Are you using the Complete version from Aspyr or the old original version from MacSoft? In the MacSoft version, it's Option, not Command. But assuming you are using Complete...

Try pressing (and holding) Command, then double-clicking. Continue holding, and the dialog will come up.

If that doesn't work, try using the actual application instead of the alias (shouldn't make any difference, but try anyway).

If that doesn't work, there's something wrong with your keyboard or keyboard settings.

In the old MacSoft version you can get the display options dialog up. But note that windowed mode is not available in that version.

If I needed to get the dialog up for the first time I would have to hold both Option and Command down. This is because I click a dock icon to open Civ3, not a Finder icon.

If I needed to get the dialog up for the first time I would have to hold both Option and Command down. This is because I click a dock icon to open Civ3, not a Finder icon.
Actually you wouldn't. Click, then press Command works fine.

Never know when to hold it down though. Being a ten-thumbs kind of guy I prefer the certainty of hitting modifier keys first then hitting the mouse button :)

*shrug* Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

ok, posted this in my thread, but will post here too, can i get a step by step method to make a civ3.dmg so i don't need the disk, that works with osx 10.4?

thanks for any help

Please don't cross-post. I've answered this in the other thread.

Hi - I'm new to this forum though I've been playing Civ III Mac for 2 years.
I just got Civ III Complete for Mac and have questions about Multiplayer.
There is a 'Multiplayer' forum here but it seems to be Windows only?

Is this the right place to ask? If not, where?
I got Multiplayer to work over my friends home network (Airport wireless).
But we couldn't figure out how to save a game that we could resume as Multiplayer. Trying 'save' on each Mac just saved a version that opened up as a single location 'turn based' game. So my friend and I haven't even TRIED over the Internet yet....

We play Monarch with a Huge Map. There's no WAY you can do that in one long session.

Help
'lox

Hello, welcome :wavey:

There's no multiplayer forum here because I think there are very few Mac players who can (a) find someone else to play, (b) get it to work and (c) want to play multiplayer.

I'll be as interested as you to see if anyone comes up with an answer to your question.

Well I'M interested - and my pal is interested. As I said, we got multiplyer to WORK on his LAN! That was fun! Hey everyone its FUN!
This is a popular Mac game. I see it in Mac stores. People must be buying 'Complete' - I can't believe they'd bother if not for multiplayer. The other new features (new Nations, etc) are OK but really not that big a deal. Multiplayer is the main reason for getting this thing, I feel.

Maybe if a 'Civ III Complete (Mac)' forum was started, and clearly labeled and visible, more people would get interested!
So far I find navigating this site a little frustrating as it is.

Is it so hard to add a forum? You can always yank it if its not used. Give it a try, oh webmaster!
'lox

I visit GameRanger regularly to check if there's any activity on Mac Civ Internet games. You don't want to know how many games in progress I've found since Civ3 Complete or Civ4 were released! :eek:

Let's see if you get any more support for your contention that there's interest?

Well, I have a crash problem...

I've searched almost the entire forum, and certainly read all the posts in the Mac Tech Support. ;)

Unfortunatly, I couldn't find any help. I use the 1.21g version of the game. I tried installing the 1.29 version in a different folder (different hard drive even), but so far it keeps crashing (I replaced the files, which were edited by me (graphics, descriptions etc.), when I load the saved game from a scenario...

Now, here's the problem, which happened in a similar way in three different games: The game runs perfectly way into modern age. Then, at some point during my turn when I built a city improvement, the city governor asks what to build next. If I click on "go to city screen", everything goes fine, until I want to close said screen again: The game crashes. If I don't go to the city screen, it crashes right after I press "ok" on the governor pop-up.
When reloading, it's always the same city where the program quits (but it doesn't matter what the city produces). If I don't let it produce anything in this turn, the game will crash at the city before or right after that.
As I've said, this has happened in three different games now.

I've attached the complete crash log. It'd be great if someone could help. :)

If you can upload a file here that demonstrates this effect I'll see if it's reproducable here. Would I need to install your modified files? If it behaves the same here I'll see if I can find a file corruption that causes it. If it works here then it has to be a problem with your installation.

