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Linux Left 4 Dead 2 outperforms Direct X Windows version
Valve recently announced that it will be bringing a few of Steam's most popular games to Linux, the first of those being Left 4 Dead 2. But besides the novelty factor of running the now classic zombie simulator on penguin-emblazoned hardware, there may be another reason to try the new platform out: It'll be faster. Even now, during development, the Valve team has L4D2 running at 315 frames per second on the Linux text platform, as compared to the standard Windows speed of 270.6 FPS.At that point, of course, the speeds are mostly arbitrary. But as Valve says, this speed shows the potential in customizing a game for the Linux operating system. This work on Linux is also benefiting the Windows teams - in working on the Linux version, Valve was able to speed up the OpenGL implementation on Windows to 303.4 FPS.
Texas Instruments announces multi-core, 1.8GHz OMAP4470 ARM processor for Windows 8
When Qualcomm announced a pair of Windows 8-compatible ARM processors yesterday, we knew Texas Instruments wouldn't be far behind. Sure enough, the company has just announced a new addition to its OMAP 4 family of ARM SoCs, with the 1.8GHz OMAP4470. TI's new chip is powered by a pair of 1.0GHz ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore engines, as well as two, 266MHz ARM Cortex-M3 cores that handle multimedia duties. According to the company, this multi-core structure will enable faster web browsing and more frugal power usage, while putting the OMAP4470 in square competition with quad-core chips like NVIDIA's Kal-El and Intel's latest Sandy Bridge line. The SoC was designed for tablets, netbooks and smartphones running Android, Linux, or the next version of Windows, and can support a max QXGA resolution of 2048 x 1536, and up to three HD displays. There's also a single-core PowerVR SGX544 GPU capable of running Direct X 9, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenVG 1.1, and OpenCL 1.1. The OMAP4470 is expected to hit the OEM and OED markets in the first half of 2012, but you can find more information in the specs sheet and press release, after the break.
N900 can run unmodified webOS games, what can your Linux-based phone do?
Ah, standards. Palm and Nokia know what we're talking about, which is why they support similar methods of developing native Linux apps, namely SDL 1.2. Add on the hardware similarities between the Palm Pre and the N900 (OMAP3430, PowerVR SGX, Open GL ES 2.0 support) and you have a beautiful recipe for cross-platform gaming. Some hardcore Maemo users have taken this to heart and released a new "Preenv" package for the N900 that allows the phone to run unmodified webOS games. Of course, you'll need to root your Pre to get at those games, and if you want to make a launch icon for the game on the N900 you'll have to root it as well. Still, this is exciting beyond the potential for playing Need for Speed on much-lauded Nokia hardware: with easy portability between platforms, there's all the more reason for a developer to be attracted to MeeGo and webOS in the future. [Thanks, Andy D.]
Valve to release GL code, games on Mac see sales bumps
Boy, if you had to choose one company (including Apple) that has really led the charge for Mac gaming recently, I'd have to say Valve takes the cake, and that's no lie. Not only has the company brought an unprecedented set of quality titles to the Mac with Steam, but it's now announced that it will be sharing some of its graphical code for the Mac with Steamworks developers. That graphics layer coding is apparently the "real hard work" in making a game for the Mac, and Valve is trying to make that as easy as possible for its partner developers. Why? Because -- and get this -- games sell more when they're on the Mac. Games that have added a Mac version since Steam went live on the Mac are seeing a 15 to 20% sales increase. That's actually for both platforms -- most Steam games available for the Mac share ownership on both Mac and PC, so they're not really tracking sales of one platform or the other. Still, having a game available on the Mac is a big bonus, as not only does it make Mac players possible, but it drives attention for both platforms (as you may have even seen here on our site -- when we post that a game has finally come to the Mac, even PC gamers consider going back to check it out). Excellent news for developers already working with Steam, and also good news for those of us who enjoy running our favorite games from the dock rather than the start menu. Even Apple hasn't put the kind of work into reviving Mac gaming that Valve has in just the past few months. [via Joystiq]
HTC EVO 4G's graphics capped at 30FPS?
