Mac?

Does the Fall From Heaven mod work with Mac?

No, sorry, the Mac version does not support mods that change the dll.
(I don't know what that means or why it is, but there you go.)

But the commercial says they are fun!

.dll stands for Dynamic Link Library. These contain function that a .exe files (programs) can run. They are compiled into binary form, and can only be run in windows operating systems. Macs use dylib files for a similar purpose. I hear that software developing in Macs is easier, but that doesn't help when so much.

CvGameCore.dll is, as the name suggests, a dll. All the C++ coding used in FfH is handled through this. Without it, you can't have spells, the AC, temp terrain, damage types, affinity, slavery...almost anything.

You could try using WINE. I'm not sure how well it works with Macs but it works great with linux.

If you have an Intel Mac you could get Fusion:

http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/

You could also install on your mac. If you feel like playing FFH (and some mods more) you just start windows and the game. Its so easy having a mac.......;-)

Seconded. Bootcamp, a 32gb partition for windows and play away. Works like a charm.

maybe now its some how possible to play on mac

would be very great

C'mon, do bootcamp.
Who buys a mac ito play on it, anyway ? Tis the only thing they suck at

Macs, lol.

Problem is is that running Windows on a Mac is lousy in terms of performance.

Sure, you can play games, but FfH will experience serious slowdown on a Mac before it normally happens on a PC.

My experience with them. It might've gotten better since last time (two years ago).

Honestly though, why cough up 2-3x as much money for a computer that can do half as much?

Half as much ?
A more stable, non Vistaesque, virus free, user friendly environment, but only of course if your sole purpose in life is not gaming, as I already mentionned.

On a (recent) Mac mini, CIV works perfectly @ max'd graphics, tho I admit not being used to huge maps/epic late game so no info here. And yes I only play CIV and it makes me happy.

This is already a Mac vs. PC debate? Now we need a Kanye West joke and a reference to Hitler and we'll officially have a cesspit of everything wrong with the Internet.

CurseUppl said:

Problem is is that running Windows on a Mac is lousy in terms of performance.

Sure, you can play games, but FfH will experience serious slowdown on a Mac before it normally happens on a PC.

My experience with them. It might've gotten better since last time (two years ago).

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My 2.66 GHz, 4 GB iMac is flawless with regular Civ 4 in Boot Camp. Fall from Heaven on a Huge map is the only stumbling block, where the wait times start to get unreasonably long, and that seems to be a common problem with most computers.

As far as I know you still can't play Fall from Heaven in Mac OS for the reason explained before. When I wanted to play it I was stuck because of the lack of Beyond the Sword, though.

There's only one problem using Boot Camp to be a PC when you need to play a game that's not out for Mac OS – when you've already bought the base game on Mac OS and need to buy another copy for an expansion or for a mod that won't work on it.

Which I did.

Macs can run Civ IV, but not custom DLLs. All good mods, including FfH and all its modmods, require custom DLLs and so don't work on Macs. (Bootcamp may be a way around that, I don't know.)

My wife is trying to bring me over to the dark side and get a Mac. I'm a big PC gamer and if the Mac can't run the games in Boot Camp, then I win the fight.

I have nothing against Macs, I'm just so used to PCs and a big gamer.

MagisterCultuum said:

Macs can run Civ IV, but not custom DLLs. All good mods, including FfH and all its modmods, require custom DLLs and so don't work on Macs. (Bootcamp may be a way around that, I don't know.)

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Under Boot Camp you run Windows on a Mac. It's a way around essentially any task that can be done on a PC but not a Mac. There have been stories that Windows ran on a Mac won't be at full capability, although you really need to try it to see if it's working fine. Since I don't play any games that were originally (excluding expansion) released after 2005 I'm not the best person to comment on just how much, if at all, a "Windows Mac" is slowed.

I've read that the slower performance (though this was back in 2006) is due to Windows not being able to handle EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface), a more modern 'version' of BIOS. New Apple computers use EFI rather than BIOS.

When you run a different OS on top of an existing one, you're 'emulating', and the experience is always slowed down by the effort involved in your computer trying to pretend it's something it's not (my brother has been telling me about how SID music files are amazing, but despite being tiny files that ran on Commodore 64s, it takes modern computers quite a lot of effort to play them because it has to pretend to be a Commodore 64 – inc. the hardware).