Hi AlanH,

thanks for answering so fast (again).
To be honest, giving you all the files to reproduce the problem is something I don't want to burden you with... It's a scenario with edited rules (units mostly (quite a few new ones), some resource values, but no city improvements or the like). I have the German version of the game, so you would have to correct all the .ini files and the Pediaicons etc. Trust me, it would be a pain in the butt. I appreciate your offer, but I couldn't possibly accept that. :)

The problem seems strange to me since it has nothing to do with anything I edited. All units I created work perfectly. I didn't edit any city improvements. For example, the first time this happened it was an offshore platform I wanted to build... the second time an aquaeduct in a newly founded city, so nothing special about that. The thing is that after this crash has occured once, it doesn't matter to what I change the production after reloading; the game will crash. If I set all cities to produce "wealth", practically at the same point, the game crashes during the turn, before I can do anything.

I don't have "too many" cities or anything. I'd be surprised if anything like "too many units, shields, citizens" etc. ever caused a crash (especially looking at one of my opponents having 418 catapults alone e.g. ;) ).

If there's something wrong with my installation, what would you suggest? I mean... what's there to do wrong installing something on a Mac? ;) I double-cklick the installer, and...

If there's something wrong with my installation, what would you suggest? I mean... what's there to do wrong installing something on a Mac? ;) I double-cklick the installer, and...
1. How can you be so sure that there's nothing wrong with your mods?

2. You are using v1.21. There were several fixes between that version and 1.29. Could it be related to that?

Since the whole world doesn't have this problem there has to be *something* special about your combination of circumstances.

1. How can you be so sure that there's nothing wrong with your mods?

I'm relatively certain, because when the game crashes, all the modifications I made to the game have been in effect for many, many turns, i.e. I built and used every single one of my new units for at least a few decades. The only other thing I changed in the rules were a few values for some resources (more food points for wine e.g.). Since they also have been in the game since round one, I can't see why after so many turns, they should suddenly cause problems.

2. You are using v1.21. There were several fixes between that version and 1.29. Could it be related to that?

Well, I'm using 1.21g, so I can also use Civ3Edit. 1.29 isn't really the nicest update: It starts with certain resolutions not being available anymore, and annoying spelling errors, and ends with crashing while still loading. I'll try that again, though. (I suppose scenarios made with 1.21g are compatible, generally?)

Since the whole world doesn't have this problem there has to be *something* special about your combination of circumstances.

Obviously. :) I'm simply out of ideas where to look for the problem, that's why I'm asking. Sorry, if it came across in a wrong tone.

I'm relatively certain, because when the game crashes, all the modifications I made to the game have been in effect for many, many turns, i.e. I built and used every single one of my new units for at least a few decades. The only other thing I changed in the rules were a few values for some resources (more food points for wine e.g.). Since they also have been in the game since round one, I can't see why after so many turns, they should suddenly cause problems.
Sounds reasonable, but it's a complex game. What if there's a (faulty) unit upgrade path that suddenly becomes available and confuses the game? Some combination of prerequisites for a building that's incorrectly specified and triggers late in the game?

Well, I'm using 1.21g, so I can also use Civ3Edit.
You only need to use 1.21g while you are using the editor. Once you have the scenario file you can run it in 1.29b2.

1.29 isn't really the nicest update: It starts with certain resolutions not being available anymore, and annoying spelling errors, and ends with crashing while still loading. I'll try that again, though. (I suppose scenarios made with 1.21g are compatible, generally?)
I think that's a strong clue that there may be something wrong with the mod. It should be able to load and run it OK.

Obviously. :) I'm simply out of ideas where to look for the problem, that's why I'm asking. Sorry, if it came across in a wrong tone.Your tone was fine. Sorry for mine ;) I was just trying to get back to a base line for debate about possible causes.

Hi Alan!

Sorry for the late reply, when spending most of the free time reading through the forum, working with or playing the game misses out sometimes. ;) And only after that, a further entry made sense...

First off, I have given up on 1.29b, as the patch is only available in English, and unfortunatly I have the German version of the game. Installing the patch messes everything up from Pediaicons to Civilopedia... The unit folders and .ini files have different names, of course, hence the trouble.

