Question about mac compatability
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At the moment I would agree that an OSX version would hold little reason. However, seeing as Macs will be running on Intel based chips soon I would imagine an OSX port would then be rather easy (given a Linux version already exists). And of course by then the emulator will have matured quite a lot, which would be nice for a first version for the platform.
Just to check I am thinking right on this... the main headache for porting to the Mac right now would be the Dyn-Rec as this is designed to produce x86 code not RISC, so an x86 based Mac version would only need a few changes to how it locates files and access DVD drives (and maybe Audio, unless your using SDL of course).
Just to check I am thinking right on this... the main headache for porting to the Mac right now would be the Dyn-Rec as this is designed to produce x86 code not RISC, so an x86 based Mac version would only need a few changes to how it locates files and access DVD drives (and maybe Audio, unless your using SDL of course).
I once heard a while ago that there was a PS2 emulator for mac called The Grinch. Never heard much about it's progress. I have no idea about coding....and Im throwing this off the top of my head and I have absolutely no idea what im talking about...but I think that it would be a bit easier to code a PS2 emulator for a mac. Because it's CPU's architechture is similar to the PS2's CPU. They both run on 128bit and are RISC CPU's The only thing I see might be hard is emulating the PS2's multiple powerful processors on a single chip. (not counting the massive amount of bandwidth the ps2 uses) However, If you did want to use PCSX2 in mac os....well before they use intel chips...you would I think re-write the code to be compatible with the mac's architecture. I do not think the PCSX2 team would want to re-write all their work to make only a handful of people be able to play it. But then again im not the team so I dunno. Me personally, I would rather have them spend their free time to work on PCSX2 win version to make that better....once they have it more stable, then they can work on a mac version. Once again, I might not know what im talking about so please don't flame me on my opinion. And this might not be the thread to do this...and I probably did this before...but it does not hurt to do it again. Thank you PCSX2 team for giving the time and your biggest effort to even make any of this possible. I wish I can help out the team but I have no coding experience. I know you guys have lives, (Don't MOSTLY anyone) but you great people still find the time to compile such a great thing. I hope for the best sucess in your goals.
GotMilk :
I agree with what you say, it would be better to leave the Mac port well alone until it becomes easier to port. Am x86 Mac would (I think, some one correct me if I am way off on this) be very very easy to port over to, so may was well wait. It is also true that the user base for Mac is smaller than Win/Linux combined, but still lots of people. Don't forget Linux used to be the platform that had people saying "Please do a port for us" and got the reply "No, there are not enough of you to bother".
I agree with what you say, it would be better to leave the Mac port well alone until it becomes easier to port. Am x86 Mac would (I think, some one correct me if I am way off on this) be very very easy to port over to, so may was well wait. It is also true that the user base for Mac is smaller than Win/Linux combined, but still lots of people. Don't forget Linux used to be the platform that had people saying "Please do a port for us" and got the reply "No, there are not enough of you to bother".
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Amen to that. It can always be ported later by the devs or an outside person wanting to make it run on a different OS. The first step is actually getting this thing 100% compatible. For now, that's the priority.gotmilk70 said:
I'm not quite sure what your point is. We seem to agree that porting it to a RISC system would invlove so much work its just silly. Seeing as it is working on Linux and Windows then I would guess its not OS specific but CPU specific. So an x86 Mac, having pretty much the same kind of hardware as a high end PC, should be very easy to port to. OSX is Unix based and not too far removed from various Linux systems any way.
I agree with you on the fact that we need a mac version of PCSX2....but my point is....why waste all that time NOW...not later on....when the emulator barely starts 10% of the games....PCSX2 is WIP so I would rather see "WIP" disappear before we see requests of different OS's to work with PCSX2. If you know how to code...you can always take the PCSX2 source and make it mac compatible. Till then, the PCSX2's team is focusing primarily on getting the emulator to do more in games....not OS's.
Aaaah I think we have crossed wires here. I was pointing that *when* Macs are on x86 cpus, which is about a year away, then a port would be pretty easy. Now there is no point at all In about a year I would expect that PCSX2 will be a tad better than it is now ^_^
In about a year I would expect that PCSX2 will be a tad better than it is now ^_^See the keyword there is a tad better. PS2 emulation IMO will not be 100% compatible even a year from now...I think we should leave it to the dev's to see if its worth it to port PCSX2 to mac....well at least for now or even when they have x86 cpu's for mac. Just because a port to an x86 mac will be easy....that doesn't mean the dev's aren't going to jump straight to the oppertunity to make PCSX2 mac compatible. They started this project on thier own spare time and their free will. While you can ask for them to make PCSX2 for mac....They are not obligated to do so. IMO, I think the team will add mac support later in the future (not even in a year from now) if people complain enough...and if they see the need. Like GeneralPlot said....The PCSX2 teams main priority is 100% compatibility. After that...theres well....I guess speed optimizations, then OS compatibility. I don't know if after the team has 100% (or near it) compatibility....and whn they want to....if maybe it's possible to create a multi platform version of PCSX2. That way no one can complain . That's of course if OSX has x86 support by then.
. That's of course if OSX has x86 support by then.
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It is highly unlikely the PCSX2 development team would take on a Mac port themselves. With most projects that are open source a 3rd party is usually involved in porting it over especially for the Mac. Since PCSX2 is open source there really is no "time frame" for when it should be ported over. Anyone could pick the project up and start porting it over to the Mac or even fork off and make their own for Windows or Linux builds.
So the real question should be when is someone going to port it to the Mac besides the dev team.
So the real question should be when is someone going to port it to the Mac besides the dev team.
Yea....like keith and I said earlier...The only way you will see a ported mac version of PCSX2 is when the dev team decides hell froze over and got bored....then they say hey! lets port PCSX2 to mac!.....or when someone with the skill to port it over to mac. Wether it's to the current mac cpu setup....(RISC 128bit) or X86 a year from now.
Well IMO i would prefer mac over windows any day. It's "Quartz 2D Extreme" seems very promising with the right video card. + it has a great GUI, less spyware and other BS, faster and better hardware. (including the CPU Which is very similar to the PS2's Architecture @ 128bit RISC) The only thing thats stopping my desk from holding a mac other than a POS windows system is the lack of support for games and programs. (PCSX2 for example.) The response you get when asking for mac compatibility is "when someone gets around to porting it. Whereas windows has all the glory of getting dibbs on everything. If the mac had half the supported games and programs windows does...I surely would be a happy mac user
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