While I'm slowly making some money with StarbaseSim now, it's not enough yet to justify spending the resources on a Mac version, which typically only accounts for 10% of all sales.
But the more money you help me with here, the sooner I can get on this!
Why 500 bucks?
In order to compile an Unreal project for MacOS you need a Mac yourself. So I will be looking into buying some cheap used one that hopefully is able to compile it. Probably something like a Mac Mini, but it needs 32 GB of RAM minimum. I had a quick look and it seems there are older Minis for around 500 bucks available.
Is it necessary to reach the target amount?
No, every little bit helps to make it easier for me to get the Mac. But if the goal is reached, I will immediately start working on the Mac version and release it as soon as it is done!
Are there any rewards?
No, there will be no sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, or promotions in exchange for donations.
But why was there a Mac version in the past?
That was when I still developed the project with the Unity Game Engine. There you could compile a project for all kind of platforms from Windows. This is not possible on Unreal Engine. There, from Windows you can only compile for Linux, not for Mac. I don't know why. You have to ask Tim Sweeney.
I have been developing the Unreal Engine project for two years now and it has been released on Epic Games Store and Steam. I won't go back to Unity or change to any other Engine for the foreseeable future. Go here to find out more about why I switched engines.
Thank you very much for the support!
Fun little extra: Let's say every one Euro contribution here equals one day less of wait until I can make the Mac version. So at the start of the campaign it was 500 days and currently it's at 383 days from start of this campaign which was on May 28th 2025.
So at this rate it would take until June 15th 2026 before I could start working on it.