Sounds reasonable, but it's a complex game. What if there's a (faulty) unit upgrade path that suddenly becomes available and confuses the game? Some combination of prerequisites for a building that's incorrectly specified and triggers late in the game?

I have checked and re-checked every change I made to any unit (original and new). All the units I created have no upgrade capability, and besides that, there is no new tech being discovered in the turn when the game crashes, anyway. And as I said: I don't have produce anything (besides wealth in that case) in order to blow the program, after the error has occured once.


You only need to use 1.21g while you are using the editor. Once you have the scenario file you can run it in 1.29b2.

[...]

I think that's a strong clue that there may be something wrong with the mod. It should be able to load and run it OK.

Well, that has all been due to the language problem of the game and the patch. For example: If the program is looking for "warrior", it won't find it, as it's "Krieger" in German. I've tried to change the names, but it's simply a Sisyphean task: there's always another name, directory or whatever... I don't have the nerve for that now, besides that it'd be quite bothersome, aesthetically, to have a German-Englisch mishmash allover... (I actually didn't want to buy the German-only version, I simply didn't pay enough attention when I purchased it.)

Well.. now I will finally recieve my new copy of Civilization III Complete (after paying horrendeous € for tax and shipping :rolleyes:), and I hope that it'll work with that. =)
My Mac isn't fast enough to run C3C on Virtual PC-Windows properly (you should see Civ4 running on my Powerbook! :lol:), but I'd try the PC-C3C-Editor. Is that one downloadable somewhere?

P.S.: The reason for all this is that - after seeing and playing Civ4 (also on faster PCs somewhere else) - Civ3 still seems much more elegant and thus more fun to me. =)

First off, I have given up on 1.29b, as the patch is only available in English, and unfortunatly I have the German version of the game. Installing the patch messes everything up from Pediaicons to Civilopedia... The unit folders and .ini files have different names, of course, hence the trouble.

Yes, I forgot the language issue. As you say, it's a big task to convert 1.29b2 to work with a German file set, but I seem to recall there was someone who tried it. Have you looked for a mod on the German Civ sites?

It'll be interesting to see whether Civ3 Complete runs your mod any better.

you should see Civ4 running on my Powerbook
I've seen it running on my 1GHz G4 tower. I'm sure yours is no worse. :eek:

Civ3 still seems much more elegant and thus more fun to me.So far, I can agree with you. But when my Mac Pro arrives next week I may start to change my view.

Yes, I forgot the language issue. As you say, it's a big task to convert 1.29b2 to work with a German file set, but I seem to recall there was someone who tried it. Have you looked for a mod on the German Civ sites?

Yes I did, and there is none, unfortunatly.


It'll be interesting to see whether Civ3 Complete runs your mod any better.


I have not much hope though, as C3Complete will be an English version again, so it's destined to give me a hard time combined with a mod created with a German version. :lol:
Anyway, that's why I was asking for the (PC) Editor vor C3C... where can I get it? I plan to redo my mod(s) with it.

I've seen it running on my 1GHz G4 tower. I'm sure yours is no worse. :eek:

So far, I can agree with you. But when my Mac Pro arrives next week I may start to change my view.

Lucky you... ;)

I don't think you can get the C3C editor as a free download, but I haven't really tried. I bought a cheap copy of Civ3 Deluxe edition for Windows (like Complete, but subtly different) a while back when I needed to see what the file structures on the PC look like, and that included it. I paid under $20 for it from Amazon.

I don't think you can get the C3C editor as a free download, but I haven't really tried. I bought a cheap copy of Civ3 Deluxe edition for Windows (like Complete, but subtly different) a while back when I needed to see what the file structures on the PC look like, and that included it. I paid under $20 for it from Amazon.

Now that would suck... I already paid more than 80USD (!!) for Civ3Complete (shipping/customs), so it's getting a "little" expensive. You see, how much I must like this game. ;) But everything has limits and I'd be totally downcast... Maybe I could write to Firaxis that they send me the file, after they see that I have a registered copy (although that's from Aspyr, actually..)?

