Aspyr Announces Civ3 Complete & Civ4

[Brad Oliver]

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?).

The goal, certainly, is to make it a Universal Binary that runs on Intel-based Macs. Of course we don't know when Mac Civ4 will be done nor when Intel-based Macs will appear, so giving accurate and honest information on Civ4 and Intel Macs is a bit hard to do at this point. Frankly I'd be happy if it ran on PowerPC Macs at the moment. ;-)

 

[DBear]

I wonder if the C3C version for Mac will be patched to the same 'level' as on PC, i.e., with the 'science age' broken and the AI incapable of using leaders for armies.

 

[Brad Oliver]

I wonder if the C3C version for Mac will be patched to the same 'level' as on PC, i.e., with the 'science age' broken and the AI incapable of using leaders for armies.

I assume you're referring to 1.22? How is the science age broken?

 

[DBear]

If you research a tech before anyone else and if you have the option turned on, you have a 3% chance of getting a science leader, 5% if you are a scientific civilization. He can either rush a wonder (military leaders can't do that in C3C) or be used for a 'golden age of science' which is supposed to speed up research for 20 turns. However, it has been proven that the research is not speeded up, so it is broken.

 

[AlanH]

Although it would be nice for bragging rights if the Mac version were "better" than the Windows version, I can see some issues with doing so:

1. It would cause problems in the GOTM and HOF competitions, as we wouldn't be playing like against like when comparing games.

2. I think cross-platform PBEM will be available. This will be more difficult if two players are using different rules. Same with SGs.

3. As Mac players start to read the C3C forums around here, looking at the information and advice and folklore built up by Windows players over the last couple of years, some of it would not be relevant ... but which?

I guess we could have two different settings - one 'compatible' with 1.22, the other 'fixed', but then we'd need some way to ensure that competition and SG players used the right setting.

 

[Macintosh]

I have understood that Civ 4 comes along as a multilanuage package. There is english, german and and and...

Brad, can you tell us already something about languages at the Mac side? Will there be german, spain, french versions from your side, or do we have to wait until local country resellers have done somekind of localisation?

 

[Brad Oliver]

Brad, can you tell us already something about languages at the Mac side? Will there be german, spain, french versions from your side, or do we have to wait until local country resellers have done somekind of localisation?

Honestly, I'm about at my limit in terms of what I actually know about Civ4 at this point. I haven't looked yet at the language stuff, and frankly, it's way too early for me to say. Likely if the PC version ships with pre-translated resources, it won't be a big deal on the Mac, but we may or may not have the Mac-specific things translated alongside the US English release. Ask again in several months.

 

[AlanH]

As I understand it all the translations for different languages are done in the XML text files, and the text is all stored as Unicode strings. So I don't see any technical reason why the Mac version should have any problems with localisation. The only question then is whether Aspyr will choose to package different language versions of the product, and that's a commercial issue.

 

[awb]

a lot of this discussion seems to be about the intel conversion -- but there will be emulation for older software not coded specifically for the conversion in os x. so i am confused as to what the issue is (are you worried about speed/performance? -- because civ 3 worked fine on a lot of old old macs and i see the same possibility with civ 4, because it has always been coded well and never a cpu/memory hog).

also, for information (well, rumors, more than information, but its always good to ones ear to the ground), head over to macrumors

 

[krzysp]

You mean Rosetta (or is it with only one 't'?)? It isn't as effective as most of people think. I'd prefer Civ4 for Mac to be universal binary. And someone here said ealier that all new Aspyr productions will be Univerall Binary.

 

[k-a-bob]

Aspyr sets final system requirements for Civilization III: Complete Collection

Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G4/G5
CPU Speed: 500 MHz or faster
Memory: 256 MB or higher

The game will be available for pre-order soon.

more at:
http://macgamer.com/news/item.php?id=9729

 

[Mathieu Roy]

No more G3?

even a 600mhz one?

 

[ancestral]

No more G3?

even a 600mhz one?

New Mac minis start at $500 ;-)

 

[Brad Oliver]

No more G3?

even a 600mhz one?

it'll run just fine on a G3. I believe they put G4 in the specs simply because we don't have any G3s left to do compatibility testing against.

 

[awb]

Aspyr sets final system requirements for Civilization III: Complete Collection

Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G4/G5
CPU Speed: 500 MHz or faster
Memory: 256 MB or higher

The game will be available for pre-order soon.

more at:
http://macgamer.com/news/item.php?id=9729

that pointed me towards the game specs for civ 3 and i couldnt find any announcements on civ4?

 

[AlanH]

Did you check the link in the first post in this thread?

 

[Macintosh]

ing for news.....

 

[imadork]

it'll run just fine on a G3. I believe they put G4 in the specs simply because we don't have any G3s left to do compatibility testing against.

I can do some "compatability testing" for you on my G3 iBook if you like.

 

[Earthling7]

Some (tiny, very limited) thoughts on the Civ4 look. Sorry if this has been discussed, couldn't find it.

I saw Civ4 in action on a Windows PC the other day. Looked interesting, but not quite what I had hoped for. Interface was some Microsoft blue, font was a tiny Times New Roman or something like that, making it look more like a bad accounting software than a game one is actually supposed to enjoy.

Is this the norm or was it a bad Windows installation (as if there was any other kind)? Will the Mac version look indentical or will we be treated to a lovely Aqua Civ?

 

[AlanH]

I very much doubt if Aspyr will modify the standard graphics that ship with Civ4 themselves. They probably only have a license for translating it for the Mac platform, not redesigning it.

While you are playing a game you are playing the game designer's idea of a GUI, not that of the Mac design team. So you gain no benefit from the tastiest GUI on the planet.

However, given the infinite moddability of Civ4, this will be a great opportunity for the Mac community to create mods that will demonstrate how games should be designed