Since Mac OS X’s worldwide release in late March, there’s been a missing component for game developers: HID Manager. The new OS X technology provides Mac OS X developers with a way of supporting input devices like game controllers.
HID Manager essentially replaces InputSprocket, the game controller software API used by Apple’s Game Sprockets technology that only works with older versions of Mac OS. Game controller support is a key feature for game developers, and documentation and example code for HID Manager has been sorely lacking. OS X adopters have noticed the deficiency, as well — many gamers have complained about the lack of controller support in OS X-compatible games.
Apple 3D graphics and games engineer Geoff Stahl recently helped remedy that situation by offering info on Apple’s Mac-Games-Dev mailing list. To help developers get started with support for HID Manager, Stahl is offering some sample code. Stahl also points to some recently posted documentation on Apple’s Developer Web site to help game developers get a leg up on HID Manager support.
If you’re a game developer and you’re planning on incorporating HID Manager support into your Mac OS X-compatible titles, you can now visit Apple’s Mac OS X Kernel Developer Documentation. Under the API Information section, you’ll find HTML and PDF links to a section of documentation called HID Device Interfaces. If you’re not a developer but you’re interested in how this technology works, the information presented is clear enough to provide some lay understanding as well.