As you say, you are not a direct Firaxis customer, but it's worth asking.

I doubt if the PC editor would run without the game files. At the very least it requires the standard conquests.biq file as a starting point, but probably a lot of the other data files as well. Maybe you could create a suitable environment for it by copying the Aspyr installed files across to the PC partition and renaming folders to make it look like a PC installation. If you need to know what the PC folder structure looks like, let me know.

As you say, you are not a direct Firaxis customer, but it's worth asking.

I doubt if the PC editor would run without the game files. At the very least it requires the standard conquests.biq file as a starting point, but probably a lot of the other data files as well. Maybe you could create a suitable environment for it by copying the Aspyr installed files across to the PC partition and renaming folders to make it look like a PC installation. If you need to know what the PC folder structure looks like, let me know.

We'll see once everything is here and working to some extent. ;)
Thanks for the help so far! =)

I didn't know where else to put this and also didn't want to start a new thread. Here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=4464420) on the c&c board some people were talking about a mac editor for C3C, which seemed strange to me...

well actually, some mac user did find the editor, i think.


Yes they did if I remember correctly it doesnt install but is on the disc.


Maybe I just didn't get the joke or something... ;)

Maybe I just didn't get the joke or something... ;)Non-Mac users vaguely remembering overhearing something they weren't paying attention to at the time. Read AlanH's comment at the end of that thread.

Non-Mac users vaguely remembering overhearing something they weren't paying attention to at the time. Read AlanH's comment at the end of that thread.

Yes, I did. His reply was probably a reaction to mine, as I posted a while before him. ;)

Thanks anyway. =)

Yes, it was. I saw yours before leaving the house, and dashed off a response in the original thread to try to kill off any misplaced hopes. I didn't have time to post here as well before going.

Hi! I've just bought the Civ3 game yesterday, because I remember how fun it was when I first played. Unfortunately, before I got a chance to play it, I moved! Now I'm in a house with a Mac, but I have a PC game. And I realllly want to play it. So I asked around and someone said that if we get a Windows Parallel I could still play the game, is that possible?

Please help, Civilization is the best game ever!

SS

Hi, welcome :wavey:

I tried installing the Windows version in Parallels, but it won't run. A problem with the CD protection I think. I also tried it in Crossover, the WINE/Cedega port for OS X but it wouldn't even install. Your best bet if you don't want to buy the Mac version is to downlaod Bootcamp and install Windows XP SP2 in that. I believe that works OK because then you are running a "real" PC.

I just got my new MacBook Pro 17" today; I transferred over my copy of Civ III Complete, and I'm having some peculiar issues. I'd appreciate any help.

Though I have all the sound turned up (the computer makes all the right noises), no sounds play on the game: not the "2K" logo, not the music, not the sound effects.

I'm also seeing persistent "hiccups" in certain game actions, especially the dialogue screens. When I hit the main menu icon, for instance, as many as five seconds will elapse before the dialogue screen comes up. This kind of delay also appears in the city view when clicking on the production box, and in many other spots.

I've not had these problems with the pre-patch C3C on my desktop machine. I'm at a loss to understand why this laptop, which otherwise is quite a bit faster than my desktop and has more processing power, should have these quirks.

EDIT: Vanilla Civ3 (patched to 1.29b2) also is showing these problems.

I can't think why your installation would be slow. Maybe there's some file permission issue? The only thing I can suggest is to install it cleanly from the DVD, rather than using a copy transferred from your old Mac.

I did clean install, and it didn't make a difference.

What file permission issues might there be?

No idea :p You didn't get any intelligent suggestions, your post indicated that you'd done a drag transfer to the new machine, so I'm clutching at straws.

If you've done a clean installation then there should be no permission problems. It all runs fine on my Mac Pro.

Still clutching ...The patch is a Universal Binary. Are you sure you've applied it? Without it the Aspyr software is running in Rosetta emulation, as is vanilla, so maybe affecting performance? And before the patch there were problems with sound.

