Aspyr Announces Civ3 Complete & Civ4

[n8mac]

Brad,

1. Will the system requirements for CivIII complete be different than CivIII vanilla?
2. Is CivIII complete carbon or cocoa?
3. What is the minimim OS and ram for it?

Thanks

 

[Blue Monkey]

Will we finally get a real editor in C3C? I'm sure there are other Mac-onlies who would, like me, unleash our pent-up mod/scenario creativity.

 

[dojoboy]

Will we finally get a real editor in C3C? I'm sure there are other Mac-onlies who would, like me, unleash our pent-up mod/scenario creativity.

Welcome Blue Monkey!

No, there will be no editor w/ the Mac version of C3Com to the best of my knowledge. From my understanding, porting the C3Com editor is a whole entire project itself. Aspyr is providing Mac Civ'ers a chance to make up on lost years with the civ series through providing C3Com, and with Civ4 in the wings, the long term life of C3Com is not quite so long. Personally, I would prefer Aspyr to begin work on Civ4 ASAP, rather than take time to build the C3Com editor from scratch. In addition, there are plenty of fan-made mods, etc. already produced by PC users that will be playable on the Mac version of C3Com.

Basically,

Civ4 = cake and icing
Civ3 Complete = extra icing

 

[Beamup]

Whoa. Look what I miss when I'm in Japan for a month!

C3C is now #1 on my Christmas list!

I'm a bit more concerned about Civ4, though. My primary comp is still a G4/450, as I haven't had money to really upgrade it well. I just got a 14" iBook, though, which I hope will squeak through until the IntelliPowerMacs ship and I can get a new desktop machine. (By that time I'll have my PhD and will likely be making six figures, so money will be no problem then.) Only a Radeon Mobility 9550 for the video card, which is iffy... especially since I only have 512 MB of RAM (which I suppose I could upgrade). 1.4 GHz G4, though, so processor should be OKish.

 

[Brad Oliver]

Brad,

1. Will the system requirements for CivIII complete be different than CivIII vanilla?

Probably slightly higher, but not by much. I'd use the PC requirements for Conquests as a guide.

2. Is CivIII complete carbon or cocoa?

Why does it matter?

3. What is the minimim OS and ram for it?

Some variant of 10.3 I guess. We'll probably say 10.3.9, but it might run on less (no one here is testing on less though). As for RAM, don't know for sure, but probably slightly higher than the MacSoft version...? I'd guess 256M RAM - Civ3 isn't that demanding, but OSX and it together should just about eat up 256M if you have nothing else going.

 

[Brad Oliver]

Personally, I would prefer Aspyr to begin work on Civ4 ASAP, rather than take time to build the C3Com editor from scratch.

I've already started on Civ4. It's seeing the bulk of my time, with Civ3 filling in the evenings and weekends where I can squeeze it.

 

[Blue Monkey]

No, there will be no editor w/ the Mac version of C3Com ...there are plenty of fan-made mods, etc. already produced by PC users that will be playable on the Mac version of C3Com.

The point, and therefore the disappointment, is for us to be able to make them.

 

[dojoboy]

The point, and therefore the disappointment, is for us to be able to make them.

True. [This message was too short.]

 

[frunobulax]

Basically,
Civ4 = cake and icing
Civ3 Complete = extra icing

Shame there'll be no editor - that would be extra icing and a healthy side order of extra icing...

 

[gfeier]

Great news! I knew they'd come through. Civ3 Complete is showing as alpha status in the Aspyr project list. I do hope the fortunate beta testers that Matt signed up are beating it up properly.

And C-IV
Now to my problem. My GeForce 4MX card is probably under spec for C-IV. I have the following set of undesirable options:

1. Buy an over-priced Mac video card to put in my aging, soon-to-be-retired G4/AGP tower.

2. Buy a new PPC Mac, within months of the arrival of the IntelliMacs.

3. Play C-IV, if possible, on my challenged hardware until it bites the dust to be replaced by an IntelliMac.

4. Think horribly different and buy a PC just to play C-IV. Never in a million years!

Thoughts?

I need a new Mac soon since the 8500 my wife has been using is just not up to today's demands. We've been sharing my dual 800 which is no fun for either of us. Simple solution - a new iMac 20" to tide us over until the second generation high end IntelliMacs come out. Remember that the first IntelliMacs might be portables, not gaming machines. I imagine the iMac's X600 XT will do OK on the graphics.

 

[waltham845]

I still play civ3, but have upgraded processor and machine, I skipped the G4 all together and now own a G5. The funny thing is I would not have upgraded at all if it weren't for Civ4, somehow i knew we would have it for the mac. Although civ4 isn't the only reason i upgraded, but it is high up on my list.
thanks brad and good luck..

 

[AlanH]

Simple solution - a new iMac 20" to tide us over until the second generation high end IntelliMacs come out. Remember that the first IntelliMacs might be portables, not gaming machines.

