News: neXt - CGM RC Flight Simulator » neXt on Apple Silicon Macs

Tue Dec 08, 2020 10:13 pm

Britzel
#1

Just for info:

The current version of neXt (1.674) appears to run fine on the new Apple Silicon based MacBook Pro, despite running in Intel-emulation mode using Rosetta.
By 'running fine', I mean a fluid 60 FPS in the MacBook Pro's native full-screen resolution (2560x1600 pixels) at the 'Fantastic' quality graphics settings!
For most sceneries, you can crank all of neXt's graphics settings up to the max - shadows, nitro-smoke, dust, etc. - without adversely affecting the frame rate.

Having upgraded from a late-2012 i7-Mac mini with its integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, I must say this is refreshing ;-)
Note that ye olde Mac mini was no slouch either: It was able to run neXt in full-HD resolution (1920x1080) at 60 FPS. But in order to maintain a jitter-free frame-rate you had to disable shadows and use at most anti-aliasing @ 2x multisampling.

Still, I eagerly await a native Apple Silicon version of neXt, as the Rosetta Intel-emulation layer won't be available forever.

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#2

Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:18 am

Klaus-Eiperle
#2

Klaus-Eiperle

Yes, Apple did a fantastic job with their own CPU/GPU. I am impressed too. To be native I need to upgrade to newer Unity3D libraries. This is not trivial as I will lose all of my shader programs. I developed the graphic shaders by myself to make this simulator as fast as it is. Of course, I'll upgrade to the new libraries in a few months, but not now.

Align T-Rex 700X, MR25, Katana S 33%

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#3

Sun Jan 12, 2025 3:25 pm

Jensano
#3

Je

Jensano

My next Version doesn't work in my old Mac mini (no Upgrade anymore) for a few months now. I upgraded my Mac mini to a brand new "Mac mini Pro M4" and found that my bought AppStore Version of the next seems very old. Last Update was for three years with V 1.728.
And the next point is that it needs the Rosetta installation on the Mac mini.

What about a newer version in the Appstore?
What about an Update which makes the Rosetta not necessary on the Mac and works as a native Mac M App?

Thanks for some answers.
Jens

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