Reports are flying in from across the internet -- and by that we mean the xda-developers and Google Code forums -- that the EVO 4G might have something of a framerate issue. It seems that the device is "locked in" at 30 frames per second both in 2D (Canvas) and 3D (openGL) modes, while anecdotally, a phone like the Hero hits 54fps on average and has "smoother scrolling" in the menus. This apparently is visible both with the standard Sense UI installed and with the Froyo preview build, although in the latter case the Nexus One bootup video is 60fps before halving upon reaching the home screen. So, wherein lies the culprit? For Google's part, Android framework engineer "Romain Guy" responded to one thread reasserting the platform team's "target was, is and will be 60fps." We can't imagine it's related to the hardware given the EVO's impressive specs. Some fingers, ergo, are being pointed towards firmware. This wouldn't be the first time HTC's handsets have come under scrutiny for troubling graphical performance -- 2008 was not the company's finest year in that department. Whatever the reason is, we just want a quick resolve -- after all, it's just not fair when our Hero-carrying buddies are scoring better benchmarks.
Mac OS X 10.6.3 out to devs
The third major update to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is getting closer to appearing in Software Update. A new beta of Mac OS X 10.6.3 (build 10D538) was released to a limited number of Apple developers last Friday. The Friday beta includes an update to QuickTime X that enhances reliability, security, and compatibility. The release also provides performance-enhancing tweaks for Apple's 64-bit Logic Pro audio suite, better compatibility with a host of printers, and applications that use OpenGL. Apple is asking developers to evaluate other core system components in their testing, including VoiceOver, AirPort, and graphics drivers. There's a known issue with the beta when viewing photo albums using Front Row, but the approximately 670 MB release should arrive for the rest of us within the next six weeks. Although past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future releases, both 10.4.3 and 10.5.3 were released about 110 days after the earlier versions. That would put the release of 10.6.3 near the end of February, 2010. [via AppleInsider]
WebKit going 3D with WebGL
There will be a day in the not-too-distant future when playing 3D games in your browser -- without extra plugins like Flash or Unity -- will be a reality. The WebGL project, which has quickly made the blogging rounds this morning, combines aspects of HTML 5, JavaScript, and the OpenGL 3D drawing engine in an effort to create 3D graphics that appear right in your browser. Thus far, it's only beginning to show up in WebKit (the engine powering Safari and Google Chrome), but the glimpses as seen in the video above really show the power in these browsers. [Via Download Squad]
Video: Creative Zii EGG 3D gaming demo
Now that the gang at Creative have 'fessed up to the Zii EGG first seen at the FCC earlier this month, we imagine we'll be encountering this bad boy quite often over the coming months. If you need your StemCell Computing fix right now, we have a video that showcases the newest developer platform running a racing game in all of its accelerometer-packing, 3D OpenGL ES-enhanced glory. Peep for yourself after the break.[Via EpiZENter, thanks Michael]
Current and future gaming on the Mac
MacNewsWorld has a pretty good in-depth overview up about Mac gaming: where it's at and where it's headed. The basic story is that the three things that have historically held Mac gaming back behind PCs (the technology differences, the OS, and the smaller installed base) are slowly disappearing. With Apple's switch from PowerPC to Intel, the introduction of Boot Camp and increasingly easy development in OS X, and the growing popularity of the platform, gaming is actually bigger on the Mac than it's ever been.But there is still a huge obstacle, and that is DirectX. Though there are ways around it (Freeverse actually mentions the Unity engine in the article), many developers are stuck developing in DirectX, and that leaves the Mac platform out of the loop. And there really isn't anything comparable to it in OS X, either. Graphics hardware remains a problem, but that just harkens back to the biggest problem of getting games on the Mac: support from Apple. Some developers say that there aren't games on the Mac because Steve doesn't want them there, and until Apple shows evidence to the contrary, PC will always be the gamers' platform of choice.[Via IMG]
Hills screensaver updated
Back in April, we wrote about the "Hills" screensaver by Chris Kent. A number of you told us how much you liked it, so today we're pointing out that version 1.1.2 is available. For the unfamiliar, Hills is a screensaver for Mac OS X that lets you glide over rolling, grassy hills on a sunny day. Changes to version 1.1.2 include: Fixed drawing of distant hills A "Default Settings" button has been added to both the screensaver and desktop version A new "Fullscreen Resolution" option More keyboard controls for the camera Hills is free.
Free screensaver: Hills
You may not have noticed, but our posts here at TUAW have had a bit of a theme over the past 24 hours. If you've reached "Boot Camp saturation," then drift away with the "Hills" screensaver. Glide over rolling, grassy hills on a sunny day, and just relax. You can choose from photo-realistic hills or a wireframe version, and determine the speed at which you "travel." It looks very nice on my 20" iMac. The download includes a desktop version and source code.There, now don't you feel better?[Via The Iconfactory]
