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A post on the EVE Online forums reveals that the next update to the game will "contain formal support for Mac OS X and Linux." The Revelations 2.3 update is planned for November 6. Also, Macworld's Game Room is offering a new article detailing a developer discussion about the Mac and Linux versions of CCP Game's online multiplayer space adventure.

From CCP forums:

This update, Revelations 2.3, contains formal support for Mac OS X and Linux. It also includes a few fixes for all platforms. Stay tuned for the release notes.

“Very little of the code base is Windows-specific,” explained Shay McAulay of CCP Games, whose QA team is responsible for vetting the Mac version of EVE Online. “Most of our code depends on Python.”

To manage the actual conversion work, CCP recruited TransGaming Technologies, developers of the Cider technology that EA has used to bring its games to the Macintosh. Cider enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows applications without needing Windows installed. Essentially, it’s a translation layer that runs on Mac OS X, explained Lucas Smithen, TransGaming’s product manager for Cider.

“It takes the onus off the game developers to have to maintain different branches of code for different platforms,” he explained.

“The game is still running the same core instruction set, regardless of platform,” said Sean Langley, TransGaming’s producer for EVE Online. “We’re simply providing an environment for the Windows product to run in. There’s no translation of code.”

“In fact, we’ve found that in some cases, such as model loading, the Mac version actually runs a bit faster than the Windows version, because of efficiencies in the Mac file system,” said McAuley.

EVE Online Forums: Revelations 2.3 Patch Coming November 6

Macworld Game Room: EVE Online Dev Discussion

EVE Online

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