Technical requirements
This chapter will show how to build 3D applications that run on different platforms and how the FireMonkey framework gets you there. The examples will be able to be run on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. As always, a Windows computer running Delphi 10.4 will be the minimum requirement—it is up to you to decide which other platforms to use for personal education and testing.
In addition to standard Delphi requirements, the 3D components discussed in this chapter utilize the following advanced capabilities of the GPU engines expected to be available:
- DirectX on Windows
- OpenGL or Metal on Mac OS X
- OpenGL for Embedded Systems (OpenGL ES) on iOS and Android
Note
While OpenGL is still the default API used by FireMonkey on the Mac at the time of writing, support for the Metal engine was added in Delphi 10.4 Sydney and may someday be the default. Follow the Boost Mac performance with Metal and Delphi 10.4 link in the Further reading section...
