I've been thinking of bringing some older games back to the modern Mac.
Rewriting old titles in Swift but using the original data files that assume use of non-rounded corners Windows.
Many of these games require all the Window space of a 90 degree cornered Window.
Can anyone point me at some useful workarounds or Is Apple simply deaf to the needs of this type of product?
Delve into the world of graphics and game development. Discuss creating stunning visuals, optimizing game mechanics, and share resources for game developers.
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I have two devices (iPod, iPhone), each using a different Apple ID. I have an existing game to which I'm adding TBM. When the iPod invites the iPhone, it sends an iMessage invite to the iPhone; when I click on that message, I get "Retrieving", then Game Center in Settings is opened, not my App (same version installed on both devices). I start my App on the iPhone and that match is not shown in the Matchmaker View Controller.
When I send an invite from the iPhone to the iPod and I click on the iMessage invite, the app starts but the match isn't listed in the MatchMaker ViewController on the iPod (but is on the iPhone).
In addition, when I click on the info circle on the iPhone, it who's the two players and "App Store" under the Game Center name. However, When I do the same on the iPod, it has a "Play your turn" there.
Any ideas?
Hi, I am using xCode26.x. But my Metal4 classes are not compiling. I downloaded the sample code from Apple's website - https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Metal/processing-a-texture-in-a-compute-function. For example, I am getting errors like "Cannot find protocol declaration for 'MTL4CommandQueue';
I have hit a deadline. Any recommendations are very welcome.
I have downloaded the Metal Tool chain. When I run the following commands on the terminal - xcodebuild -showComponent metalToolchain ; xcrun -f metal ; xcrun metal --version
I get the following response -
Asset Path: /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_MetalToolchain/86fbaf7b114a899754307896c0bfd52ffbf4fded.asset/AssetData
Build Version: 17A321
Status: installed
Toolchain Identifier: com.apple.dt.toolchain.Metal.32023
Toolchain Search Path: /Users/private/Library/Developer/DVTDownloads/MetalToolchain/mounts/86fbaf7b114a899754307896c0bfd52ffbf4fded
/Users/private/Library/Developer/DVTDownloads/MetalToolchain/mounts/86fbaf7b114a899754307896c0bfd52ffbf4fded/Metal.xctoolchain/usr/bin/metal
Apple metal version 32023.830 (metalfe-32023.830.2)
Target: air64-apple-darwin24.6.0
Thread model: posix
InstalledDir: /Users/private/Library/Developer/DVTDownloads/MetalToolchain/mounts/86fbaf7b114a899754307896c0bfd52ffbf4fded/Metal.xctoolchain/usr/metal/current/bin
I'm encountering a build failure when trying to install the Game Porting Toolkit via Homebrew. The installation fails during the game-porting-toolkit-compiler dependency build phase with a CMake compatibility error.
Error Message:
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (cmake_minimum_required):
Compatibility with CMake < 3.5 has been removed from CMake.
Update the VERSION argument <min> value. Or, use the <min>...<max> syntax
to tell CMake that the project requires at least <min> but has been updated
to work with policies introduced by <max> or earlier.
Or, add -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 to try configuring anyway.
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
Environment:
macOS: 15.6.1 (Sequoia)
Homebrew: 5.0.1
CMake: 3.20.2
Architecture: x86_64 (via Rosetta)
Formula: apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit-compiler v0.1
Source: crossover-sources-22.1.1.tar.gz
Steps to Reproduce:
Install x86_64 Homebrew for Rosetta compatibility
Run: arch -x86_64 /usr/local/bin/brew install apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit
Build fails during dependency installation
Root Cause:
The LLVM/Clang sources included in crossover-sources-22.1.1.tar.gz contain a CMakeLists.txt file that specifies a minimum CMake version lower than 3.5. Modern CMake versions (3.5+) have removed backward compatibility with these older version requirements.