I really do appreciate your help, AlanH. I know I'm not giving anyone much to go on, but I truly am grateful for all suggestions. :)

I just now did another totally clean install from the DVD, and I applied the RevA patch. No changes in performance: Weird delays, and no sound at all. I've tried running it with the original disc in, and with the original disc out, and that doesn't make a difference either. I've also tried changing resolutions without seeing any change in performance.

I'm totally baffled, because this is the only piece of software that is running at less than blazing speed on the new laptop.

Well, unless someone has a Brilliant Idea, I guess I'll have to just suck it up and deal with it. Which hurts, because it's a sweet machine and my favorite game. :cry:

EDIT: Could the Color choice in the System Preferences make a difference? This machine is defaulted to Color LCD. I switched to ColorMatch RGB and the speed seemed to improve. But Color wouldn't be making the sounds and music disappear.

I doubt very much if the color setting has any effect whatsoever.

Can we verify that your build really is the patched version? Maybe the patch is not being applied. If you Get Info on the Civilization 3 Complete.app file you should see Version: 1.27 Rev. A (v10667), and Kind: Application (Universal). And it should NOT be set to "Open in Rosetta".

Do you run it in window mode? In window mode you may be able to run Activity Monitor, with the process list sorted by decreasing CPU utilisation, and see what's jumping to the top during the five second pauses.

Double-checked: It is version 1.22Rev A (v10667). Kind: Application (Universal). The box for Open using Rosetta is NOT checked.

Smack me upside the head, I didn't know there was a window mode. How do you get it to run like that?

Hold the Command key down as you launch to get a settings dialog for screen resolution and display arangement, plus a couple of other options. Works with Civ3 Complete or PtW.

I am new to this group and like to play C3C on my iMac. Are the downloads compatible with Mac or only PC versions?

Welcome!

It's my understanding that the GotM d'ls are Mac C3C compatible. If you're looking at other mods as well, check out this thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=183018). The solutions offered are pre-patch, but I think the general guidelines are still useful.

Thank you for the reply. I will give that a try.

I'm running Civ3 on a lombard laptop in Mac OS 9.2.2

v. 1.21g

Somewhere after 500 or so AD (maybe as late as 1996AD) the game will suddenly crash/hang. That's not really news...
(I had not played civ for awhile, but having houseguests during the recent flooding, Civ got dusted off for entertainment till waters receded and folks could go home).

Unfortunately, Civ not only crashes, but there will be NO autosaved games for hundreds of years (last game was at about 1875AD and the last auto-save was for 960AD). Worse, I do manual saves incrementally (and always before I quit for awhile) and THOSE don't exist on my drive/partitions anywhere either! (they will show up in the dlog boxes during the save, but be GONE after crash or quit-- and it usually crashes on quit, as well)

I have yet to complete a game with v.1.21g (I had previously been using 1.17g... and saw the updaters online).

Two other people I know of are playing Civ, one on OS 9.1 and one on 10.2.x and neither of them are having problems with it not writing save files at all. I tried using Norton Unerase and it found *nothing*. Not a single manual file I know I saved, no autosaves past a particular date.

I have reinstalled civ from the cd twice now, and ran the updater fresh. Trashed the prefs and all that.

While the evidence is flimsy I suspect the prefs (at least) are being trashed? (since, in escaping to start new games... the new game settings revert to "defaults" like "chieftain", rather than the last settings used (or is this a "feature" in 1.21 over 1.17?) I do know that at some point the audio prefs will revert and not stay put any longer, despite resetting them repeatedly.
Will trashing the prefs allow me to continue? I can deal with crashing and/or missing a few turns, but 500 or 1000 years late in a game is a bit much to lose. Other than the "hint" with the audio... there's no way to know things are going to go awry-- or exactly when. And even if I do choose to quit and check... the last visible save file was hundreds of years ago. Every single time.

I tried restarting with pared down inits, in case there was a conflict there, but... any obvious culprits (about half the system) didn't help. Maybe I'm missing something for the system...

