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Mac Deus Ex 2 Details
9:28 AM | Andy Largent | Comment on this story
Last week we brought you word that the shooter/RPG hybrid Deus Ex has been popular enough to have inspiredIon Storm to begin work on a sequel, tentatively entitled Deus Ex 2. More information on this project has begun to arrive, including an interview posted at GamesMania with Ricardo Bare, designer at Ion Storm. Here's a relevant clip: GM: Will Deus Ex 2 be ported to the Mac platform as well?
RB: This will totally depend on the technology we license. If the engine we use is ported, then its more than likely that DX2 will also be ported.
So, while this is promising news, Mac users will have to wait and see what Ion Storm decides to use.
Mark Adams of Westlake Interactive, the company that ported Deus Ex to the Mac, recently made a post to Usenet regarding the chances of a Mac OS port of this sequel. Ion Storm is also working on Thief 3, and a reader had asked what might happen if Deus Ex 2 used that game's engine instead of the Unreal/Unreal Tournament engine. Here's Mark's post in full:
Unfortunately if Thief 3 uses the Thief 1/2 engine, developed by LookingGlass before they folded, AND Deus Ex 2 picks the Thief 3 engine, it wouldn't bode well for a Mac version.
Several Westlake programmers (myself included) worked with LookingGlass code for several years (we did the Mac versions of Flight Unlimited and System Shock). And the scope of those projects was monumental.
LookingGlass developed VERY Windows-specific code which used huge PC code libraries they spent years developing. It was a quite a mess from a portability standpoint.
A lot of this is extrapolation from what some of us know of the code for the Thief engine way back when (before Thief, when the engine was only a codename). Its possible that if the code is used for a current game (Thief 3/DX2) it might not be as bad as back then. But in all the years of working with LookingGlass code, it kept getting less portable and more complex the longer they worked on it :( So, let's hope Ion Storm decides to use a slightly more Mac-friendly 3D engine for their sequel. As the sequel is intended for the PlayStation 2 as well as PC, it is more likely that they will choose a variation of the Unreal Tournament engine once again, as this engine has already been ported to that console. We'll keep you posted as more information on the game becomes available. If you want information on what this sequel might be like from the man himself, make sure you check out the short piece by Warren Spector posted at GameSpy.
 Westlake Interactive
GamesMania Deus Ex 2 Interview
Warren Spector on Deus Ex 2
Ion Storm (add to watch list)
Westlake Interactive (add to watch list)
Aspyr Media (add to watch list)
Deus Ex (add to watch list)
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