OS X Alpha support thread

[Lupo]

OS X Alpha support thread is run in the official Egosoft forums at http://forum.egosoft.com/index.php Look for X Rebirth - Technical Support section of the forums and it will be a sticky near the top.

Please attach savegames for almost any issue, it'll help a lot. In case you can't or don't want to include it in the forum post, my email address is: rog3r ( on ) egosoft.com, of course replace the 3 with an e and ( on ) with @ (hope not too many spam bots figure that out);p

To play you need to activate the "macosx" branch

For technical reasons we had to create a separate branch for the OS X alpha version, in the future this requirement will be removed.

To activate the OS X branch in Desktop mode:

launch Steam
right click on "X Rebirth" in your game library
click properties
click the "Betas" tab
choose "macosx" in the selection box
click close
play the game (if prompted click "download update")

To activate the OS X branch in Big Picture mode:
launch Steam
select "Library"
select "X Rebirth"
go to the "Links & More" panel (it's on the left)
scroll down and enter "Select Beta..."
choose "macosx" in the selection box
click ok
play the game (if prompted click "download update")


System and driver compatibility:

Steam is required to run the game. The port was developed on OS X 10.10 but it should run on 10.9 ( feedback is welcome ).

The requirements currently state OpenGL 4.2, but it should run under OpenGL 4.0 and even 3.30 ( feedback is welcome ).

The minimum hardware requirements state "OpenGL Iris Pro", but it should run with "OpenGL Iris" - we can't make any statement on performance on such a system though ( feedback is welcome ).

General information

Cloud-sync between Windows, Linux and OS X is not supported.
Savegames are stored under /Users/<username>/Documents/EgoSoft/X Rebirth/save.
Savegames between platforms should be compatible, if there are any issues please report a bug.

Joystic/Controller setup:

Controllers:
If you have a relatively common xbox-like controller it should work fine out-of-the-box. Please report a bug if that's not the case.

Joysticks:
First go to Settings, Controls, Load Profile and select "Default - Joystick (osx/linux)".
After that you will need to setup button mappings (mainly in Controls, Space), as the default will most likely not fit your joystick.
If the default axis configuration is incorrect you can remap them the same way as buttons.
To invert an axis search for "Invert Axes" in the Controls menu in the "Controller / Joystick" sub-section.

Known issues and missing features:

Generally features missing in the Linux version will also be missing on the Mac.

Current overview:

Weapon overheating may sometimes stop/block temporarily
Long game launch time (window/screen may be black during this so please give it a few minutes)
Blurry text
Only high quality non-legacy shaders implemented
No muffling for outside sounds
Some audio differences in loudness / pitch / effects
Transparency order issues for ice asteroids on amd-catalyst driver
Performance issues in asteroid fields

Startup Issues

If you switched to the 'macosx' branch, and the game doesn't start, it might be because the XRebirth.app wasn't correctly updated. In this case, the "Console" ( which you can open using Spotlight search ) will report this error:

Could not find and/or execute program specified by service: 2: No such file or directory: /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/X Rebirth/XRebirth.app/Contents/MacOS/XRebirth-stub

In this case, try the following steps:
1. make sure you're on the "macosx" branch.
2. go to the game folder, (properties, local files, browse local files)
3. delete the "X Rebirth" executable/bundle (the one that's about 40mb)
4. "verify integrity of game cache" in steam, it will re-download the XRebirth.app
5. run the game.

Bug Reporting

Bugtracker

We now have a proper Bug Tracker, so feel free to report issues in it.

Please prefix each comment in the bug tracker with "<forum_name>:" so I can tell who's who (you can use a fake name if you want, just keep using it, even between different bugs because they can be related). Please include system specs like operating-system-version/mac-model/cpu/graphics and ram. You can find this information by clicking the Apple-logo in the left-top and selecting "About this mac".

Please attach screenshots & savegames for almost any issue, it'll help a lot. In case you can't or don't want to include it in the forum post, my email address is listed at the top of this post.

If you notice anything "pink/blue/green" the best thing to do is give us a screenshot & savegame.
If you notice something looking ugly it would help a lot if you can verify it's OS X specific first, then give us a screenshot & savegame.

Fatal Errors

Fatal Errors will be logged in the "Console". To view these, run the console by entering "Console" in "Spotlight Search".

