaming contractor in Arkadium (using the Microsoft brand for Solitaire and Minesweeper, among others, and generating some revenue), and does own one of the largest mobile games of all time (Minecraft) though people often don't think of it as such.

I think it also shows up in executive leadership and how F2P microtransactions hell has been infesting "AAA" and "AA" PC/console development for years now.

From my outside perspective of the industry: "Mobile games" won. PC/console games are the weird, "too expensive" afterthought for most of the videogame industry, subsidized by and beholden to the mobile games. The "gamer culture" that doesn't see most of the mobile games space as interesting or important and doesn't see mobile game players as "gamers" (or worse sees them only as "filthy casuals") is the minority out of touch with market realities.

Admittedly, that's a somewhat extreme perspective and there are plenty of exceptions and gray area and further complications. But whether or not you agree with that perspective, my earlier point remains that overall mobile games and PC/console games are inextricably linked by market forces and treating them as separate markets, and especially treating the mobile games market as somehow inferior, misses a lot of the forest.

(That [currently] Cold War between Apple and Epic has very real stakes, including for PC/consoles, and isn't just a silly "mobile gaming" problem.)

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may be true, but in practice I get faaar better battery life out of my M1 Max than I would out of a laptop with a mobile 4090.

Do you do AAA gaming on your M1 Max? If not, then the GPU is irrelevant, because a laptop with a 4090 mobile is going to shut it down completely. If you are indeed doing AAA gaming, then you wouldn't have sufficient battery life without plugging in, or you wouldn't have sufficient performance.

I'm not talking about AAA gaming here. I'm talking about day-to-day work-related tasks, which is primarily what I use my MacBook for.

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may be true, but in practice I get faaar better battery life out of my M1 Max than I would out of a laptop with a mobile 4090.

Do you do AAA gaming on your M1 Max? If not, then the GPU is irrelevant, because a laptop with a 4090 mobile is going to shut it down completely. If you are indeed doing AAA gaming, then you wouldn't have sufficient battery life without plugging in, or you wouldn't have sufficient performance.

People report playing Baldur's Gate 3 for an hour on M1 Max with 40% battery life left, is it AAA enough? https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/qogsov/battery_... (M1 Pro lasts longer)

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#299

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Don't PC gaming companies have only one real outlet (Microsoft) to work with? Not to be confused with distribution channels such as Steam.

Are there still games that only come out on PC? I thought most big titles are released on Xbox and Playstation as well?

Not many. For example, Jagged Alliance 3 and the Total War series.

I'm a big fan of Zachtronics games (TIS-100, Shenzen I/O, etc) and they are also PC-only.

Re: Apple's game porting toolkit is fantastic. Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra on an M1 MBP

#300
post #127
post #97

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Overwatch before that too. Its surprising how on one hand a huge effort is put into World of Warcraft running smoothly on macOS (they always implement all the new Metal features with every expansion and it was the first native Apple Silicon game) but completely abandoned macOS for new titles.

Blizzard since mid to late 2010s is basically a different company from the one that pumped out Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo. The old company’s dead.

I think you misunderstood your parent's comment.

Blizzard _today_ takes to maintain World of Warcraft's macOS build. The same Blizzard is releasing all new titles as Windows-only.

This difference between WoW and there rest is what puzzles you parent.

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