OS X Tools Help Westlake Interactive Bring Halo To The Mac

by , 9:00 AM EDT, May 27th, 2004

Mac gamers have historically had a rough time of it; game makers looking to make a buck normally won't develop a new game title for the Mac because of low market share. Games appear on PCs first, then they might make it to the Mac.

Lately, however, the gaming prospects on the Mac have improved greatly. That's thanks in part to Westlake Interactive, which has helped bring top notch games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and Unreal Tournament 2004 to the Mac.

Halo was a game originally conceived by Bungie to appear on the Mac and Windows at the same time. Bungie had its roots as a Mac-only game maker that eventually started making games for the Mac and Windows alike. As most Mac gamers well know, however, Bungie's quality and reputation led to the company being bought by Microsoft, which then made Halo the crown jewel of its new game system, the X-Box, where it was a huge hit.

Halo next appeared on the Windows platform, where it was also a big hit. Finally, in December of 2003, four years after it was first announced at Macworld Expo, Halo was made available for the Mac.

The company that ultimately brought Halo to the Mac was not Bungie, but none other than the above-mentioned Westlake Interactive. Apple's Developer's Connection has the story of how Westlake Interactive was able to bring "Combat evolved" to the Mac, and we thought you would be interested in it. Here's an excerpt from the article, Westlake Puts Halo on the Mac: The Right Tools at the Right Time:

Using a combination of OpenGL, clever programming, and great developer tools, Westlake Interactive has helped make the popular game Halo a big hit on the Mac. Halo is a spectacular sci-fi action epic that takes advantage of the pixel shaders found in many recent NVIDIA and ATI video cards, so that grass looks like grass, vehicles shine in the sunlight, and alien buildings reflect like mirrors -- all adding to the excitement and sense of realism that make a great game.

There's a lot more technical information in the article, but there's something for everyone and it is a good read. So check out the full article at Apple's Developer's Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

We must say that we are both happy and excited about Halo for Mac, and we think that there is likely no other company who could have done a finer job at bringing Halo to the Mac than Westlake Interactive. Anyone who has played Halo will readily tell you that the game is one of the best titles anywhere.

What's also interesting is the breadth of tools that developers now have at their disposal. It makes you wonder why more companies aren't developing or porting more games on the Mac.

The fact is, however, that they are. This is a great time to be a Mac gamer. There are boatloads of high quality titles available for the Mac, with more coming almost daily, both ports and made-for-Mac games, all of which is likely due to the quality of the development tools available.

That said; we find it interesting, and a bit ironic, that the very game that was originally intended to be a Mac title had to be ported to run on a Mac, but then these are strange times we live in, and odd things happen. Odd or not, we are pleased as punch to see Halo on the Mac today, where it should be.

Westlake Puts Halo on the Mac: The Right Tools at the Right Time