Regarding Mac development

[MishkaL1138]

I've always heard how developing for Mac is hard, costy, etc etc. But I never really got any of it clear. In the last PlaneShift UE4 update (the Crystal Run game) it was hinted that a version of the game couldn't be done for Mac, because nobody had a Mac or was a developer or whatever.

Well, I have a Mac, running macOS on actual Apple hardware, I'm a registered free developer, and I'm wondering what can we Mac users do for this, in regards of packaging the game for our platform, at least.

[Ravna]

A very interesting question indeed. The issue is that you need a Mac to be able to compile for a Mac (license wise).

I should start by stating that I have never tried anything like this on a Mac, so I can only say that "in theory" the below should hold.

1) One would need a mac that meets the following requirements (for building a client, not running the game, those specs are waaay lower) https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/GettingStarted/RecommendedSpecifications/
2) One should obtain the Unreal sources: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/GettingStarted/DownloadingUnrealEngine/DownloadZip/index.html
3) One should build those https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Programming/Development/BuildingUnrealEngine/index.html
4) Obtain the Planeshift sources and package them for mac (should be an odd 4 instructions or so I don't recall from the top of my head).

For the crystal hunt arcade, we are currently working on trying if it does indeed work as easy as it sounds on a Linux machine. If it does, it would be a very viable option to have anyone who has a suitable Mac and some free time build the mac version.
Step 4 is the only part that is not obvious at the moment, because the crystal hunt source is not public. If you have a Mac that meets the system requirements and want to give this a go, I would say your best bet is to contact Talad on IRC. You would also need him to send the binaries back to the main page.

[MishkaL1138]

I'll try doing that. Will report later.