The Official Mac 1.29 Thread

[Txurce]

Wishful thinking, probably. Do you have anything to report, Brad? Or any guesses you wish to make? (No one's going to quote you on them, I'm sure.) You were pretty pessimistic the last time you commented on this.

[Brad Oliver]

Originally posted by Txurce
Wishful thinking, probably. Do you have anything to report, Brad? Or any guesses you wish to make? (No one's going to quote you on them, I'm sure.) You were pretty pessimistic the last time you commented on this.

There's not much I can say, as I'm not in a position to make official comments on this. That would be MacSoft's domain. The best advice I can give is this: unless you see an announcement from MacSoft, assume nothing (this holds for PTW as well). That way if something does happen, you can be pleasantly surprised. My main source of pessimism about 1.29 concerns the editor. Updating it to match the 1.29 version of the game is significantly more work than updating the game itself. More work == more time == more cost. For a game that has already seen the majority of its sales, you can see the dilemma.

If the 1.29f patch and/or PTW interest you, it would not hurt to let "New MacSoft" know as politely as you can. There is one gotcha that everyone should know: if Mac PTW happens, netplay would be Mac-to-Mac only because the PC version uses the proprietary DirectPlay protocol from Microsoft.

[DiamondzAndGunz]

Originally posted by Brad Oliver
There is one gotcha that everyone should know: if Mac PTW happens, netplay would be Mac-to-Mac only because the PC version uses the proprietary DirectPlay protocol from Microsoft.

Awe poo.

Oh well, at least we have a chance at getting multiplayer...

[Txurce]

Thanks, Brad. Because of the editor-update hangup, my guess would be that PTW is more likely than 1.29. But I'll politely request both.

[K-Man]

Brad (or anyone else that could answer),

You say that netplay would be mac-to-mac only. In the hypothetical situation that we do get PtW, would we be able to play play-by-email games with our PC counterparts, or would the save files be different. I know they take a long time, but I have a couple PC friends who are in the middle of one of those games, and if that's the only way I could play a game with them, I would put up with the time delays, just to play/beat them at Civ3.

Again, I know this is a hypothetical question, but being a more technical question, hopefully one that an answer can be given at this point in time.

Thanks.

[senecasax]

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/...ntraband.shtml

So in 3 years, they haven't been able to come up with a solution? Or did microsoft pull the plug on this guy?

[nmcul]

Directplay; Ughh, I, as well as everyone else I know, have experienced nothing but trouble from this technology. Why companies keep using it is a mystery to me. Sometimes I think they do it soley to piss me off!

[K-Man]

Brad (or anyone else that could answer),

You say that netplay would be mac-to-mac only. In the hypothetical situation that we do get PtW, would we be able to play play-by-email games with our PC counterparts, or would the save files be different. I know they take a long time, but I have a couple PC friends who are in the middle of one of those games, and if that's the only way I could play a game with them, I would put up with the time delays, just to play/beat them at Civ3.

Again, I know this is a hypothetical question, but being a more technical question, hopefully one that an answer can be given at this point in time.

Just didn't want this to sink too far down without Brad seeing the question I posted earlier. It is just regarding whether the save files for a PTW play-by-email game will be able to work for both Mac and PC. I know the possibility of getting Play the World is still a far off, remote possibility, but in the hypothetical situation that it is produced, I just want to know whether I should get my hopes up about ever playing any sort of Civ3 game against my friends. I don't have any friends who play on the Mac, so I don't have any real reason to look forward to an expansion if I can't play against my friends. The new civs and features may be cool, but I would wait until it drops in price to purchase it. If play-by-email worked against PC's, I'd be one of the first in line to get it if it came out. So, as a technical problem, I just want to know if it is possible.

Thanks

[DiamondzAndGunz]

K-Man
It seems that PBEM would work against PC users, IF, and only IF, we get patch parity with them. If we have a different level of patching, as we do now, I believe that the PBEM files will not be compatible, and therefore you will not be able to play. If we do get the same level of patching as them, however, you will be able to play, methinks.

[dojoboy]

Originally posted by DiamondzAndGunz
K-Man
It seems that PBEM would work against PC users, IF, and only IF, we get patch parity with them.

I would assume that a PTW mac port would be ported to the most recent version, which is now 1.21f for PTW. Since Civ3 doesn't offer MP, patch parity isn't a priority, for MP that is.

[Brad Oliver]

Originally posted by K-Man
You say that netplay would be mac-to-mac only. In the hypothetical situation that we do get PtW, would we be able to play play-by-email games with our PC counterparts, or would the save files be different.

PBEM would work fine, just like with the Mac and PC versions of Alpha Centauri.

[K-Man]

Originally posted by Brad Oliver
PBEM would work fine, just like with the Mac and PC versions of Alpha Centauri.

Good to hear! I figured since it is just dealing with actual save games, and not direct linking to a PC it should be okay, but it is always nice to get confirmation. Now I'll go back to patiently (or maybe impatiently) waiting for Play the World to be released.