news.volyx.in

Blurry rendering of games on Mac (colincornaby.me)

453 points by bangonkeyboard · 347 days ago · 314 comments on HN

Article summary

The article discusses an issue with Mac games rendering blurry due to the notch on Apple laptops, which causes games to output frames sized for the entire screen instead of the available display area. This results in a height-compressed and blurry output. The author suggests that developers should pick a 16:10 resolution to avoid this issue. The article also mentions that Apple could update its Human Interface Guidelines and Game Porting Toolkit samples to address this problem.

Main themes

  • Mac gaming
  • Display resolution
  • Notch issue
  • Game development
  • Apple hardware
  • Gaming on Mac

What commenters say

  • The issue of blurry rendering on Mac games is not unique to Apple devices and has been a problem on other platforms, such as the Xbox 360, due to overscan and display settings.
  • Developers should take responsibility for ensuring their games render correctly on different devices, rather than relying on the operating system to handle it.
  • The lack of native Vulkan support on Macs is a significant issue for game developers, and Apple's decision to focus on Metal instead may be limiting the platform's gaming potential.
  • The small market share of Mac gamers may be due to the limited number of games available on the platform, rather than a lack of interest in gaming on Macs.
  • Some commenters argue that the issue can be solved by using a different approach, such as rendering to a smaller surface or using a custom resolution list, rather than relying on the system's display modes.
  • Others suggest that Apple should provide more guidance and support for developers to ensure that games are optimized for Mac hardware, including the notch and other unique features.
  • There is disagreement about the importance of supporting Vulkan on Macs, with some arguing that it is not necessary and others seeing it as a crucial feature for game development.
  • Some commenters note that the quality of games on Macs can be excellent when developers take the time to optimize for the platform, citing World of Warcraft as an example.