I think any Intellimac will be capable of handling Civ4, but I agree, the first ones are likely to be laptops, and so somewhat compromised on price/performance compared with a desktop. I must say I'm leaning towards getting a new G5 Mac soon rather than sinking more dead-end upgrade cash into this one. As Brad Oliver says, my CPU is likely to be the next bottleneck if I get the video sorted.

Something Aspyr might need to consider, though, is that quite a lot of their target customer base may be on Minis. That's a 1.25 GHz G4, not a lot faster than mine, and with Radeon 9200 32MB video that's probably equivalent to my GeForce 4MX.

I imagine the iMac's X600 XT will do OK on the graphics.

For sure, and Civ4 on a 20" wide screen would be awesome It'll also drive a second screen, so I could still run my dual monitor configuration, and keep my G4 in the corner as a server. Hmm!

 

[JoAT]

Something Aspyr might need to consider, though, is that quite a lot of their target customer base may be on Minis. That's a 1.25 GHz G4, not a lot faster than mine, and with Radeon 9200 32MB video that's probably equivalent to my GeForce 4MX.

That's a really good point Alan. If I do upgrade in the near future, the low end Mac Mini will be the only thing I could really afford. (My family has expanded in the last 6 months...) I think Aspyr should also look into trying to include Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2.8) as the minimum OS. There were a lot of MDD, 1.42 GHz G4s sold on the cheap after the G5 was introduced that run 10.2.8. As with most of the computing world, Mac users normally don't upgrade their OS over time...

JoAT

 

[Brad Oliver]

That's a really good point Alan. If I do upgrade in the near future, the low end Mac Mini will be the only thing I could really afford. (My family has expanded in the last 6 months...) I think Aspyr should also look into trying to include Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2.8) as the minimum OS.

I can easily see a Mac mini being within the specs. I'm uncomfortable with the 32 MB of VRAM on the 9200, but I imagine if you turn off a lot of the eye candy, it'll be fine. On the other hand, I don't see us dropping the OS requirement down below 10.3.x.

 

[AlanH]

As with most of the computing world, Mac users normally don't upgrade their OS over time...

OS X is evolving faster than Windows. I would strongly recommend any Jaguar user to upgrade to Panther at least. It makes your hardware - any hardware - work so much better. My G4 took on a new lease of life with Panther.

 

[bio_hazard]

Do we have a rough idea of what "early 2006" means for the Civ4 release?

I bought the PC version, but its not running on my 1.5 year old mid-level laptop. All-black terrain and leader-heads that are only eyes and a mouth floating in the air. I'm not sure if its upgradeable, but a Jan/early feb release of the Aspyr port would probably convince me to return my presell edition and pretend like Civ4 for the PC never happened.

 

[ejday]

Okay, I'm more than a little disappointed about the lack of editor. My gaming style leans more toward "builder"... Perhaps after C-IV, maybe an unsupported beta editor?

Though I have a sudden thought: We figured out a jury rigged fashion for creating 1.29 maps on the Mac (sans city placement). Could the later, newer Civ III read older maps? Just curious...

Now, on to this:

Do we have a rough idea of what "early 2006" means for the Civ4 release?

I bought the PC version, but its not running on my 1.5 year old mid-level laptop. All-black terrain and leader-heads that are only eyes and a mouth floating in the air. I'm not sure if its upgradeable, but a Jan/early feb release of the Aspyr port would probably convince me to return my presell edition and pretend like Civ4 for the PC never happened.

Bio, I'm sorry to hear about your incompatibility, but your post should be noted, bronzed and distributed among Mac game makers. Personally, if you go through with it, I think it could mark the beginning of a significant trend: PCers jumping ship to play the same game on a Mac...

 

[bio_hazard]

@ejday

Thanks for wanting to bronze my words, but I'm originally a mac person (back to my Apple IIe that I had through high school). I have a Compaq notebook that I had to get to run some dna fragment analysis software that only came on pc's, otherwise i'd be mac-only. It wasn't top-of-the-line when I got it, but is still adquate except for the video card. Its got an integrated card which doesn't support the "T&L" necessary for the graphics engine.

I'm actually a little worried now about my powerbook, since it seems these laptop graphics cards may not be as functional as cards made for desktops, and if they are integrated, you are pretty much screwed.

 

[Brad Oliver]

Do we have a rough idea of what "early 2006" means for the Civ4 release?

No, it's still too early to say. Ask again in January.

 

[Brad Oliver]

Though I have a sudden thought: We figured out a jury rigged fashion for creating 1.29 maps on the Mac (sans city placement). Could the later, newer Civ III read older maps?

Definitely.

Bio, I'm sorry to hear about your incompatibility, but your post should be noted, bronzed and distributed among Mac game makers.

That's all fine and good, but honestly - what do you expect us to do about it, aside from sweat profusely? This knowledge won't affect our ability to port games faster, or make them run better - we're already doing just about the best we can given our time constraints.