Does anyone have a list of all the differences between the two versions? it's just interesting to compare both games and players.

Well, only the vanilla version of the game (v1.29) is released for the Mac. Both of the expansion packs are only available for Windows and probably will never be released for the Mac...

i think the game is the same except no expansion pack

So everything is the same? because i saw some wierd screenshots of Civ3, like the interface was slightly different and just minor changes.

Citizen001, you might want to post this in the Mac forum too. I am a Mac user and so far it seems the expansions are the only difference. However, at looking at some of the screen shots from the PC game they do look different. Maybe AlanH knows...

Hi. Welcome to the MacMadhouse.

I'm not aware of any significant UI differences between the games. On a Mac you sometimes use Command instead of Control as a modifier key, the way the program takes over the screen is more obtrusive, and I suspect the odd shortcut may not have been implemented. But I've never seen any screenshots, other than expansion pack ones, that looked any different from mine. If you post a link to a screenshot that you think is different, I can be more helpful. Is it due to a graphics mod pack, maybe?

I'm not really sure, i think i saw it in the Tech Support forum. i'll try to find it again.

I too have noticed all of those that AlanH said...


The mac version has some kind of a font difference too... it's smoother.

And then the only one that really was different from Windoze: all of the domestic advisor texts are some kind of purple-ish instead of the black they are in windows..
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/red_domestic_texts.jpg

Oh, and that cool image can be downloaded from Graphics modpacks, it's not standard in Mac Civ either. ;)

And then the only one that really was different from Windoze: all of the domestic advisor texts are some kind of purple-ish instead of the black they are in windows...
No, actually, generally they aren't. Normally they're black in both versions.

Now that's weird. Because mine have been this color since I got Civ 3 for mac... :hmm:

But on windows they've always been black...

I think the change to purple happened when I unchecked "Don't use Quartz text" in the launch dialog box.

What's quartz text?

I can't remember what I checked on the launch dialog... I just set the settings to what I think looked the best... and then turned the launch screen not to show on startup except if requested... :hmm:

Quartz is the display rendering technology at the heart of the OS X GUI. It's a key reason why OS X looks so much smoother than OS9, which uses Quickdraw for putting everything in the screen.

Here are two F1 screenies - the first is with Quartz disabled, the second is with it on. The most obvious effect of switching it on is the purple/pink text in the adviser screens, but it also makes black text in menus and dialogs more solid.

And, yes, I know Salamanca is about to riot. I've just started this turn and war weariness is setting in :D

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/NoQuartz.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Quartz.jpg

Ahhh... thanks.

I don't mind the purple text, I got used to it quickly and it's easily readable, so it doesn't really matter... I was just wondering why it was there.

BTW, Paris will riot too. ;)

And I will propably keep quartz on then... the other menus look so nice with it. :)

And the advisor screen texts look bolder too > easier to read...

I too have noticed all of those that AlanH said...


The mac version has some kind of a font difference too... it's smoother.

And then the only one that really was different from Windoze: all of the domestic advisor texts are some kind of purple-ish instead of the black they are in windows..
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/red_domestic_texts.jpg

Oh, and that cool image can be downloaded from Graphics modpacks, it's not standard in Mac Civ either. ;)That's a great city name. ;) :p :D

Quartz huh? is that font smoothing?

Quartz huh? is that font smoothing?
Font smooting is just a part of it. It's the whole of the Mac OS X screen display drawing technology, providing things like transparency, image scaling, window management ... It uses the pdf format to define screen display layouts, and provides the whizzy effects involved in expose and the 'genie' animations for hiding and showing windows.

More here (http://developer.apple.com/graphicsimaging/quartz/) if you're interested.

I don't mind the purple text, I got used to it quickly and it's easily readable, so it doesn't really matter... I was just wondering why it was there.

It's there because behind the scenes, Civ3 draws text onto a "transparent" buffer that contains a dark pink color (Civ3's transparent color). The font smoothing in the OS, being ignorant of Civ3's transparency scheme, anti-aliases text against this background, and it bleeds through when it's drawn to the actual window.

TMI, Brad!! (I actually understood *some* of that)
:lol: :eek: