Pioneering Capsuleers,
At the end of 2020 we posted the news that we would be making a native EVE client for macOS. We are now excited to announce the dates for our first public playtest!
The playtest will take place between 15 April and the 21 April on our test server, Singularity.
As with the 64bit client, your participation would be invaluable in helping the team create a stronger technical foundation for EVE to continue setting it up for its third decade. A native Mac Client means a better experience for existing macOS players, and will in addition bring new players to New Eden.
The Play Test
There are a few important things that you should be aware if participating in the playtest:
- The native Mac Client is not a finished product. You will encounter bugs and possibly crashes. Save and close any other running programs to ensure you do not lose any work in the event of a crash.
- The purpose of this playtest is to help identify serious problems like crashes, failure to launch, performance issues, and uncover some of the current unknowns we know will be present.
- For the playtest, the Native Mac Client will not use any existing files that you may have downloaded. This is to ensure that we get test coverage of the ‘Download on Demand’ system that the client uses. As a result, the client will download files needed in the background, as opposed to downloading every file before you can play.
- The Native Mac Client will use additional space during the public test period. Once we completely move from Wine to a native macOS client, the total install size for EVE Online will be around the same. The test client will automatically be removed from your system in a future launcher update.
- The client and server version that will be used is not reflective of what is upcoming for Tranquility. This is intended and may mean some things appear to have been reverted or changed on Singularity. As always, do not use what you see on Singularity for decisions on Tranquility.
Supported Systems
We strongly recommend running the latest version of macOS where possible. For this first public playtest, the client will work on macOS 10.15 and above. You will need to have the latest supplemental update installed (10.15.7 for example) to ensure the best experience. We may support older versions of macOS in the future. Your Mac must have a minimum of 4GB of RAM and dual core CPU @2Ghz.
Apple recently released new ARM-based Macs powered by their M1 chip. We support these systems using Rosetta 2. If you do not have Rosetta 2 installed on these new Macs, then you will receive a prompt to install it when the game first runs. We plan to release a native version of the client for M1-powered Macs in the future.
There is no change for players using Windows against EVE’s System Requirements. If you encounter issues on a system that works on Tranquility, please see the section below on how to report this.
How To Join
To join the playtest, you must be running the latest version of the EVE Online launcher. Both macOS and Windows users will be able to join. A huge number of underlying changes have been made to the client, so we encourage everyone to join, regardless of their OS.
Please read the rules for Singularity before you join, as these are different from our main server, Tranquility. There is also a FAQ on the forums that we would strongly recommend reading, especially if you experience login problems.
Once you are running the latest launcher version, click the arrow at the bottom right and choose ‘Singularity’. The client will then automatically download.
If you have not logged into Singularity – also known as Sisi – recently, then you will need to add your account to the launcher using the ‘add account’ button before you can connect.
How You Can help
Simply by playing EVE on Singularity, you will be helping! The more machines we expose the client to, the sooner we can uncover any serious issues. The test covers both macOS and Windows, as there is a shared codebase for large amounts of the client.
At this stage, we are particularly interested in hearing if you experience any of the following problems:
- Graphical Problems – These may appear as assets being rendered incorrectly, black screens, or UI problems
- Crashes – If the client crashes on an x64 based system, then the client should automatically upload a crash report to our recently upgraded crash reporting system
- Poor Performance – Performance optimizations are ongoing, but we would like to hear of any situations where performance is noticeably poor
- Audio Issues - Any missing sounds, music, or garbled sound
- Input Issues - Key presses not being detected, shortcuts not working, or mouse / trackpad problems
- Launcher Problems - Once on the latest launcher, playing on Singularity should be seamless. We want to hear any issues that caused friction or stopped you from playing
For all client issues, please file a bug report from within the game by pressing F12 and including as many details as possible. If the bug is graphical, then please include a screenshot of the problem. If you can reproduce the problem by following the same steps again, please include what these are.
If you are unable to launch the client or have a launcher problem, please file a bug report on our website and include the latest launcher log so we can investigate it.
Any involvement from players, even just playing on Singularity, will greatly help us in making the Native Mac Client a reality.
Changes From the Wine Client
While a lot of the underlying codebase has changed, there are some changes in the Native Mac Client that may impact you more directly:
- Some shortcuts in the client have been changed. These are generally shortcuts that are already used by macOS, where a clash can cause problems. You can see what these are by pressing 'escape' and choosing the 'shortcut' tab. The client now supports modifier keys (shift, control, option, command) natively.
- IME / IMK, which is used for language input has been rewritten to take advantage of the system macOS offers.
- The rendering for macOS has moved entirely from being DirectX 9 based through Wine, to Metal. This means EVE will look more beautiful than ever on macOS! The Native Mac Client can now take full advantage of the features like post-processing. We have not finished fine tuning some of the graphical settings, so if the client appears too dark, you can adjust the brightness by pressing escape, selecting the 'Display & Graphics' tab, and then pressing the 'Brightness' button on the right.
We are happy to receive feedback on all of these in the forum thread here!
Known Issues & Providing Feedback
If you encounter an issue, the best way to let us know is to file a bug report as mentioned above. We will be keeping a thread on the forum here that includes some of the common problems we are aware of.
While the purpose of this playtest is to uncover serious client issues, we know many players will be keen to offer us feedback on the macOS client in general. For this, please use the forum thread here.
Keep in mind that the macOS client is in active development, with several areas needing to be improved. This early playtest, in conjunction with your help, will allow us to improve the experience for all players.
When Will the Native Mac Client be Released?
We will have more information on this later – there are multiple factors at play here, one being how this playtest goes!
See you on the test server!