5 ms·

I love Zachtronics games, but they have really ridiculous performance requirements. My MacBook Pro heats up like crazy playing them.

poisonarena 8y ago
Same, I think it is because it was built in Unity
- no7hing 8y ago
  Judging from the installed game files it seems to based on SDL2 and not Unity3D.
  - phyllostachys 8y ago
    I asked Zach about it once (in email), he said: > We do all of our development in C# using a custom low-level “game engine”. At some point we need to do a writeup about it, it’s kind of interesting tech. But I think they have at least one Unity game... or so I thought.
    - no7hing 8y ago
      Would also love to read a detailed writeup about their custom engine. Also found this quote[1] from an AmA on reddit: > We've used C# since SpaceChem. I can't imagine using anything else, honestly. Infinifactory and TIS-100 use Unity, while everything else uses some kind of lightweight SDL-backed C# engine. > SHENZHEN I/O and Opus Magnum are both using a very minimalist C# "engine" inspired by some of Casey Muratori's ideas on game engines and game programming. It uses DirectX or OpenGL for graphics, and SDL for everything else. It's basically just one giant Update() loop, and is the greatest game engine I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Despite this, I would not advise novice game programmers to do the same. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/78wv2h/im_zach_barth_the_creative_director_of_the_game/doxgfx5/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/78wv2h/im_zach_barth_...
forty 8y ago
I never noticed (I play on Linux). Maybe it's an issue on Mac only? Spacechem works great on my crapy and old android tablet, so it must not be that bad.
Kurtz79 8y ago
My Macbook Pro heats up like crazy even for Hearthstone and Civ5, I think it's an issue with the laptop's design rather than the games themselves...
falcolas 8y ago
Game loops seldom sleep... Probably doesn't help that there are all kinds of minor idle animations in the games, even when there's nothing else really going on.

poisonarena 8y ago

Same, I think it is because it was built in Unity

no7hing 8y ago
Judging from the installed game files it seems to based on SDL2 and not Unity3D.
- phyllostachys 8y ago
  I asked Zach about it once (in email), he said: > We do all of our development in C# using a custom low-level “game engine”. At some point we need to do a writeup about it, it’s kind of interesting tech. But I think they have at least one Unity game... or so I thought.
  - no7hing 8y ago
    Would also love to read a detailed writeup about their custom engine. Also found this quote[1] from an AmA on reddit: > We've used C# since SpaceChem. I can't imagine using anything else, honestly. Infinifactory and TIS-100 use Unity, while everything else uses some kind of lightweight SDL-backed C# engine. > SHENZHEN I/O and Opus Magnum are both using a very minimalist C# "engine" inspired by some of Casey Muratori's ideas on game engines and game programming. It uses DirectX or OpenGL for graphics, and SDL for everything else. It's basically just one giant Update() loop, and is the greatest game engine I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Despite this, I would not advise novice game programmers to do the same. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/78wv2h/im_zach_barth_the_creative_director_of_the_game/doxgfx5/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/78wv2h/im_zach_barth_...

forty 8y ago

I never noticed (I play on Linux). Maybe it's an issue on Mac only? Spacechem works great on my crapy and old android tablet, so it must not be that bad.

Kurtz79 8y ago

My Macbook Pro heats up like crazy even for Hearthstone and Civ5, I think it's an issue with the laptop's design rather than the games themselves...

falcolas 8y ago

Game loops seldom sleep... Probably doesn't help that there are all kinds of minor idle animations in the games, even when there's nothing else really going on.