Forums | MacLife

MacZiMiZer wrote:

But I play WoW and puzzle games on my mac.  I keep thinking about reinstalling Starcraft but aside from Aleph One I can't usually deal with going bad to old graphics games once I've played a lot of newer stuff.  But that's just me.

Yeah, having stretched out sprites on my LCD monitor for StarCraft looked very wonky at first. But once you get into the game, man, chaos rules.

StarCraft II...

Starcraft, and soon SCII!! Also play the original Unreal Tournament and Quake. Oh, and I have a serious addiction to Lux. Quinn is on here too.

Shadowless wrote:

Starcraft, and soon SCII!! Also [..]

SC2 seems iffy, in view of the preview above.

...I played a beta build of Fable on my 1.67 Mhz G4 Powerbook and while I received "low end machine" warnings, the game plays well which is a good sign for the final version and low-end hardware. However Fable's compatibility with MacBooks and Minis are questionable at this time due to their lack of hardware vertex shaders. Stay tuned to Inside Mac Games for a full review of this title after its retail release.

Altho scalable, SC2 pushes up into DX10 territory and uses many units, taxing the CPU. Your hardware might not be up to it.

Blizzard said they're currently aiming for Pixel Shader 2.0 and not going for any DX10-only features.

just console emulators on the mac for me.  I've always prefered playing games on a console with a large TV sitting back in a comfortable chair over huddling up to a computer monitor.  Besides, keeping a computer up to par to gaming system requirements is so hard and expensive that in the long run you are better off shelling out for a PS3.

ABigSmall wrote:

Blizzard said they're currently aiming for Pixel Shader 2.0 and not going for any DX10-only features.

NightCougar_37 wrote:

Nice move for Blizz to avoid DX10 till its at least more refined and in use. Heck we got what...10.1 now and not every DX10 board can even do all the .1 features. Plus who knows what else is coming. Shame Blizz isn't gonna use PS3.0 tho. Both 2.0 and 3.0 have been around long enough. 3.0 has some nice features too.

Perhaps you're privy to some newer info than I, but the official FAQ says

Will StarCraft II take advantage of DirectX 10? What other graphical goodies are included?

The game will be compatible with DirectX 10, and we're still considering whether there will be exclusive DirectX 10 graphic effects, but the graphics engine will also be very scalable to ensure that a wide range of different systems will be capable of running StarCraft II. The new engine is also capable of rendering very large units, as well as large numbers of units on screen together. Havok physics have been integrated into the engine for added realism as well.

If they're still debating optional DX10 features, it seems likely SM3.0 effects at least will be so. Top-level effects will be icing, tho, and minimum cake requirements will be less demanding.

http://www.starcraft2.com/faq.xml

Side note, a couple of days ago, the Terran BC was introduced.

These massive, heavily armored combat ships are virtual flying fortresses, built to keep the peace and dominate the space lanes of the Koprulu sector. Many commanders use battlecruisers as their command vessels during extended campaigns. There are several examples of vessels specifically refitted for this purpose, such as General Duke’s Norad II and Norad III, as well as the battlecruiser Hyperion commanded by Jim Raynor.

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terr … ruiser.xml

ABigSmall wrote:

Blizzard said they're currently aiming for Pixel Shader 2.0 and not going for any DX10-only features.

Judging by the way some of the Xbox 360 titles look DX 9.x has plenty o life left in it........