When will "Beyond the Sword" come out for mac?

You're dissatisfied with the selection of software available on Mac, so you're going to switch to *Linux?* Honestly makes no sense to me.

Nah that's nt what I said.... if you look again you'll see that i'm disastified with Apple's and other's failure to remove obsolesense. Linux doesn't have that trouble. Don't see why I should support such a thing. As I wll reiterate, I am completely fed up with Aspyr though. Never said anything about software availability on Linux...........

It seems like the best solution would be for Firaxis to just write their games in a language more easily portable to other platforms. All of Blizzard's games, for example (diablo, starcraft, world of warcraft, etc), are Mac/Pc compatible on the same DVD!

I'm having fun playing Warlords again now that the patch came out and I downloaded teh HOF mod. But I'm sure very soon, I'll be bored again and anxious for BTS... come on Aspyr, I know you can, I know you can....

Well, that's it then. Time to execute the following equation:

Bootcamp + Windows XP (or Vista) + Civ IV for PC + BTS = No more waiting for the Mac version that never comes.

I hear that the PC version of BTS is rather buggy... a fair number of PC users are still playing Warlords. Perhaps Aspyr is waiting to port until Firaxis fixes things?

I played Pirates! in Bootcamp, the first pc game I've really played in bootcamp, and I have to say, it plays just fine. However, it really is a pain to relog into bootcamp. I didn't realize how much I start and stop games, and in between check email, dawdle in iCal, and check websites in Safari until I couldn't do any of those things.

Because there aren't any email clients or web browsers for PCs, right?

correct 5150, my email is all in Mail, about 13 years worth carefully organized email. My calendar is only in iCal and my Treo, and I *could* surf the web a bit in Internet Explorer, but I don't trust surfing the web in Windows, too many viruses and stuff. And besides, all my bookmarks and everything are in Safari. And of course, I much prefer the layout of everything in OS X so it's a pain using windows.

EDIT:

nevermind

There is also the problem of programing for Civ 4, now as I said above using the same engine as previous game usually makes porting new titles easier, that is not the case for the Civ 4 titles. While the actual game is fairly stable (not perfect of course) the code behind it on the PC side is a mess.

Click to expand...

I guess I'm more surprised with Firaxis, if what this fella says is true. Didn't Firaxis outsource one of the expansions for Civ3 or Civ4?

Moderator Action: I have reinstated the above quote from memory
@Dojoboy: If I got the wrong text, please feel free to correct it

Look like I missed an interesting statement?

iamliberal said:

Look like I missed an interesting statement?

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Until confirmed by the moderator, you missed an interesting rumor.

iamliberal said:

correct 5150, my email is all in Mail, about 13 years worth carefully organized email. My calendar is only in iCal and my Treo, and I *could* surf the web a bit in Internet Explorer, but I don't trust surfing the web in Windows, too many viruses and stuff. And besides, all my bookmarks and everything are in Safari. And of course, I much prefer the layout of everything in OS X so it's a pain using windows.

Click to expand...

Perfectly understandable. After all, web browsers are so much different in Windows... It can get confusing! I mean, forward and backward buttons, go buttons, scroll bars... It's nothing like a Mac--nothing.

You confuse can't and won't.

5150 said:

Perfectly understandable. After all, web browsers are so much different in Windows... It can get confusing! I mean, forward and backward buttons, go buttons, scroll bars... It's nothing like a Mac--nothing.

You confuse can't and won't.

Click to expand...

Seems to me you entirely failed to address his points. I happliy run without any virus or spyware protection and have since OS X 10.0.0 came out in 2001. For me, that precludes any prospect of using Windows to surf the web. As for the rest, you didn't offer any useful solutions (e.g., existing email and iCal). The only place he might be a little off is the bookmarks - I would guess he could use his current ones in Safari for Windows (although I could be wrong).

gfeier said:

The only place he might be a little off is the bookmarks - I would guess he could use his current ones in Safari for Windows (although I could be wrong).

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Of course. He could also use them in most other Windows browsers. But if they are anything like mine, they change. I add new ones, and delete or edit old ones. I also use and update logins that are maintained by Safari. If the changes are made on one computer you have to resync them to the other computer, just as you do for iCal and email. The fact that the two computers share the same hardware doesn't help at all. In fact it gets in the way, as you can't even network them, because they cannot run at the same time.

The issue is one of priorities. I refuse to use Bootcamp because I *can't* achieve my priorities when doing so. You could say it's because I *won't* change my priorities, but I don't see that this helps.

My apologies if something like this has already been posted.

I emailed Aspyr about the Beyond the Sword expansion and this is the email that I got.

Sorry, but the brief message is that, no, there will NEVER be a mac version of this expansion.

-----Begin email message----------
FROM:feedback@aspyr.com


I can understand you wish to know more about how we choose titles to port to Mac. We continually evaluate games to be brought over to the platform, looking at several factors including its popularity, whether the Mac market is interested in the game, whether the company that owns the rights is interested in having a Mac version, and how hard it would be to port over (for example, if a game using the same software engine has already been ported, it becomes much easier for us to have it done). Our customers are one of the sources of determining interest, so we thank you for your mail.

However the Civ 4 series is a bit different. Warlords did not produce a great number of sales, far less than was expected. There is also the problem of programing for Civ 4, now as I said above using the same engine as previous game usually makes porting new titles easier, that is not the case for the Civ 4 titles. While the actual game is fairly stable (not perfect of course) the code behind it on the PC side is a mess. This kind of thrown together code makes it difficult to port the game and fix problems that arise in the port. Due to the sheer number of problems we have encountered with working with the PC code for the Civ 4 titles it may be that production does not wish to have to go through it again. For instance when patching games it usually takes a couple of weeks or as much as eight weeks. Civ 4 patches take us months to program and test because of constant problems.

I wish I could give better news about BTS for Civ 4 but at this time we have no plans to port the expansion.

Have a nice day,
Aspyr

Moderator Action: The above post was removed while I verified its authenticity with Aspyr, since it seemed significantly out of character.
My apologies to JunkerWoland for ever doubting you. Aspyr have since confirmed that it did originate from one of their support engineers, and asked me to add the following comment when restoring it:

Aspyr said:

The above response was poorly worded and Aspyr did not wish to imply that the base coding for Civilization 4 or Warlords was faulty. In reality the coding for the game is fine, it is just very complex, therefore making porting the game to Mac much more difficult than most games. While Aspyr is continually evaluate games to be brought over to the Mac platform, unfortunately at this time there are no plans to bring Beyond the Sword over to the Mac. There are many different reasons for Aspyr to have made this difficult decision.

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I have reinstated the mysterious disappearing post.

Make of it what you will

Guess we'll just have to wait for Civ IV Complete.

AlanH said:

I have reinstated the mysterious disappearing post.

Make of it what you will

Click to expand...

On Meet the Press last weekend, one of the journalist defined "gaffe" as "when a politician inadvertently tells the truth."

The original statement and the additional comment seem very reminiscent of some statements by candidates and the campaign spin that we are currently hearing in the U.S.

I think you did a good job disappearing the post while you confirmed the truth.

Bottom line: "at this time there are no plans to bring Beyond the Sword over to the Mac."

Civ4 Complete would still require someone to spend all those weeks and months converting "very complex code" to the Mac. I can't see it happening ... unless Brad's arrival back home changes the development timescale equation.

AlanH,

Have there been problems with Civ 4 on the PC side?