Aspyr Announces Civ3 Complete & Civ4

[AlanH]

I'm curious, did you guys do an actual upgrade or a fresh install? I've heard that for Macs it's usually better to wipe the hd and to a fresh install rather than install on top of an existing OS.

A fresh install is best, but in the past you had to reinstall everything else. Tiger gives you the best of both worlds, as when you've done a fresh install it asks if you want to migrate your informaiton from an existing OS X system. So if you do the install onto another hard drive, or a different partition, or another system, it can migrate your old account settings, prefs, email, apps, data ... to your new system for you.

 

[Brad Oliver]

I intend to play C3C on the PB mostly so I'd be curious to see if there's any compelling reason to upgrade to Tiger.

For gaming, Tiger's OpenGL implementation is better. Civ4 will be OpenGL-based, so if you have an interest in Civ4, 10.4 will likely help.

 

[droo]

For gaming, Tiger's OpenGL implementation is better. Civ4 will be OpenGL-based, so if you have an interest in Civ4, 10.4 will likely help.

Who little old me, interested in Civ4?

 

[michaelkottler]

I just read the IGM article and what can I say in response except: This is wonderful news. Both CIV III complete and CIV IV? Thank you Aspyr! My girlfriend and I are stoked that she will finally be playing multi-player CIV III and IV with me on our Mac (Especially given the massive amounts of time I tend to spend away from her, sitting in front of the mac locked in a deep state of CIV III concentration).

It's a wonderful life!

 

[dojoboy]

My girlfriend and I are stoked that she will finally be playing multi-player CIV III and IV with me on our Mac ..

OMG! You're kidding us, right?

Whatever you do, don't marry her. [whisper mode]They change.[/whisper mode] :dojoboy glances over shoulder, listens for steps:

 

[droo]

OMG! You're kidding us, right?

Whatever you do, don't marry her. [whisper mode]They change.[/whisper mode] :dojoboy glances over shoulder, listens for steps:

I'm sure the Civ series has probably ended more marriages than the other way around but I don't have or need empirical evidence to back the claim.

 

[ejday]

I'm sure the Civ series has probably ended more marriages than the other way around but I don't have or need empirical evidence to back the claim.

I'll bet you're right. For that matter, my wife laughed all to knowingly at the CivAnon bit.
...And I still haven't summoned the courage to tell her about the coming Civ III Complete release, much less C-IV.

I got her addicted to Neverwinter Nights, but Civ...? It just never took hold.

 

[JoAT]

I'm sure the Civ series has probably ended more marriages than the other way around but I don't have or need empirical evidence to back the claim.

My wife loves Civ. In fact, before the arrival of our first born this past May, she probably played about double the amount of Civ 3 as I did. Since the baby was born though, it's been tough for either of us to find the time to put into the game.

I'm sure by the time Civ 6 is released, our daughter will be old enough to entertain herself while her father drops nuke after nuke on her mother's british cities...

JoAT

 

[lateralis]

{crawls out of cave into sunlight}

what's this? civ IV is coming to mac? And conquests/PTW?

goddamn it I had finally broken the addiction to "one more turn" and the GOTM!

what are you bastards trying to do to me!!??!!

seriously though, great news. Even though I had to break my GOTM habit a year ago due to school, I will finally be finished this december (yeah, I was on the 10 year plan, what of it?) meaning, quite simply, MORE CIV TIME.

so lets see, pick up C3Complete just in time for 2006 and waste away night after night while waiting for the next iteration of the addiction. works for me!

Keep up the great work brad!

 

[JoAT]

The good news is that it doesn't use DirectPlay... it uses GameSpy's network toolkit... we probably won't be able to afford to license the in-game server browser though... there will likely be a third-party solution to let you browse all the Civ4 games out there...

Are we talking Gameranger? If so, I thought people using Gameranger could only see others using Gameranger to find a network game. If we're looking at someone else's 3rd party solution, how will it see people using GameSpy to hook-up? I thought people in GameSpy were in a closed network "lobby".

I realize Aspyr is going the extra mile to giving us all the tools we need, I just don't really understand how GameSpy, and the like, works.

JoAT

 

[Macintosh]

Well, coming back from a northern Africa trip, I found this thread here.
What shall I say?

WOW! and YEAH! and STRIKE!

good news after all.

So, I tried to pick up all the pieces of information here in the different threads, but I'm not quite sure to got them all, so here is my summary, and please feel free to check and correct it:

Civ 4

1. Release date known so far: Spring 2006
2. Producer: Aspyr
3. responsible software engineer: Brad Oliver (who has started working on it yet).
4. Systemrequirements: OS 10.3.x as minimum - OS 10.4.x as recommended.
5. RAM: 512 MB as minimum, better 1 GB (what is better in any case)
6. DirectPlay of DirectX is not used but GameSpy's network toolkit, therefor crossplatform networking possible.
7. Grafics adapter: Radeon 7500 as minimum - Radeon 9600 as recommended.
8. Dual Monitoring may be supported.
9. DVD drive will be needed
10. USA price around 50 US Dollar

PtW & C3C

1. Release date known so far: December 2005
2. LAN & PBEM Mac only.
3. 1.29beta2 Saves will be loadable!
4. No editor.
5. Systemrequirements: OS 10.3.x as minimum - OS 10.4.x as recommended.

something forgotten? Or wrong?

