Intel (only) inside

EVE was created for the Macintosh by TransGaming, which used its Cider translation layer technology. That means that EVE Online only works on Intel-based Macs. And while I’ve read reports that MacBook users have gotten the game to run, MacBooks don’t meet the minimum system requirements because of their Intel integrated graphics, so the only recommended systems are Macs like the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro.

Since November, TransGaming and CCP have rolled out a few updates for the Mac client of EVE. What’s more, CCP has rolled out one of the most major changes to EVE in its history—the release of a new expansion pack called Trinity. In another differentiation from World of Warcraft, CCP doesn’t sell expansion packs separately from the core game: they’re included as part of the download that you make when you first buy or try out EVE as a trial account. So there’s no extra charge for this.

What made Trinity such a major event for the EVE-playing world wasn’t the new content that’s been exposed in the game as much as a brand new graphics engine that enables Windows users with DirectX 9.0c-capable video hardware of seeing gorgeous new spaceship and space station models.

Unfortunately, that new graphics package hadn’t made it to the Mac yet, as this review was written; CCP and TransGaming promised it for Mac users sometime in the first calendar quarter of 2008. So for now, anyway, Mac users are relegated to running EVE “Classic.” Which really doesn’t look bad at all, if you like the cinematic scope of games like Homeworld II, for example.

The Mac version of EVE Online has, frankly, had a bumpy release. EVE veterans who switched to the Mac client immediately noticed that it runs considerably slower than its PC counterpart, for example. TransGaming’s expectation that EVE Mac ran 85 percent of the speed of the native Windows version may hold true for scenes where you’re just flying around, but when you get into serious combat, you can drop into single frame rates.