ID:2460071
Apr 29 2019, 12:41 pm
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Isn't it time we had a macbook version?
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Apr 29 2019, 2:12 pm
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Doubt it's worth the development time based on market share.
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In response to Nadrew
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Nadrew wrote:
Doubt it's worth the development time based on market share. I disagree, honestly. - US: ~20% - Canada: ~21% - UK: ~21% - Europe: ~15% So in BYOND's primary markets, about 1-in-5 computers are macOS. (Slightly lower in Europe.) Alternatively you could say that a macOS client could account for up to a +25% user count. But that's not the whole picture either. - BYOND IS NOT interested in Enterprise computers, most running Windows or Linux. Just do a mental adjustment on subtracting US government computers, etc. from the Windows market share. - BYOND IS interested in college students, which yields a bias towards MacBooks. (In 2010, it was 27-70% OS X, though I expect that number has changed slightly in the wake of e.g. Surface Pro.) - BYOND IS (hopefully) interested in software engineers, which yields a bias towards non-Windows machines. homebrew > chocolatey, bash > bash subsystem for Windows > PowerShell. I think it's a huge miss to stay Windows-only, and in my opinion I would prioritize shipping a macOS client over small language features and speedups. Of course, there's always the option of open-sourcing the webclient, which probably provides most of what's needed to build a full macOS client---at least to connect and play as a Guest. |
Your entire thing goes out the window when you add the fact BYOND is aimed more at gamers than programmers. The developer tools are already available on other platforms for a reason.
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Only a small part of his argument depends on distinguishing developers and players, so your claim doesn't hold water
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Windows is the most common platform and that is why
//Also, OpenGL was too hard to figure out
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In response to Nadrew
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Nadrew wrote:
The developer tools are already available on other platforms for a reason. The compiler and server are available on Linux, but one cannot develop a game without running it. Your entire thing goes out the window when you add the fact BYOND is aimed more at gamers than programmers. I'd argue the contrary. - BYOND - Build Your Own Net Dream. Not: POND - Play Others' Net Dreams. - "Play" and "Create" have equal real estate on the home page. - Mission statement leads with the developer appeal: BYOND is the premier community for making and playing online multiplayer games. Moreover, should it be? This isn't Steam; content has to be developed specifically for BYOND. Without content, there are no players. There is a substantial shortage of quality content---primarily riding on the SS13 horse---so I honestly believe the focus should be: Drive developer engagement -> More content -> More players -> More developers -> ... The first step to improving developer engagement is to remove barriers for entry for developers. Being Windows-only is a huge barrier. If I show up for the first time today on my MacBook Pro and see that it's a Windows-only platform, I leave. It's really that simple; I don't try to contrive some Darwin/Wine setup or even switch to a Windows device or use BootCamp or Parallels, I just leave. Hell, if I'm on Windows and I show up and see it's a Windows-only platform, I still probably bounce. Unity, Unreal, Electron, Qt, wxWidgets, Xamarin, React Native, Ionic, Flutter...the world is shifting to cross-platform. BYOND has to bite the bullet and become cross-platform, honestly whether Lummox likes it or not. Hell, I'd write the macOS client myself* if Lummox would open-source the webclient or [document] the BYOND API so that independent developers could work on developing interfaces of their own. I've already written most of a cross-platform IDE that I would polish up and release if macOS had a client and tooling. [*] Before releasing such a client, I would have to apply for inventions approval from Google---my employer---to assert no conflicts of interest. This could be complicated by their recent Stadia announcement. I do already have approval for the IDE, however, and that might be useful leverage to appeal for client approval. |