If I understand it right, Boot Camp as much as possible is not emulation. It's supposed to be just running Windows on a Mac. However, from what I read the computer still has to run something to emulate BIOS firmware, so it's still emulating. Hence slowdown.

I should point out two things: I'm piecing bits together without perfect knowledge, and I don't know if this problem has been made less serious or eliminated.

Mano3 said:

My wife is trying to bring me over to the dark side and get a Mac. I'm a big PC gamer and if the Mac can't run the games in Boot Camp, then I win the fight.

I have nothing against Macs, I'm just so used to PCs and a big gamer.

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When I'm running Windows on my Mac, I always feel like I'm at something of a gaming system. There are more games that will run on Windows, and if you want to buy a commercial machine for gaming you'll get more for your money buying a PC.

If gaming is the main thing you're doing, it's hard to justify buying a Mac over a PC.

And to you, cruel reader who probably isn't Mano3, no. I'm not going to fall into the trap of saying why I prefer Macs or in what ways they are better, because you're going to think it's argument time.

There are people whose sole purpose ISNT gaming!? Man, they must be really addicted to that new RL mod.



But seriously ... why buy a mac if you like to play games other than what blizzard has to offer? Converting all macs into a giant Starcraft/Diablo alliance sounds like a fun pet project.

Elyssaen said:

When you run a different OS on top of an existing one, you're 'emulating', and the experience is always slowed down by the effort involved in your computer trying to pretend it's something it's not (my brother has been telling me about how SID music files are amazing, but despite being tiny files that ran on Commodore 64s, it takes modern computers quite a lot of effort to play them because it has to pretend to be a Commodore 64 – inc. the hardware).

If I understand it right, Boot Camp as much as possible is not emulation. It's supposed to be just running Windows on a Mac. However, from what I read the computer still has to run something to emulate BIOS firmware, so it's still emulating. Hence slowdown.

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Modern macs are more or less the same hardware you'd get if you bought a windows machine but in a shiny aluminum cover. The main difference, as you've noted, is the boot process. All bootcamp does is get the system into a state where windows can take over. After that, it's identical to any other machine as far as windows is concerned. Windows is not being run under any sort of emulation when you boot it up via Boot Camp. If you're interested in virtualization, Ars Technica has a running series on the ins and outs from a geeky technical perspective. There are a large number of variations ranging from a 10%ish slowdown to the 10-100x slowdown you'll see in your mentioned C64 emulator.

For the specific case of running FFH on top of OS X--as opposed to in boot camp, which runs windows INSTEAD of OS X--there are two good options and a number of lesser ones. The best option is Parallels, which I don't generally like as much as VMWare Fusion, but Fusion has a number of minor graphical bugs when running Civ like the the yields overlay not working and Parallels is (I hear) perfect. I run FFH on a 2 year old Macbook Pro with 2GB of RAM. The only problem I have (aside from the overlay bugs) when running at minimum settings is that I don't quite have enough RAM for doing OS X + Windows + FFH + Firefox, so I get swapping in the late stages of the game when I leave a browser open. Getting a new machine with a reasonable amount of RAM would easily solve this.

Eshnunna said:

Half as much ?
A more stable

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True

non Vistaesque

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What's wrong with Vista? Yeah, it sucked when it was first released, but it's fine now. I haven't had any problems, all you need is a basic knowledge of system controls and enough RAM to run it.

virus free

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Umm... no. There are quite a few viruses for mac, and while Windows does have more, nothing can save users from themselves. People who think their macs are virus-immune are more likely to get infected than windows users, because they don't take any antivirus precautions.

user friendly environment

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Depends on what you're trying to accomplish. For picutres, word documents, photoshop, what-have-you, sure. When you want to get into more technical computer-based stuff, Mac quite simply lacks the ability to handle it.

but only of course if your sole purpose in life is not gaming, as I already mentionned.

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Once again, not just gaming. For basic functions like documents, pictures, etc., it would fine. When you want to get into more technical stuff, be it tweaking settings, modding games, upgrading your physical computer, etc... Windows is pretty much needed. That or something else like Linux, but a mac won't be able to handle the job.