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Game Devs Express New Fears Over Future of Mac Gaming as Apple Deprecates OpenGL and OpenCL in macOS Mojave
Yesterday at WWDC 2018, Apple revealed macOS Mojave, which is set to bring users a Dark Mode, redesigned Mac App Store, organizable Stacks, streamlined screenshots, and more when it launches wide in the fall. Alongside the new features, Apple has confirmed that it is deprecating OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) and OpenCL (Open Computing Language) in favor of Metal.
This means that apps built using OpenGL and OpenCL will still run in Mojave, but they will no longer be updated after macOS 10.14 launches. Apple encourages games and "graphics-intensive apps" built with OpenGL to adopt Metal ahead of Mojave's launch, and apps that use OpenCL for computational tasks "should now adopt Metal and Metal Performance Shaders."
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is one of the latest Mac games to run on Metal
Launched four years ago, Metal is Apple's own 3D graphic and programming interface that combines the functions of OpenGL and OpenCL under a singular API. In explaining the move of deprecating the "legacy technologies" of OpenGL and OpenCL, Apple said that "Metal avoids the overhead inherent in legacy technologies and exposes the latest graphics processing functionality" of GPUs found in devices across iOS, macOS, and tvOS.
Although Apple's decision to deprecate the older technology in favor of its own graphics API may not be surprising, some game developers have begun criticizing Apple for the move, particularly how it affects the future of gaming on Mac. Notably, OpenGL is an open-source, cross-platform solution that made it simple for developers to build games on both Mac and PC at the same time, providing some parity to a platform that many have agreed is lacking as a gaming hub.
Since "many games and apps continue to use OpenGL," particularly those that released prior to Metal in 2014, the shift to Metal-focused development is leaving Mac developers worried about any potential to grow as a gaming platform (via PC Gamer). Game developer Sam Loeschen tweeted that he feels "conflicted" about the decision, calling Metal a "really, really good" graphics API but admitting that "this decision alienates macOS further as a gaming platform."
Speaking with PC Gamer, game designer Rami Ismail said that while "it's not doomsday," it appears that Apple is preparing for such an occasion in regards to fully terminating OpenGL/OpenCL on Mac. He explained that for now, "the worst that's going to happen" is that parts of old apps will "break," and pointed out that lacking a single cross-platform graphics API is a "pain" and "not very good for developer confidence" in Apple.
This means that apps built using OpenGL and OpenCL will still run in Mojave, but they will no longer be updated after macOS 10.14 launches. Apple encourages games and "graphics-intensive apps" built with OpenGL to adopt Metal ahead of Mojave's launch, and apps that use OpenCL for computational tasks "should now adopt Metal and Metal Performance Shaders."
Launched four years ago, Metal is Apple's own 3D graphic and programming interface that combines the functions of OpenGL and OpenCL under a singular API. In explaining the move of deprecating the "legacy technologies" of OpenGL and OpenCL, Apple said that "Metal avoids the overhead inherent in legacy technologies and exposes the latest graphics processing functionality" of GPUs found in devices across iOS, macOS, and tvOS.
Although Apple's decision to deprecate the older technology in favor of its own graphics API may not be surprising, some game developers have begun criticizing Apple for the move, particularly how it affects the future of gaming on Mac. Notably, OpenGL is an open-source, cross-platform solution that made it simple for developers to build games on both Mac and PC at the same time, providing some parity to a platform that many have agreed is lacking as a gaming hub.
Since "many games and apps continue to use OpenGL," particularly those that released prior to Metal in 2014, the shift to Metal-focused development is leaving Mac developers worried about any potential to grow as a gaming platform (via PC Gamer). Game developer Sam Loeschen tweeted that he feels "conflicted" about the decision, calling Metal a "really, really good" graphics API but admitting that "this decision alienates macOS further as a gaming platform."
Speaking with PC Gamer, game designer Rami Ismail said that while "it's not doomsday," it appears that Apple is preparing for such an occasion in regards to fully terminating OpenGL/OpenCL on Mac. He explained that for now, "the worst that's going to happen" is that parts of old apps will "break," and pointed out that lacking a single cross-platform graphics API is a "pain" and "not very good for developer confidence" in Apple.
"With deprecation, abandonment can vary from 'soon' to 'never', so until we have information on that, we can't really say," he said. "All we know is Apple seems to have shown intent to rid itself of OpenGL in favor of its own graphics API, Metal. The problem with Metal is very similar to the problem with DirectX: it's not cross-platform.More developers and programmers chimed in on the news to PC Gamer, including Alex Austin, who ultimately said that while he likes to develop on Mac to "support fans if I can," he's most likely "not going to spend any time on Metal because Macs are a pretty small percentage of the market and really probably not worth it even now."