Build history
General Release patch notes

2015-11-03 15:15 UTC - 3.61 Build 19 (202267):
- joystick/controller support (see Joystick/Controller setup section above)
- implemented sound effects
- improved sound distance attenuation
- improved intel-gpu driver compatibility

2015-10-19 10:45 UTC - 3.61 Build 18 (200382):
- implemented MSAA
- implemented FXAA (only high-quality)
- implemented post-effects: glow, ssao (only high-quality for now)
- implemented motion blur
- implemented build shader (station/ship building looks correct now)
- implemented particles shader (sparks/smoke on platforms)
- fixed and improved fill/outline rendering (station scan mode)
- fixed radar issues: white objects, missing highways
- fixed rectangles on new UI elements

2015-09-24 15:00 UTC - 3.61 Build 17 (final rc4, 200382):
- General beta patch notes

2015-09-18 14:45 UTC - 3.61 Build 16 (public beta rc3, 200202):
- General beta patch notes

2015-09-16 13:00 UTC - 3.61 Build 15 (public beta rc2, 200075):
- improved NPC performance (especially noticeable on stations)
- General beta patch notes

2015-07-29 11:00 UTC - 3.60 Build 14 (final rc2 198327):
- nothing osx specific

2015-07-27 11:30 UTC - 3.60 Build 13 (public beta rc1, 198294):
- nothing osx specific

2015-07-21 11:10 UTC - 3.60 Build 12 (public beta 4, 198196):
- partially fixed distortion effect

2015-07-10 14:00 UTC - 3.60 Build 11 (public beta 3, 197837):
- nothing osx specific

2015-07-02 14:00 UTC - 3.60 Build 10 (public beta 2, 197519):
- nothing osx specific

2015-06-25 14:00 UTC - 3.60 Build 9 (public beta 1, 197172):
- fixed "Error 0x10005: Memory could not be found [...]"

2015-06-24 12:15 UTC - 3.60 Build 8 (public beta 1, 197172):
- removed incorrect outlines around objects in certain foggy sectors
- hotfixed "fails to start on some distros" at 15:00 UTC

2015-05-08 12:00 UTC - Build 7

- And thus it begins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM6OIlreneA

Note: Devs are providing support here and in the official Egosoft forums, my recommendation is to post on the official forums, mostly as to keep all reports in one place and build a consolidated database where it is easier to check for any problems. Official forums at http://forum.egosoft.com/index.php

[$10 logitech mouse]

unable to change resolution on Mac

[SamCube]

Sorry to ask, but it's controller support going to be implemented soon? Thanks!

[Lupo]

According to the devs patch notes, controller and joysticks support has already been implemented in this version of the game.

[kalmiya]

@Julien: We have some (yet to be released) fixes for fullscreen & resolution-change issues ( not yet in osx/alpha 19 ).

@SamCube: Joystick & gamepad support for OSX was added in the latest build ( OSX alpha 19 ) - feedback is welcome.

[Lupo]

This topic has been updated with the latest information from the official forums and unpinned, a link to this topic will be available from one of the stickies on the top of the forum. This is due to New Year resolutions like updating old threads, decluttering the forum and nuking the wardrobe as a pre emptive strike against Narnia.

[fannt76]

Gosh! Thanks for joystick support, finally could start playing. Nevertheless it's an alpha, 25 hours of flight and no bugs 👍😱
But 've loaded a save today and catched a pretty bad bug - a very loud pitch sound instead of the sound at the station. Nearly made me deaf in my headphones

Bug is recreatable with the save

MacBook Pro 15 OS X 10.11.3

[Lupo]

Could you please provide the save and the steps to repro the bug? Many thanks.

[kalmiya]

As Lupo says, we'd like to have the save - can you mail it to "crash@egosoft .com" - or put it on dropbox or sth similar and mail the link ? Also, it would be nice if you could mention your MBP specs in that mail ( especially cpu & gfx-card ) and how you experience the performance (fps). Thanks !

[Moldi Stromboly]

I had been unable to buy this game because of the windows-only support, so now you have a new purchase from an old X fan and linux user

[fannt76]

sorry, a bit misled you guys, that sound pitch bug is not related to the save, but to a voice samples (announcements on stations, or talks by intercom). But reboot solved the problem

Performance on my Macbook Pro with i7 4x@2.2Ghz & irishPro video is playable. ~25 fps average, rarely dropping to 15. No significant frame drop on small battles at least (compared to X3)

but I fired a few crash reports to the mail you provided

[Lupo]

Originally posted by fannt76:

sorry, a bit misled you guys, that sound pitch bug is not related to the save, but to a voice samples (announcements on stations, or talks by intercom). But reboot solved the problem

Performance on my Macbook Pro with i7 4x@2.2Ghz & irishPro video is playable. ~25 fps average, rarely dropping to 15. No significant frame drop on small battles at least (compared to X3)

but I fired a few crash reports to the mail you provided

Many thanks for coming back, clarifying the issue and filling the reports, it does really help to improve the game.

[kalmiya]

@fannt76 Concerning the crashes, it appears to crash inside the openGL driver, in a very specific scenario. Googling, there are multiple games which seem to have a crash with a similar callstack. We have a repro-case and provided all info we have to Apple.