Still, I don't get the missing saves... especially when I could SEE them in the dialog boxes while playing/saving. (This happened both using the civ dlogs and macOS dlogs). I've _never_ seen this behavior with any app in the 17 years I've had a mac.
___________________________________

I see where there's a 1.29b2 updater, (I snagged it) but that's a .dmg file, which I can't open on this system. I can have it opened up on an OSX machine for me, to get to the installer I presume, will that update work for OS9?

Will that solve my problems?
Should I try reinstalling and go back to 1.17g? It was crashy too, but... I don't think it lost any saved games. I don't remember losing any more than a turn or so, depending on when it crashed.

I know, it's old and antique equipment I've got here, but there's no help for it right now.

Civ is still a wonderfully engrossing game, and it's not like anyone is out there making NEW games for this old rig :) I'd like to complete *one* game before I put it back on the shelf and go back to real life awhile :) Til winter anyway LOL

Hello, welcome :wavey:

1. I'm pretty sure that version 1.29b2 would be more stable than 1.21. You can get an updater for OS 9 here (http://www.ahart.demon.co.uk/files/Civ3_129b2Installer.sit). Or, as you suggest, extract the updater from the .dmg using an OS X system.

2. It sounds as though Civ3 is simply not writing to your disk for some reason, since it is not updating your preferences as well as failing to save game files. Give 1.29 a whirl and come back if it's still not saving stuff. I doubt if I can help, as my last sight of OS 9 was probably six or seven years ago, and I don't recall ever playing Civ3 in OS 9.

3. I suppose you could go back to 1.17g (Was that the previous version? I thought it was 1.14), but I doubt if that's very stable, either.

Hi Alan...

Got the updater, got a fresh copy reinstalled and all and have been happily civving ever since :) Meant to get back here and let you know things are working.

Every now and again I get a random freeze, but it is saving as it should. Every now and again the prefs corrupt, etc. But I have been able to finish quite a few games :)

Now I'm off to figure out how to master Regent level (working my way up and still getting my butt kicked)

Thanks again!
:goodjob:

I'm about to get a macbook and I've heard that you must have windows to run c3c properly. I should really look through all the pages in this section to find out whatever problems can occur when civving on a mac, but I don't have that time. My humble request is to get a link to some post explaining how to install c3c on a mac to get it up and running.

I am running Civ3 Complete for Mac OS X with no problems. Buy it from any online store, install it on your Mac, and update it using the updater here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=2655).

The only limitations I'm aware of are (1) there's no scenario editor and (2) you can't play multiplayer games against Windows users.

If you need those capabilities then you should consider running the Windows version of Civ3, either in Bootcamp where you have to reboot into Windows, or in Parallels or VMWare which run Windows virtual machines within OS X. In either case you will need a copy of Windows to install on your Mac.

Tnx a lot Alan. Now I see what he ment 'cause we're playing a pbem and he is running a pc.

The cross-platform limitation is only for online games due to the network protocols.

There's no problem playig PBEM with Windows users using the OS X version ... Well, there is one slight hiccup. Sometimes you will get a file from a Windows user that either won't load on the Mac version, or, worse, it loads but will not allow you to save it later - after you have played your turn. However, the solution is in my sig. Download FileValet, and use it to vet incoming Windows saves before playing your turns. It will clean out any problems left by the PC, with no ill-effects as far as I am aware.

I'm try to run civ3 1.21g and not civ3c on a macbook with leopard but he said me always that he can't switch the resolution 1024x768 16bit
Anybody knows how to solve it?

Hi, Welcome :wavey:

As far as I can tell, the old Civ3 will not run on an Intel CPU in Leopard. I have no idea why, and MacSoft stopped supporting Civ3 a long time ago, so I doubt if there will be any solution.

I saw that you were looking for the 1.29b2 updater on another site. Have you tried the link in my signature?

Is there a way to mod for CivIII without the editor, on a PowerPC mac? I can't run Windows programs, and as a result, no Windows editors, but I still want to try some basic modding (flavor units). Has anyone tried this, or am I going to have to flag down the apparently buggy and unreliable mac version?

There's only the old vanilla editor, if you have Civ3 version 1.21g from MacSoft. It doesn't support the extra features in the last vanilla release, or any of the extensions in Play the World and Conquests. Email me if you want to track down a copy.