Aion on Macs

[Lifaen]

I recently found this product that will allow mac users to play Aion very easely TransGaming Inc.. I think this is a great and easy way to let mac users play the game without much trouble for them and NCsoft. Basicly this product just lets you play Aion like a normal game on the mac. A big + is that you don't need bootcamp or parralels anymore and it saves alot of money and time. It awsome for mac users to let us play aion in this way. So I want to ask you Ayase to get this to the Aionteam if possible aint much trouble for them and not for the mac users either. Thanks in advance and hopefully it will be done

Lifaen

[Ayase]

I'm going to reply here with (almost) the same thing I told you in PM.

The Development team is currently up over its ears in finishing Aion for launch, and I'm afraid that a Mac version may not be one of the initial priorities. If not, unless there's any technical limition, there is nothing preventing it for consideration in the future - if the developers consider it possible - depending on the needs and feedback from the community. I'm not an (overly) experienced programmer myself, but I'm sure that 'Cider' would be taken into consideration, as any other viable options, should we get an opportunity to pursue it.

[Lifaen]

Thanks for the reply Ayase . Okay now to show the needs of a mac version why don't make a petition for it . I'll be the first and I hope all other mac users on the forums here contribute. Non mac users support is also welcome

/signed for a Mac version involving Cider

Lifaen

[N0rdic Ninja]

I'm all game for multiple platform releases, means more people for the Aion community! ^_^

/signed

Sincerely,
Your Friendly Neighborhood PCGamer =P

[eVenom]

I'm not a mac user, but it would be nice to have mac users get a piece of the action, even if it isn't right at release. No need to be overloaded with work as it is ^^

/signed
eVenom

[Ipmia]

I m not a Mac user so excuse my lack of knowledge.

But arent the Mac sold with both windows emulation and leopard OS lately ? does that prevent in anyways to run windows games?

Other than that i'm also all up for multiplatform support though i have no idea what the work charg is to do so.

[Cynthe]

Yes I believe new Macs have windows emulators already ^^ Linky

Oh the technology!

[Otium]

I think NCsoft should work on a Mac version for Aion. There are a lot of people who prefer Apple over Microsoft, and working on a proper version for both of them is a win/win situation. It will cost money, but in the long term, giving a chance to Mac-users to play Aion on their platform is not only a matter of respect but also a sign that the company cares about every single player who loves and buys its products.

If we can use this thread as a petition...

/sign

[kitsuneofshadow]

I'm almost.. 98% sure all knew macs come with an intel inside.. your already dropping like 2500 easy for a mac.. an extra 100 ain't gonna break you to install Vista or w/e via boot camp O.o. So no reason to go back through and rewrite it for mac.

[Lifaen]

Great reply Otium thanks for that and thanks for all the people who signed already great work all. For the people who say yeah well there is bootcamp no problems. Yes there are other programs such as bootcamp that lets you use windows however that requires you to reboot your computer every single time you want to play Aion. Cider however lets you just play Aion as any other game or progam you use on a mac. I'm not an expert so its hard for me to explain how cider works but the homepage of cider says this. And I think that system is way easyer to use.

How Cider works

Cider is a sophisticated portability engine that allows Windows games to be run on Intel Macs without any modifications to the original game source code. Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs. Games are "wrapped" with the Cider engine and they simply run on the Mac. This means developers have only one code base to maintain while enjoying the flexibility of targeting multiple platforms and, therefore, multiple revenue streams. Cider powered games use the same copy protection, lobbies, game matching and connectivity as the original Windows game. All this means less effort and lower costs. Cider is targeted to game developers and publishers.

So its for both the developers and customers easy to use If you use a pc you dont want to reboot or start a program every single time you want to use a program right? We mac users dont want that either and Cider is the solution for both customer and developer. Hopefully more signs will come thanks for the great support together we can make a difference and we will

Lifaen

I kindly want to ask if the topic can be moved back to the general discussion cause I think the petition fits better there. And I think more people will find the topic and can benefit from it

Kind regards Lifaen

[Sabre]

Although I personally cannot STAND Macs...You gotta respect that many people have them and love them, so Aion should definitely be able to be played by them. That and Lifaen r0xx0rz my b0xx0rz

/sign

[Kalean]

You can also use bootcamp as well guys. I have it setup on my bros Mac Pro. Which basically allows you to install a windows operating system (only works on intel macs). So there are ways for mac users to play Aion..

I don't mean to be mean or anything...But I hope they focus more on polishing the game then getting a mac version out...The game still needs work and adjustments. To port it over to mac would be NO EASY task at all...But with alternatives such as cider and bootcamp...I don't see the need.

[Lifaen]

Thanks for the sign sabre keep them coming everyone . Well we are talking about a Cider version Kalean but before we can have Aion through cider we need some help from NCsoft .

Lifaen

[Oiche]

I'm currently using BootCamp to play Windows games on my Mac, but a Mac/Cider version for Aion would be really great!

/sign

[DeiF]

Cider is based on Wine, which is an implementation of the Win32 API on Linux.
Both share a common codebase.

The problem with Wine, Cedega, Cider, etc. and Aion is, of course, that stupid rootkit that NCSoft include with every game: GameGuard.

To support Aion on Mac/Linux they have to drop GameGuard, because it is a device driver for the Windows kernel only.
It also cannot be uninstalled, even uninstalling the game. And it keeps running when the game stops, using CPU resources, and hiding itself, so you never know its real CPU/mem usage.

You can read more at the Wikipedia entry for GameGuard.