Potential Solutions:
Update the Homebrew formula to patch the CMakeLists.txt with cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5) or higher
Update to newer CrossOver sources with updated CMake requirements
Add the -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 flag to the CMake build command in the formula
Is this a known issue? Are there plans to update the formula or the source package to resolve this compatibility problem? Any guidance on a workaround would be appreciated.
Full log available at: /Users/kentarovadney/Library/Logs/Homebrew/game-porting-toolkit-compiler/02.cmake.log
Thanks for any assistance!
I am puzzled by the setAddress(_:attributeStride:index:) of MTL4ArgumentTable. Can anyone please explain what the attributeStride parameter is for? The doc says that it is "The stride between attributes in the buffer." but why?
Who uses this for what? On the C++ side in the shaders the stride is determined by the C++ type, as far as I know. What am I missing here?
Thanks!
I think I really have tried everything and I did all according to official documentation to support game mode on iOS or iPadOS but it doesn't matter what I do it just doesn't get triggered. Funny enough it works during development when I install it via Xcode but as soon as it is live on the store and when I install it from there game mode doesn't get triggered anymore. What I have atm
I have added (even though it is deprecated)
<key>GCSupportsGameMode</key>
<true/>
I have set the (but it seems only supported for macOS)
<key>LSApplicationCategoryType</key>
<string>public.app-category.games</string>
I have added
<key>LSSupportsGameMode</key>
<true/>
It just doesn't work. Is there anything else what needs to be done? Should the flag LSSupportsGameMode not be enough normally?
The reason why this is so annoying is that my app is a real time streaming app and I want to profit from minimised background activities for smoother gameplay and more consistent frame rates like mentioned in the documentation.
Hi Apple team,
Game Mode was introduced in iOS 18. To activate Game Mode, an app must include specific key-value pairs in its *.plist and be categorized as a "Game" on the App Store.
My app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voidlink/id6747717070) works primarily as a self-hosted game streaming (PC->iPhone/iPad) client. Game Mode provides clear benefits in terms of latency and frame rate stability, but it can currently only be activated when running via Xcode or TestFlight.
I am an individual iOS developer based in China, where an additional government license is required for apps to be listed under the "Game" category on the App Store. Obtaining such a license is very difficult for independent developers, so my app has been categorized under "Utilities" instead.(If move the app to game category, it will disappear from Chinese App Store immediately)
Expectation / Suggestion:
Please consider making Game Mode available as a local, user-controllable option on iOS18/26+, such as through a system “App Pool” where users can choose which apps to enable Game Mode for, regardless of App Store category.
This would greatly benefit use cases like streaming clients, benchmarking tools, and remote play utilities, without requiring developers to reclassify their apps as “Games” on App Store.
Topic:
Graphics & Games
SubTopic:
General
I have been trying to run an open source Windows executable that I would like to help porting to macOS using the Game Porting Toolkit but I stumbled on an issue quite early in the application lifecycle.
It looks like the funtion GetThreadDpiHostingBehavior is missing in USER32.dll
Has anyone any idea how to solve that?
During the startup, it fails with the following error:
TiXL crashed. We're really sorry.
The last backup was saved Unknown time to...
C:\users\crossover\AppData\Roaming\TiXL\Backup
Please refer to Help > Using Backups on what to do next.
System.EntryPointNotFoundException: Unable to find an entry point named 'GetThreadDpiHostingBehavior' in DLL 'USER32.dll'.
