This is a big year for Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC). It’s the first time that Mac OS X has been a shipping operating system, and as you might expect, almost every session at this year’s conference is dedicated to discussing some aspect of how Mac OS X works. Games for Mac OS X are slowly starting to trickle forth as well, and Apple is hoping to stimulate that effort with several sessions aimed squarely at game developers.
Here’s a quick look at the game development sessions planned for WWDC this year:
Session 109, which happens on Tuesday at 2 pm, is called “Graphics for Games.” It’ll focus on the high performance graphics capabilities of Mac OS X, concentrating specifically on screen control APIs and how to integrate available technology.
Session 400 kicks off the day on Wednesday. That’s Apple’s QuickTime Overview session, where the company will examine its foundation multimedia technology. Attendees will get a retrospective of what’s been done with QuickTime this past year in Web publishing, interactive gaming and other venues, and will get a glimpse of what’s to come.
Game developers should also keep 10:30 on Thursday open. That’s the time for session 409. It’s entitled “OpenGL: Advanced Rendering.” Apple expects to give developers who attend this session a thorough understanding of OpenGL rendering techniques, vertex and texture programs and more.
Session 135, planned for 10:30 am on Friday, is called “Input for Games.” That session will cover implementation details of Mac OS X’s HID Manger and Carbon Events for Mac OS X. Issues like getting mouse deltas and finding devices are expected to be covered. This particular issue has been getting some play on developer mailing lists recently, so it’s bound to be a lively and informative session.
Friday afternoon at 2 pm is when session 136 happens. It’s called “Sound and Networking for Games.” It’s pretty self explanatory. The details of how to incorporate sound technologies and networking into your games will be covered.
At 5 pm on Friday, session FF120 should also be interesting. That session is the Feedback Forum on Games Technologies, where developer attendees get a chance to give Apple an earful about what they think of the technology they’re supporting.
There’s more, too — a lot more. The WWDC takes place from May 21-25, 2001 in San Jose, Calif. For more details, a schedule of sessions, or to register, visit Apple’s Web site.