"It's not doomsday, it's more like Apple building a giant EMP machine and saying 'we might or might not use this.' The worst that's going to happen is old stuff will break, and our engines and libraries will grow a bit to support both Direct3D and Metal. Not having a clear guideline for future actions Apple might take in this regard isn't very good for developer confidence, I'd guess, and not having a single cross-platform graphics API is just a pain."
Related Roundups: iMac, macOS Mojave
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19 weeks ago
You guys are forgetting that Apple is creating a unified program for developing apps on the iOS and macOS. There are many metal games on the iOS that can now easily come over to the Mac.
You've just got to abandon the old school way of thinking how Mac games are made.
19 weeks ago
Why do some think old technology should be supported forever? At some point you have to cut it loose. If you require it, then don't upgrade. Sorry kids. This is how the world works. Even Honda doesn't support your '84 Civic with new parts like fenders anymore.
The thing is, there's a lot of software out there that is well-supported and being used on Macs right now, that uses OpenGL. A good example is Second Life.
Some developers may decide that it's not worth the effort to port their code to Metal, since Metal is only used by Apple. Thus they will just discontinue Mac support.
We are going to lose software on the Mac platform because of this.
19 weeks ago
Why do some think old technology should be supported forever? At some point you have to cut it loose. If you require it, then don't upgrade. Sorry kids. This is how the world works. Even Honda doesn't support your '84 Civic with new parts like fenders anymore.
OpenGL in itself isn't old though. It's just that Apple hasn't updated it past 4.1. But OpenGL keeps getting updated regularly.
Regardless, to tackle the cross-platform API issue, we have MoltenVK. It's not a single API at the backend, but it solves the issue somewhat. And a lot of games use middleware like Unity and Unreal, and they can handle the API calls.
19 weeks ago
So correct me if I'm wrong,
Apple threaten's to abandon a cross platform product that allows developers to write code on multiple platforms in lieu of a propretary solution that only benefits Macs.
While I'll not disagree that Metal may be a better performer, it seems like Apple is not doing the best to court and entice developers. Games on macOS is anemic at best and this may make it worse.
Apple threaten's to abandon a cross platform product that allows developers to write code on multiple platforms in lieu of a propretary solution that only benefits Macs.
While I'll not disagree that Metal may be a better performer, it seems like Apple is not doing the best to court and entice developers. Games on macOS is anemic at best and this may make it worse.
19 weeks ago
Why do some think old technology should be supported forever? At some point you have to cut it loose. If you require it, then don't upgrade. Sorry kids. This is how the world works. Even Honda doesn't support your '84 Civic with new parts like fenders anymore.
19 weeks ago
A far bigger concern than games are scientific applications.
Many programs used in science are developed using open-source, cross-platform technologies. OpenGL is the only viable 3D API available in these cases, even more so when we are talking about X-Windows based applications (which are more common in science than you might think). Dropping OpenGL would immediately cut off Mac users from such applications, as adopting Metal would be unfeasible, if not actually impossible.
To give you some actual reference here: I'm a chemist, and of all the chemistry related applications which in one way or the other have 3D graphics that I use, have used, or know, about 95% would become unuseable without OpenGL. Only two programs, which are actually Mac specific and aren't very wide spread, have a slim chance of being ported to Metal.
Many programs used in science are developed using open-source, cross-platform technologies. OpenGL is the only viable 3D API available in these cases, even more so when we are talking about X-Windows based applications (which are more common in science than you might think). Dropping OpenGL would immediately cut off Mac users from such applications, as adopting Metal would be unfeasible, if not actually impossible.
To give you some actual reference here: I'm a chemist, and of all the chemistry related applications which in one way or the other have 3D graphics that I use, have used, or know, about 95% would become unuseable without OpenGL. Only two programs, which are actually Mac specific and aren't very wide spread, have a slim chance of being ported to Metal.
19 weeks ago
Blender is all OpenGL / OpenCL. Was going to buy an eGPU to increase Blender performance but now it looks like I should move to Linux or Windows instead. This truly sucks. :-(
19 weeks ago
Cross iOS compatibility will more than make up for it.
It should be pretty clear to you by now, most are referencing real games, not iOS titles. Mac gamers want access to the same AAA title PC gamers can access. Also want those games in a comparable time frame, not 2, 3, or 4 years later. You are the only one advocating some iOS/MacOS mishmash. That won't bring the AAA titles Mac gamers want. People want to be able to game on a Mac and not have to rely on Bootcamp to get decent performance.[ Read All Comments ]
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