at System.Windows.Forms.ScaleHelper.DpiAwarenessScope..ctor(DPI_AWARENESS_CONTEXT context, DPI_HOSTING_BEHAVIOR behavior)
at System.Windows.Forms.ScaleHelper.EnterDpiAwarenessScope(DPI_AWARENESS_CONTEXT awareness, DPI_HOSTING_BEHAVIOR dpiHosting)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.CreateHandle(CreateParams cp)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateHandle()
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.get_MarshallingControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.WindowsFormsSynchronizationContext..ctor()
at System.Windows.Forms.WindowsFormsSynchronizationContext.InstallIfNeeded()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control..ctor(Boolean autoInstallSyncContext)
at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl..ctor()
at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl..ctor()
at System.Windows.Forms.Form..ctor()
at T3.Editor.SplashScreen.SplashScreen.SplashForm..ctor()
at T3.Editor.SplashScreen.SplashScreen.Show(String imagePath) in C:\Users\pixtur\dev\tooll\tixl\Editor\SplashScreen\SplashScreen.cs:line 25
at T3.Editor.Program.Main(String[] args) in C:\Users\pixtur\dev\tooll\tixl\Editor\Program.cs:line 111
Deterministic RNG behaviour across Mac M1 CPU and Metal GPU – BigCrush pass & structural diagnostics
Hello,
I am currently working on a research project under ENINCA Consulting, focused on advanced diagnostic tools for pseudorandom number generators (structural metrics, multi-seed stability, cross-architecture reproducibility, and complementary indicators to TestU01).
To validate this diagnostic framework, I prototyped a small non-linear 64-bit PRNG (not as a goal in itself, but simply as a vehicle to test the methodology).
During these evaluations, I observed something interesting on Apple Silicon (Mac M1): • bit-exact reproducibility between M1 ARM CPU and M1 Metal GPU, • full BigCrush pass on both CPU and Metal backends, • excellent p-values, • stable behaviour across multiple seeds and runs.
This was not the intended objective, the goal was mainly to validate the diagnostic concepts, but these results raised some questions about deterministic compute behaviour in Metal.
My question: Is there any official guidance on achieving (or expecting) deterministic RNG or compute behaviour across CPU ↔ Metal GPU on Apple Silicon? More specifically:
• Are deterministic compute kernels expected or guaranteed on Metal for scientific workloads?
• Are there recommended patterns or best practices to ensure reproducibility across GPU generations (M1 → M2 → M3 → M4)? • Are there known Metal features that can introduce non-determinism?
I am not sharing the internal recurrence (this work is proprietary), but I can discuss the high-level diagnostic observations if helpful.
Thank you for any insight, very interested in how the Metal engineering team views deterministic compute patterns on Apple Silicon.
Pascal ENINCA Consulting
Topic:
Graphics & Games
SubTopic:
Metal
Deterministic RNG behaviour across Mac M1 CPU and Metal GPU – BigCrush pass & structural diagnostics
Hello,
I am currently working on a research project under ENINCA Consulting, focused on advanced diagnostic tools for pseudorandom number generators (structural metrics, multi-seed stability, cross-architecture reproducibility, and complementary indicators to TestU01).
To validate this diagnostic framework, I prototyped a small non-linear 64-bit PRNG (not as a goal in itself, but simply as a vehicle to test the methodology).
During these evaluations, I observed something interesting on Apple Silicon (Mac M1):
• bit-exact reproducibility between M1 ARM CPU and M1 Metal GPU,
• full BigCrush pass on both CPU and Metal backends,
• excellent p-values,
• stable behaviour across multiple seeds and runs.
This was not the intended objective, the goal was mainly to validate the diagnostic concepts, but these results raised some questions about deterministic compute behaviour in Metal.
My question: Is there any official guidance on achieving (or expecting) deterministic RNG or compute behaviour across CPU ↔ Metal GPU on Apple Silicon? More specifically:
• Are deterministic compute kernels expected or guaranteed on Metal for scientific workloads?
• Are there recommended patterns or best practices to ensure reproducibility across GPU generations (M1 → M2 → M3 → M4)?
• Are there known Metal features that can introduce non-determinism?
I am not sharing the internal recurrence (this work is proprietary), but I can discuss the high-level diagnostic observations if helpful.
Thank you for any insight, very interested in how the Metal engineering team views deterministic compute patterns on Apple Silicon.
