EVE Online: Now Flying on Mac
In May of 2003, the Icelandic game development company CCP released their flagship title: a sci-fi MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game) called EVE Online. Now, four years later, EVE Online is one of the largest persistent virtual universes in existence, home to tens of thousands of dedicated players.
And with the release of their new Trinity expansion, this game world is finally open to Mac (and Linux) users everywhere.
So, do you have an adventurous bone in your body that’s calling out for a gigantic new universe to explore? Or do you have the skills to manipulate the player-based economy of EVE to build your own galactic corporate empire? Perhaps you’ve always been drawn to a life of piracy? Whatever your calling, EVE Online delivers. With 5,000 individual solar systems — each with its own planets and stations, and each planet with its own moons and asteroid belts — the possibilities are virtually limitless. The new Trinity expansion also features a major graphics overhaul, and space has never looked so gorgeous.
When CCP designed EVE, they were dreaming of a new generation of MMOs which could break out of the previous constraints of the genre. No longer would they have to split their game world in to several identical “shards” in order to accommodate all their players; instead, the world of EVE Online takes place in a single, epic game world. And the level of inter-personal interactivity really pays off in gameplay terms. With the ability to form and join corporations which are thousands of members strong, EVE provides extremely rewarding gameplay. Its player-driven economy ensures that every sale and every purchase affects every other player, so all citizens of EVE are constantly contributing to the game’s universe.
If you’re a fan of sci-fi and long for a game to satisfy your warp-drive wants, look no further than EVE Online. It may just be the largest game release that the Mac world has seen to date.
You can try it out for free for the first 14 days, after which a monthly subscription fee is necessary to continue playing. For more information, including specific system requirements, visit EVE Online.
I used to play Eve-Online and it really is an amazing game. The expansive world and limitless possibilities make it extremely appealing. The skill system is completely different from every other MMO on the market and the ability to change your profession at any time with no preset professions means you really can do whatever you want.
Has the client been stable for *anyone* on OS X? It has been practically unusable (unless you don’t mind sitting in or near a station.
MacApper staffers: I know you have little control over the ads that come up, but the EVE article has at least two “Buy ISK” ads in the rotation. Purchasing in-game currency out-of-game is against the EULA and should not be encouraged (even if the encouragement is not deliberate).
I’ve been playing Eve on Tiger and Leopard since a mac client was released. I haven’t had any serious problems. Currently my Macbook Pro is my primary platform for Eve.
Is anyone playing this on low end MacBooks? Like 1.8Ghz?
@F1sh: My wife tried to get the Mac client working on her MacBook to no avail. Unlike @G, I’ve had absolutely no success getting EVE to run with any semblance of stability on my MBPro (fully loaded, late-2007 edition Core2Duo). I am not the only Mac user experiencing problems with this client (just glance through the official EVE forums to get an idea of the frustration level).
We both wound up going the BootCamp route (which works fine, but I’d rather not have to use Windows).
I tried out EVE for a few days. I didn’t like it very much because you are basically just telling a virtual avatar what to do (although its much more involved than that). The avatar’s skills are important, not the players, and the combat is turn-based instead of real-time. Seems like Sims in space. So if you’re like me, you might not like this game (but you should still try it out, as it’s one of very few Mac space MMORPGs).
Other than that, it seemed to work fine, the graphics are absolutely amazing, and the possibilities seem endless. To all new and current players: I hope you enjoy/continue to enjoy this game.
@Bob: I checked out their forums, and ya you were right. I know of a friend who plays on his MBP without any issue and is bugging me to try this. It’s downloading now so I guess I will have to test it and see. I don’t know of _any_ other MMORPG with a Mac port other than WoW and this one.
In case it helps, here’s a direct quotation of their minimum system requirements list for the Mac, taken straight from the website:
* The client does not run on a PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Macintosh Machines (PowerMac). MacBook laptops are also not supported nor the Mac Mini.
* Supported hardware is MacBook Pro laptops, Mac Pro machines and iMacs. All these machines have to meet the following minimum requirements below:
* Intel based computer with CPU speed equal or greater than 1.8GHz
* OS: OS X 10.4.9 or later.
* Video: ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300 GT or higher with 128 MB of Video RAM
* RAM: 1024 MB or more
* HD space: 6 GB
* Network: 56k or better Internet connection
So I suppose that explains why some of you were having trouble getting it to run on a Macbook, though I must admit that I’ve had no issues getting it to work on my Macbook Pro, so it IS possible.
As for stability, I agree that it’s still quite rickety, but considering its the first instance of EVE that’s made it to the Mac, I’m taking the performance with a grain of salt and expecting that future patches will smooth the transition.
You’re late. The Mac client was already available in December.
The Mac client, while quite functional, is buggy.
While the graphics look great, there are no Trinity graphical elements available for the Mac as yet. Scheduled first quarter ‘08, so should be soon.
Get the Windows client and run the Trinity goodness via Boot Camp in the meantime. Looks sweet.
Note: when the recommendations say you need at least 1 gig of RAM, they really mean you need at least 1 gig of RAM.
The poster above is right. I installed Trinity on my MBP a few weeks after we first mentioned this in Nov. The graphics are great but the random crashing, and other bugs don’t really warrant me buying a subscription right away. Which sucks because it’s a killer game.
Having said that I’m sure these guys will get the issues sorted out even by the end of this month, as they mention in this thread:
…
Just to be clear, running EVE Online on XP via Boot Camp – provided you meet (and ideally exceed) the hardware requirements, is fine. Just like running it on a PC, because essentially, Windows running on a Mac is basically Windows running on a PC.
Just make sure you have the correct drivers. Boot Camp will install drivers for you, but you might want to visit your vidcard maker’s website, for example, for updated drivers or tweaked drivers.
Have somebody tried eve online with XP bootcamp with a iMac 24″, 3.06GHz, Geforce 8800GS 512Mb? how many FPS do you have in the game?
I am on a macbook pro. The game is running fine, but I get stuck trying to find, for instance, the way to depress F1….
Anyone out there have a KB map?
I’m a twenty-six year puter geek running a two year-old 2 Ghz Intel Core Duo 20″ iMac w/2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM on OSX 10.4.11. Perhaps some can, but I can’t justify the payed-for account with the amount of instability Eve Online gives to this usually extremely-stable iMac; if it wasn’t for the instability, I’d pay for a year@a time without hesitation. Perhaps if I try it again sometime, and it seems fixed, I’ll go4it but… That’s my two cents.
I’m currently running a Macbook 2.0GHz, 1G RAM, with the integrated graphics that came with the macbook. I’ve been playing Eve for a few days so far and it runs however, there are at times graphic buffering issues. I’m hoping that’s just a minor software issue that can be fixed with a new patch. This game is Really something and it would be a shame if these minor graphical glitches isn’t fixed..
** Finger’s Crossed **
Just as an update, I’ve been playing EVE (now in the Empyrean Age) on my Macbook Pro as well as my Mac Pro for a while now and have not experienced any crashes or significant glitches beyond the occasional lag that occurs with the game anyway.
Am I the exception to the rule at this point or have other people also found the newer builds of the Mac client to be more stable?
I’m running it with MB pro 2.4 core 2 duo purchased back in Dec. 07, Leopard 10.5.5, 4GB ram.
It runs well, no crashes. I think they’re are a few graphical issues but no showstoppers.