Penguins in Space

With the release of the new Mac and Linux clients today we thought it best to put together a list of common questions and answers. Some of the answers will be links to Knowledge Base articles that have the correct information, others will be direct answers. Ready? So here we go.

Q. Is this a native client?
Yes and No. Both Mac and Linux versions use the same underlying portability technology from TransGaming to give direct access to both the native graphics and cpu features of the host platform when running on non-Windows operating systems. In addition, ALL of the game logic is in the Python code which is common across all platforms. So the actual logic is being run exactly the same on Mac and Linux as it would be on Windows. This provides you with a seamless in-game experience regardless of your platform of choice.

Q. Is there a performance decrease?
A. Some. Our goal for the project was no more than a 15% decrease in performance on the new platforms. That being said there are configurations that are seeing no performance decrease and a couple of instances that have better performance.

Q. Can I run in windowed mode?
Yes. On the Macintosh, you can toggle between Full screen and Windowed modes by pressing Command-Enter. On Linux, run the EVE Online Configuration utility, Click on "Configure Options". In the General tab, deselect DX Grab and either select your Window resolution from the Run in Window dropdown, or type one in for wide screen resolutions.

Q. How do I install the new client on Mac or Linux?
A. Instructions can be found in our knowledge base.
Linux : //support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=387
Mac: //support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=388

Mac installer
//ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/mac/EVE_Setup_41736-mac.dmg
Linux installers
//ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/eve-000062-1.i386.rpm
//ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/eve-000062.tgz
//ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/eve_000062_all.deb

linux platform specific rpm installers
mandriva - //ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/eve-mandriva-000062-1.i386.rpm
suse - //ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/eve-suse-000062-1.i386.rpm

Linux dat file containing the eve client
//ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/EveOnline-linux-000893_41736.dat
//ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/linux/EveOnline-linux-000893_41736.dat.md5

Q. Can I run multiple clients?
A. Yes. Here are the links to the relevant Knowledge Base articles that tell you how to do it.
Linux : //support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=398
Mac : //support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=380

Q. Will EVE: Trinity be supported on the Mac and Linux platforms?
A. The Mac and Linux clients will not initially support the upgraded content but will support the Classic client. TransGaming are already working on the new features needed in the underpinning technology (the Shader Model 3 stuff) to be able to support the EVE Premium client and are targeting having support in place early next year but this is still in the early stages. We will keep you informed where this is at and what our expected delivery is for this support.

Q. Does EVE Voice work on Linux and Mac
A. At this point we do not officially support EVE Voice on the Linux and Mac clients. We are still testing different configurations but expect to have this fully supported in EVE: Trinity. This is not to say that it does not work. It works on a number of distributions but we can not promise it will work on every configuration.

Q. Will EVE: Trinity break on Linux using Wine?
A. Maybe. We have implemented a number of new functions and code that is needed by both the EVE: Trinity Classic and the EVE: Trintity Premium client. Most notable is Asynchronous IO and IO Completion. This is not currently supported by Wine, so EVE: Trinity will not run on Wine at the initial release. Transgaming is adding this functionality as we speak and will have the functionality in place from launch of EVE: Trinity.

Q. Does this client cost more/do I have to pay for Cedega?
A. No. We do not charge for our software. We have made a deal with TransGaming and there is no charge for our players to use the underlying TransGaming technology. You just have to have an EVE Account, no other payments are needed. You will not be able to use this version of Cedega/Cider to play other games as it has been integrated with our client.

Q. What are the system requirements for the Linux and Mac clients?
A. All the requirements for our software can be found here : //support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=124 but I have included the Linux and Mac requirements below for you.

Cedega/Linux:

Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Ubuntu 7+, Suse 10+, Linspire 6
CPU: CPU speed equal or greater than 1,8GHz Centrino
RAM: 1024 MB
HD space: 6.0 GB
Video: NVidia 6600, ATI is not supported.

Recommended system configuration for running EVE-Online:
OS: Ubuntu 7+, Suse 10+, Linspire 6
CPU: 2GHZ
RAM: 2GB
HD space: 6.0 GB
Video: NVidia 7600 or later, ATI is not supported.

Cider/Mac:

Minimal system requirements
OS: OS X 10.4.9 or later.
CPU: Intel based computer with CPU speed equal or greater than 1.8GHz , the client does not run on a PPC.
Video: ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300
RAM: 1024 MB or more
HD space: 6 GB

Recommended system configuration for running EVE-Online:
OS: OS X 10.4.9 or later
CPU: Intel based CPU 2GHz or better, the client does not run on a PPC.
Video: ATI X1900 or NVidia 7600
RAM: 2 GB
HD space: 6 GB or more