When will this great game be available on PC?

#1 Who cares about PCs. I want to see the Linux version. NOW NOW NOW!!

#2 Heheh, well as for Nvidia drivers for Linux, PCs might just have to do since the Linux drivers for Nvidia cards are horrible and still getting worse for Windows as well. Also how come people refer Windows version of something as PC? Saying PC is too broad, say Windows. ;p

#3 ? I've never had a problem with the linux nVidia drivers.

#4 Linux nvidia drivers seem to work better than the nvidia drivers on win2k on my box... don't see how come you say people have trouble with them?
And yes... PC is a bad synonim for Windows... but well... mayority wins.

#5 To get back to it, when will TT be available on the PC/Linux ... hey hey. ;)

I wanna play.

- Melv.

#6 Loved this quote from the News item:

Quote:
Michael Cozzolino (Apr 26, 2003 at 21:40 PDT)
Wow now I know how mac gamers feel having to wait :(

It will be coming out soon. If all goes well, within the next rwo weeks.

#7 It's somewhat annoying. I'm not sure 'supporting' the Mac by kicking the Windows/Linux users in the teeth is exactly high moral ground, but it's good there's someone in a position to do this.

The Mac platform really is glossed over by the mainstream publishers (with a few exceptions). However it seems to me Apple are happy with this arrangement too :(

#8 Gareth - not really trying to kick anyone in the teeth. :) Mac is easier to get out first because there are fewer compatibility issues (e.g., we haven't had any reported so far -- imagine that on a Window's release). But yeah, I'm sure Apple likes it.

#9 Does anybody know what percentage of the OS market each system has? For some reason I was thinking Mac was less that 10%.

These figures will help me figure if it is worth it to port, given the size of the market.

#10 Jay or Jeff can chime in to give the Marble Blast sales percentages if they are so inclined. I'm not sure if they are public or not, however if Marble Blast is any indication, there is a *significant* incentive to port to Mac.

#11 I had to check for stats out of curiosity, I haven't used a mac since the Apple IIe (I think thats what is was called)

But here is what I found.

"Apple Computer, the fifth-largest manufacturer in the United States, saw its U.S. market share rise from 2.9 percent to 3 percent in the fourth quarter."

Stated in the following article that was actually about Dell and HP.

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-981068.html?tag=cd_mh

NOTE: I also can't wait to see this on PC or Linux :) I just want to play.

#12 Joe,

Gotta' love that quote. :)

- Melv.

#13 The Windows market is very dilute compared to the mac - it's a lot harder to get noticed. Mutant Storm (http://www.pompom.org.uk/, buy it if you don't yet have it :) ) had about 65%, 25% and 10% sales between Windows, Mac and Linux sales respectively according to pom pom, so it's easier to get indie titles noticed on the Mac, even though there are less macs in the world.

I only really got interested in shareware & independant games after I got a mac. I doubt I would have even heard of Think Tanks, or Mutant Storm, or Alida, or Wingnuts if I were still playing games on a PC.

#14 Thanks for the info. Guess if mac doesn't have many games for it, they'll have to turn indie. Love a captive audience.

#15 One of the other good things about releasing on the mac first is that is elevates awareness of GarageGames in the mac gaming community. As an indie, they are really important customers for us, not just another way to get some extra cash by doing an afterthought port.

For the developers, it gives access to a community that knows where they can come to find games for the mac.

For Mac gamers, it gives them a place where they can come to find high quality games that run on the mac and a place to have their voice heard by the developers.

It is a good match, and it benefits everyone involved.

#16 Of course, this makes me wonder just how many Mac Developers there are on GG helping non-Mac-ready developers port over their games ;)

I'm guessing they have plenty of good chances at finding work here if they can port, but they probably have alot of projects lined up as well. Either way, I think there's plenty of opportunity for some good Mac porters (and vice-versa with ThinkTanks ;) ).

I can't wait to see it in action myself guys (Win32 :P), good job!

- Christopher Dapo ~ Ronixus

#17 The Mac audience tends to be a bit more receptive to the little seeing the position of the Macintosh platform. A great example is some of the most sucessful game devs and publishers are virtually unknown except in the Macintosh gaming community, such as Ambrowsiasw.com, freeverse.com pangeasoft.net. None of these companies aim to rival multimillion dollar budget games but instead provide high quality price conscience games. The Macintosh is also very on dependant shareware solutions, so the shareware concept is held in much higher regard then to the average PC user.

Also Mac gaming coverage is limited to very few outlets: Insidemacgames.com, Macgamer.com, XLR8yourmac.com, MacWorld and MacAddict meaning you have a lot less media to penetrate. ThinkTanks has made a significant buzz here at Insidemacgames (and at MacGamer I assume imagine as well) and with the tight knit community, word doesn't take long to travel. For example, one my fellow editors has convinced several people to purchase ThinkTanks (including myself).

There are two downsides to the Mac gaming community is general install base is about a year and half behind hardware-wise than many PC gamers due to the current bind mainly due gambling on Motorola's PPC 74xx technology (G4) not panning out / high sales planned obselent computers (iMac, iBook) and the obvious being the install base being so few users.

In any case, the Macintosh market is ripe for indie publishers. Releasing for the Mac first tends to go over well with the Macintosh community since they tend to feel neglected (and often has to wait months apon months for complex games to get ported) and it wins major brownie points with Mac users in general. Heck, even games that ship at the same time get "god" status within the Mac world, ask in a Mac chat what they think of Blizzard sometime...

I hope this is informative and does reflect some of the motives BraveTree, correct me if I'm wrong.

#18 The answer to the question posed at the top of the thread: NOW!