normality

Going back a few pages with this quote but I think it is relevant. Apple is obviously a very ... *interesting* partner to work with. We work with Apple and Google frequently for software development, however Apple doesn't publicly acknowledge that these services exist, nor are they at all transparent when informing us of changes to the platform or the direction of our pre-release titles. Google however is much more receptive and friendly, and will do a great deal more to give a developer confidence in their platform. Apple might be very strong headed and secretive when it comes to their customer facing side, but I can tell you that they are just as difficult if not more so as a developer. Its not uncommon to get short, vague emails from Apple, and we literally have company wide meetings where we all attempt to dissect and interpret the coded information as best we can. If we return an email with questions, generally we will just be advised to re-read the previous email, and phone calls will often go unanswered if they believe that you will ask questions around sensitive topics. Trying to push Apple to make changes to their platform is unthinkable, as you risk loosing support from the company, as well as visibility on their platform, something you absolutely need as an Apple developer. As such, it is incredibly uncommon for a developer to have enough clout and resilience to push Apple on any issue, as they must be prepared for the fallout. As such, I'm not really sure how you can turn the ship around. I think this one just has to play itself out, and perhaps a year or so after the changes come into effect (again assuming Vulkan is also dismissed) and content on the platform has dried up, Apple might then realise the impact of their decision. But honestly, I just don't think there are enough stable game developers with relationships with Apple to make any impact on this decision at this stage.

So here's the crux of an issue as it affects our business. We're a relatively small indie studio whom primarily makes freemium mobile games. We primarily focus on the IOS platform as our products tend to earn roughly 80% of our income from advertising and roughly 20% from IAP. Whilst we have a much larger user-base on Android, advertising partners will generally pay a great deal more for an IOS user, as there is believed to be a correlation between the use of an Apple device, and the amount of disposable income a user possesses. Over the past two or so years we've been heavily considering creating a PC and Mac collection of our mobile games with a refined meta loop, not only to try and move players away from using hacked android APKs on their desktops but also allowing for influencers to easily capture gameplay footage, as a step towards furthering our relationship with Apple. As an example, we've created Apple TV ports of several of our titles, all of which have not earned nearly enough money to break even on the technical investment of the port, but as a way to elevate our position when the business comes to feature consideration for IOS. Whilst we primarily work with Unity, and are therefore not directly affected by the deprecation of OpenGL, the reality is that many local developers of our size are. And, when talking about mobile or desktop builds of a product, it is important to realise that almost every decision that a developer makes is down to opportunity cost. Ensuring that your title can work across multiple APIs ads a great deal of additional technical risk and overhead to a product, and unless a developer is working with an engine like Unity, it is very likely that developers will have to think much harder about how and if it is worth their while to release across both platforms instead of focusing on just one. In the mobile space, if this decision for the Mac OS is a precursor to Apple locking down IOS to Metal, I dare say many developers would likely end up with a much larger gap between Android and IOS releases, should they chose to release on both platforms at all. In terms of desktop development, as the marketplace is currently so tiny on the Mac, I dare say you will see far fewer developers taking the time and energy to even dip their toes in that pool. Sure, a company like 2K, Valve or Bethesda will obviously be able to provide the resources to ensuring that their title can perform on metal, but the reality is that smaller AA or Indie studios simply don't have the resources to make that happen without trading off somewhere else in the production (marketing, content, features etc.). Its all about opportunity cost, and the last thing that the Mac OS needs is another barrier for entry for developers, particularly when it isn't really necessary. Sure, Metal might allow for the same frame to render faster than Vulkan, but again, that should be the devs decision. And from a user's perspective, I'm sure they would rather have a selection of games that look okay on their system, rather than a few hit titles that look spectacular with nothing else available. Sorry for rant, hopefully this was in some way informative.

Potentially. I doubt apple would deprecate Open GL without touching GLES.

Issue likely surrounds Apple's dislike of third-party companies developing low-level tech for their platform, including the Khronos Group. As such, changes not likely limited to Open GL but all third-party APIs. So, Vulkan will be affected in the same way.

Pretty big news that Apple is moving away from OpenGL API in favour of Metal for all apps. Will have massive implications for gaming on Apple devices and will probably come into effect in around two years: https://developer.apple.com/macos/whats-new/ https://www.pcgamer.com/developers-fear-for-mac-gaming-as-apple-deprecates-opengl-support/ If you're a game developer not using an off-the-shelf engine like Unity, this will make a massive difference to the workload involved in shipping to Apple devices, and probably mean a great deal for legacy games already on the platform. Edit: I should add, I'm a 3D Artist in a Games Studio, but my no means a Technical Programmer. I'm really just relaying info from the company's Tech Director sitting next to me as we discuss the changes in the office. So, am by no means the best person to speculate on the impact of these changes, but in lieu of another thread existing on the forum, I just thought I should spread the word.

These things were amazing for Crysis back in the day. For awhile I remember having 2 x XFX 1080GT 256mb in SLi. Those running on an XFX 680i motherboard with an E8200 and OCZ Reaper RAM. You could get some pretty amazing overclocks on the cards (and even CPUs back in the day, with the FSB meaning your memory frequency and CPU frequency were linked), and yeah Afterburner is really good for GPU OC. 3D Mark 05 would be the good-reliable benchmark back then if you want to use something period for validation.

Honestly I was half expecting to see an hour stream of an empty desk from the LTT office. Either that or a pre-recorded WAN show from pre-CES. (I mean, all WAN shows are pre-recorded anyway ...)

So, I think I've found a pump that might work with the idea of retaining the Deep Cool water block as a passive unit: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xtop-spc-60-pwm-plexi-incl-pump If someone more wise to water-cooling than I could tell me if this pump has a suitable flowrate/head pressure for a 360mm rad setup that would be excellent. If that works, then I just have one further worry: The fittings. It seems like most fittings i can see that use the G1/4 thread and convert to a 10mm barb (To keep all the barb sizes/hose diameters consistent), are made of nickel plated copper or brass. I'm aware that mixing aluminium and copper is a massive no-no, but should nickel plated brass work okay? Or am I best off looking for a plastic/nylon barb that would suit my needs. Thanks again guys and gals!

Hi There, I recently purchased a Gamerstorm Genome AIO case for my sister, but I've had some issues with the built-in AIO and now that the case houses a system, I'd rather not tear the whole thing down to do an RMA. Essentially I think we ended up with a bad pump as, whilst it was whisper quiet initially, after a week the pump noise is unbearable, temps are rather high, and no amount of rotation, shaking or mucking around with the loop seems to be able to shift bubbles. Honestly, it sounds to me like an issue with the pump motor as their is now a fair deal of consistent vibration through the whole system seemingly emitted by the pump. Whilst I probably could keep messing around with it, I'd rather just look for a replacement solution. I've uploaded an image of the loop (courtesy of MNPC Tech) to the thread, but essentially its a Captain-Style AIO with the addition of a decorative helix which resides at the front of the case (The whole damn reason my sister insisted we build in this case. Anyway, I've also found out that the radiator has a built-in fill port, and it appears that the helix-tube-thingy is just barb fittings too. So, my question is ... (As the rad is alloy) Could I simply look at getting a new EK Liquid gaming pump and block and still utilise the radiator and the helix reservoir, or are there similar options for replacing this AIO pump/block. Thanks for the help! (Edit: Alternatively, could I disconnect the power connector from the pump, essentially leave it as a passive block and then purchase a dedicated pump unit? I'm essentially thinking of leaving the block side water cooling hoses as they are, but adding a pump unit between the rad and the helix-reservoir-thingy) -Lauren