Mac

 

[Brad Oliver]

something forgotten? Or wrong?

You've got the key points correct as they currently stand, from what I can tell.

 

[Macintosh]

You've got the key points correct as they currently stand, from what I can tell.

hoping you will keep us informed

 

[one_hoop]

I grew up using commodore/dos/windows machines, but have been forced to work with mac's for 5 years now. Around a year ago I got a new iBook and started using OSX. Since then I have become a full-fledged convert, even starting to use Camino for its native architecture.

Anyway, I had planning on upgrading my home pc for this release but I had not bought CivIV (C.IV?) yet pending more paychecks and a better understanding of what the actual system requirements would be (gamma testing). I'd planned on getting a bare bones system with bare bones being determined chiefly by the requirements for C.IV.

Reading through this thread, it looks like I'll be better served to save more money and buy a new (refurbished) apple for my home/desktop pc. I will probably want to wait and see how the IntelliMac roll-out procedes. However, it looks like the mac release will stumble along on my (work) iBook while I hash out what I need from a desktop machine.

So, is it too early to file a class action lawsuit for my inevitable firing?

Here's what I have currently:
iBook G4PowerPC G4 (1.1); 1.07GHz, 512k L2; 768MB RAM (133 bus); ATI Radeon 9200 (32MB VRAM)

Here's what I'm thinking of purchasing come Jan:
Mac mini 1.42GHz PowerPC G4; 512MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory

Am I right that it will jog on my iBook? Will this Mac Mini fit the bill? Ooops, that's the same graphics card. What will be the cheapest mac to satisfactorily run C.IV?

Will there be a pre-sale for C.IV that will enable friends/loved ones to "purchase it" for us for Christmas? Nah, that'd be too much of a tease, best to not mention it and just buy it on my own...


Thanks!
M@

 

[krzysp]

Here's what I'm thinking of purchasing come Jan:
Mac mini 1.42GHz PowerPC G4; 512MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory

If you're waitting till the next year to get a new mac you might as well wait for the x86 Macs, since sooner or later we will all have to convert

My thought is it's unwise to get a PPC mac at the moment unless of course you need it for work/or just need it at the moment.

I'd go with the intel based macs - that is of course if Aspyr's Civ 4 will have the x86 code. But I think it will. There should be intel based macs in january. And probably Minis or iMacs will get intel chips the first.

 

[AlanH]

I think you're right about January, at least for a product announcement, though shipments may be a little later. But I think laptops will be the first Intel products because Apple desperately need to upgrade from single core G4 on the iBook and PowerBook lines. Intel Minis may come out then or soon after, if only because they use laptop technology and that'll remove G4 from the product line. I think iMacs and towers will come later, because the dual core G5s are not too dusty in performance comparisons against Intel chips, and they'll need Intel's higher performance CPUs to make it worth while for users to upgrade.

Aspyr have said Civ4 will be Universal Binary, so will run on both platforms. Actually they said all their 2006-onward releases will be Universal Binaries, so I guess that includes Civ4. Brad also indicated that their Civ3 Complete release should run OK in Rosetta.

 

[krzysp]

I do hope that the support for PPC macs will last for some time as I don't see myself getting a new Mac in the next year. Besides I got used to my G5 And I'm happy to see that Civ 4 will be build on Universal Library. heh even if my mac won't be able to run some software in the future as least I'll have Civ 4

 

[AlanH]

@one_hoop: I should have said, I would not recommend you buying a Mac Mini for home use with the hope of playing Civ4 right now. It's an end-of-line product, its video is going to be low-end for Civ4, and it has a low speed disk, like a portable. It's CPU is a bit faster than your iBook's, but I doubt if it would perform visibly better overall.

If you want a machine to last a year or three, and you don't want to wait up to a year for an Intellimac, then go for an iMac.

My guess is there will be no chance of pre-ordering Civ4 for Christmas. Aspyr will want people to buy what they've got, and for Christmas that will hopefully be Civ3 Complete.

 

[gfeier]

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.

I'm not confident that the Intel iMacs rumored by AppleInsider to be introduced at MWSF will be able to run Civ IV very well. No way Civ IV will be Intel compatible when it first comes out (that's right, isn't it, Brad?). I know Rosetta is supposed to be the greatest emulator ever, but I also know that I've never heard anybody say ANY game runs well on ANY emulator. Civ IV is one of the programs I'm concerned about enough to buy the G5 iMac now and wait for a second-generation Intel PowerMac to replace the dual 800.

 

[AlanH]

'm not confident that the Intel iMacs rumored by AppleInsider to be introduced at MWSF will be able to run Civ IV very well. No way Civ IV will be Intel compatible when it first comes out (that's right, isn't it, Brad?).

Why ever not?

I'm pretty sure Civ4 will be Intel compatible as soon as Intel Macs are on the streets, and probably when it is first released. If Brad is developing it in XCode and Cocoa then all he has to do is click the box when he builds it and he'll build a Universal Binary capable of native execution on both platforms. Then there's the testing to do, of course, but do you really think they don't have an OSX86 system at Aspyr? Check out this article on Apple's site re. Aspyr's Intel developments.