Pascal ENINCA Consulting
Topic:
Graphics & Games
SubTopic:
Metal
Tags:
ML Compute
Metal
Metal Performance Shaders
Apple Silicon
The “explore spatial accessory input on visionOS” presentation from WDC25 interests me. I bought both the MUSE Logitech stylus and the PS VR2 sense controllers to try out with the sculpting app presented by the author, engineer Amanda Han. Unfortunately the app itself was not included. Could the app be made available for downloading as well as the Xcode project? I appreciate any assistance the author and your team could provide. Thank you.
Topic:
Graphics & Games
SubTopic:
RealityKit
Hello
XQuartz is an open-source effort to develop a version of the X.Org X Window System (https://www.xquartz.org/), widely used to bring graphical support to applications running in remote servers (usually via SSH).
Since macOS Tahoe, XQuartz fails to refresh properly on window resize (more info here https://github.com/XQuartz/XQuartz/issues/438#issuecomment-3371409500), leading to severe usability issues.
The XQuartz developers are already aware of the issue, but I’m wondering if there’s anything we can do at the OS level to resolve it and restore the usual behavior from before macOS Tahoe.
Thanks,
KiM
Topic:
Graphics & Games
SubTopic:
General
My app has a number of heterogeneous GPU workloads that all run concurrently. Some of these should be executed with the highest priority because the app’s responsiveness depends on them, while others are triggered by file imports and the like which should have a low priority. If this was running on the CPU I’d assign the former User Interactive QoS and the latter Utility QoS. Is there an equivalent to this for GPU work?
How can I paste a string to the findNavigator of a TextEditor ?
Topic:
Graphics & Games
SubTopic:
General
I have a game built in Unreal Engine 5.6 which uses tilt motion controls to rotate an object. I've restricted the app to only run in portrait for iPhone, and everything works fine, however for iPad I've had a few issues relating to multitasking and I can't seem to solve it.
Forcing the app to portrait only still allows the app to run in landscape mode, but shows black bars either side of the game, and the axes for the motion controls are incorrect. X becomes Y and Y becomes X, and there's no way for my app to know which orientation it is because the container is still technically portrait.
Allowing my game to run in all orientations makes the whole app more presentable, it doesn't add black bars and the game is still functional and I'm able to map the controls correctly because the game knows it's landscape rather than portrait.
The problem with allowing my app to run in landscape mode is if multitasking is enabled on the ipad, you can resize the app to be portrait, and then I run into the same problem again where the game thinks it's portrait mode and all of the axes are wrong again.
I tried getting the true orientation of the device rather than the scene, but the game is intended to be played flat so instead of returning the orientation of the OS the orientation is FaceUp, which doesn't help.
I need to either disable multitasking or find a way of getting the orientation of the OS (not the scene or the device). I haven't found how to get the OS orientation so I've been trying to disable multitasking.
I've got Requires Fullscreen true and UIApplicationSupportsMultipleScreens false in my info.plist but my iPad still seems to allow the window to be resized in landscape view. Opening the IOS workspace of my project Requires Fullscreen is ticked but under that it says "Supports Multiple Windows" and the arrow button next to it takes my to my info.plist values, but no indication of how I can change it.
I'm using Unreal Engine 5.6 and Xcode 16.0. Xcode is old I know, but this version of unreal engine doesn't seem to support any newer.
My app is live but the leaderboards still aren’t updating. App was built with unreal engine 5 with blueprints. I have the leaderboard stat info entered into the node for write integer to leaderboard and a node for show platform specific leaderboard. The leaderboards are shown as live on app connect.
When I run the app, the Game Center login functions and the leaderboard interface launches as expected but it just lists a group of friends to invite. There are no scores listed and it says number of players 0 even though I have scored on two different devices and accounts. I have the Game Center entitlement added in Xcode. Not sure where else to look.
I have published a number of games that use SpriteKit for everything important. Since the release of macOS Tahoe, I've had a lot of end user reports saying that sound effects have stopped working in many (but not all) of my titles.
I'm not doing anything unusual here – typical code is:
sndGameOver = [SKAction playSoundFileNamed:@"Audio/GameOver.wav" waitForCompletion:YES];
Then at the appropriate time:
[self runAction:sndGameOver];
Has anyone else encountered this? The code still works fine on previous operating systems, and appears to be fine on iOS too. Has something changed in macOS Tahoe?
I'm at a bit of a loss. There's nothing obviously different between the titles that do work and the titles that don't.
Suggestions welcomed!
Thanks
Hi all,
I've encountered a potential issue with how the winding order of geometry is handled when their transformations involve negative scaling.
I created a simple test asset, a single triangle, to demonstrate this. The triangle's vertices are defined in a counter-clockwise ("right-handed") winding order, and its transform has a negative scale on the X-axis. According to the OpenUSD specification, this negative determinant in the transformation matrix should effectively reverse the winding order of the geometry:
However, any given gprim's local-to-world transformation can flip its effective orientation, when it contains an odd number of negative scales. This condition can be reliably detected using the (Jacobian) determinant of the local-to-world transform: if the determinant is less than zero, then the gprim's orientation has been flipped, and therefore one must apply the opposite handedness rule when computing its surface normals (or just flip the computed normals) for the purposes of hidden surface detection and lighting calculations.
When I view the asset in tools like Blender or Preview on macOS, it behaves as expected. The triangle's effective orientation is flipped to CW.
However, when the same asset is viewed in Reality Composer Pro or with QuickLook on iOS, its effective orientation remains CCW. In other words, the triangle faces the opposite direction.
My questions for the community and Apple are:
Is this behavior in RealityKit a known issue?
If this is a known issue, is there official guidance for DCC tools on how to export USDZ assets to ensure they appear correctly in the Apple ecosystem?
Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
I've had no issue calling image files in my .swift files, but they are causing crashes when used in my .SKS files. When I set a sprite texture to an image in the inspector/ editor bar, at runtime when that sprite is being called I get the error: "Cannot get value with size 16. The type encoded as {CGRect={CGPoint=dd}{CGSize=dd}} is expected to be 32 bytes." From my research it has something to do with Apple switching from 32 to 64 bite machines. From chatGPT “SpriteKit under the hood uses NSKeyedUnarchiver to load your .sks file. That unarchiver decodes each archived property by reading a fixed‑size blob of bytes and mapping it into a C struct. In your case it ran into a mismatch”. I am using a 64-bite machine to write my code and 64-bite simulators and physical devices, so there isn't a clear cause of the mismatch. My scenes play fine in Xcode 16's preview window and my code builds, it just crashes at runtime.
When I don’t use image textured assets in the SKS file it works fine. It loads animated labels, and plain color squares. I’ve been able to work around this for static things like a sprite with a background texture by. in a normal non-game swift file, writing code like:
if let scene = SKScene(fileNamed: "GameScene2") {
let bg = SKSpriteNode(imageNamed: "YourBackgroundImage")
bg.position = CGPoint(x: scene.frame.midX, y: scene.frame.midY)
bg.zPosition = -1
scene.addChild(bg)
}
The issue now is I want to make a particle emitter and other non static sprites, but my understanding of their properities isn’t deep enough to create them without the editor. Also when I set SKTexture in a swift file that causes the same runtime crash with the 16/32 error. Could you help me figure out how to fix the bug so I can use the editor again? Otherwise could you help me figure out how to write a workaround like I do for background images? I have a feeling the answer is in writing my own NSKeyedUnarchiver but I don’t know how to make sure it’s called instead of the default one. I've already tried cleaning my code multiple times and deleting and reading sprite nodes. Thank you.
When previewing the recording of gameplay the buttons to exit or save are unclickable behind the top bar clock and Wi-Fi/5G status bar. Which means that you have to quit the game in order to continue.
Tested on multiple devices.
Does anyone have a solution to this? At the moment we have disabled it altogether for iOS 26 users.