BTS coming?

[beetle]

Is Firaxis leaving money on the table?

Bumping this old thread because this article (which I read today) reminded me of it.

To conclude, if you’re not supporting Linux and Mac OS X from a philosophical standpoint or for the fans, at least do it for the money. If you don’t support non-Windows platforms, you’re leaving a lot of cash on the table. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in a position to just say f— it to a large community of people who want to support us.

Any ideas for getting Firaxis eyeballs to consider the topic? The blog was slashdotted (which is why I saw it) so maybe that is already happening.

IMHO the points are well articulated. The author explains why a supposed 5% market share accounts for 122% profit. Woot!

 

[AlanH]

Happy New Year. Another year, another dead horse resurrected .

I'd be very surprised if Aspyr have not see this as it was widely reported on the Mac blogs ... and it's Aspyr that has to decide whether to port BtS, not Firaxis.

The article is targeted at indie developers; those who cannot afford the large marketing costs of competing for attention in the crowded Windows market place. Firaxis and Aspyr do not fall into this category.

BtS is an expansion of an existing game. Aspyr know very well how much it cost them to get Warlords to market, and they know very well what the likely sales are. They have made their decision based on that, and they don't need anyone else to tell them a different story.

Should Aspyr have ported BtS? Probably, but it should have happened soon after BtS hit the Windows market. It's way too late now, as the publicity wave has rolled on by. Why didn't they do it then? My guess is it was a combination of having burnt their fingers with Warlords porting costs; not having resources available to give it any priority at that time; and a fear that Bootcamp was going to eat further into revenues from ported Windows games.

 

[beetle]

I concur that its to late for BtS, but I do not know of a better home for this dialog.

I also concur that the article is targeted at indie developers, but it contains a message and lesson that is important to any Windows-only shop, no matter what their size. It is Faraxis, not Aspyr, that needs to mend their ways and who needs to read this article.

 

[dutchking]

At this point there's not much to say except:

If you really want to play BTS that bad, just get a $70 copy of OEM Windows and use bootcamp.

I did it the week before BTS came out and I can see my impatience has paid off.

 

[AlanH]

I concur that its to late for BtS, but I do not know of a better home for this dialog.

Hijacking a thread about BtS is not the best way to open such a discussion, as your intended audience may never read it.

There's some discussion about Civ5 Ideas and Suggestions here.

Alternatively, if some of you want to focus on how Firaxis and/or Aspyr ought to approach the creation of a Mac version of Civ5, if it ever happens, then you should create a separate thread in this forum with an appropriate title.

 

[beetle]

If you really want to play BTS that bad, just get a $70 copy of OEM Windows and use bootcamp.

I have Windows on my Mac already, that is not the point.

As a consumer, I choose not to financially reward a company which is not producing the product I desire.

Hijacking a thread about BtS is not the best way to open such a discussion, as your intended audience may never read it.

I am not trying to hijack a thread. I was following up on an old post that was already in the thread. Please accept my apologies if you thing I am off topic.

There's some discussion about Civ5 Ideas and Suggestions here.

Thanks. I will post over there. Two "wish list threads", both already at ten pages! Civ5 is actually off topic there (not that anyone minds) since it is a Civ4 general discussion board.

Alternatively, if some of you want to focus on how Firaxis and/or Aspyr ought to approach the creation of a Mac version of Civ5, if it ever happens, then you should create a separate thread in this forum with an appropriate title.

No, I believe Firaxis ought to be creating a Linux/Mac/Windows version of Civ5. I don't think that belongs only on the Mac board!

 

[dutchking]

As a consumer, I choose not to financially reward a company which is not producing the product I desire.

That's actually the reason that you haven't gotten BTS?

It's $30. It's not like you're giving up a kidney or anything. If you want the game, and you're able to, you should go buy it rather than complain when it doesn't come out on the platform "which you desire".

 

[rabber]

That's actually the reason that you haven't gotten BTS?

It's $30. It's not like you're giving up a kidney or anything. If you want the game, and you're able to, you should go buy it rather than complain when it doesn't come out on the platform "which you desire".

I think this is a matter or principal rather than money. If every Mac user felt as you did, then we would all buy Windows versions of the games. This is exactly what Mac gaming companies are afraid of. Once you buy the Windows version, why would you buy the Mac version.

I think that future versions need to be written for all platforms simultaneously. One of the reasons that I bought Windows versions rather than Mac versions is the ability to run mods. There are a few mods that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, they cannot be run on teh Mac because they need dll files. If the game had been designed correctly from the beginning, this would not be the case. As an example, see Europa Universallis. I have both the Mac and PC versions (I wanted to play the games before the Mac version was out). The mods I like are available for both platforms. The hardest thing has been educating the mod writers to post their files in a compressed format rather than a self extracting file which will only run on Windows. Clearly Paradox has done a better job of this than Firaxis.

Aspyr has done a good job with what they had - not great, but OK. However, it is Firaxis that needs to release their games to run on any platform.

 

[beetle]

@Rabber: Thank you for explaining the reasoning so eloquently.

@DutchKing: Voting with your wallet isn't making a statement unless the seller you don't like is price competative!

 

[coreybowman]

mac is only fun if you hate to run programs and if you think not spending $30 is "stickin it to the man".

 

[coffee junkie]

I think this is a matter or principal rather than money. If every Mac user felt as you did, then we would all buy Windows versions of the games. This is exactly what Mac gaming companies are afraid of. Once you buy the Windows version, why would you buy the Mac version.

I think that future versions need to be written for all platforms simultaneously. One of the reasons that I bought Windows versions rather than Mac versions is the ability to run mods. There are a few mods that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, they cannot be run on teh Mac because they need dll files. If the game had been designed correctly from the beginning, this would not be the case. As an example, see Europa Universallis. I have both the Mac and PC versions (I wanted to play the games before the Mac version was out). The mods I like are available for both platforms. The hardest thing has been educating the mod writers to post their files in a compressed format rather than a self extracting file which will only run on Windows. Clearly Paradox has done a better job of this than Firaxis.

Aspyr has done a good job with what they had - not great, but OK. However, it is Firaxis that needs to release their games to run on any platform.

I fully agree. Thanks for this post.

I own both platform of the game : I play regular Civ4 and Warlords on the Mac and I installed Parallels for playing some games that are not available on Mac ( like Beyond the Sword expansion )

If Firaxis releases their games to run on any platform, I would much prefer to play on the Mac ! And buy the Mac version ...

Same for any game. The point is always : are there enough people to buy the Mac version ? Enough to pay the developpement ?

Beyond this point, many mods are available for all platforms ... at last

May I suppose you have educated many modders ? Thank you !

 

[rabber]

I fully agree. Thanks for this post.

I own both platform of the game : I play regular Civ4 and Warlords on the Mac and I installed Parallels for playing some games that are not available on Mac ( like Beyond the Sword expansion )

If Firaxis releases their games to run on any platform, I would much prefer to play on the Mac ! And buy the Mac version ...

Same for any game. The point is always : are there enough people to buy the Mac version ? Enough to pay the developpement ?

Beyond this point, many mods are available for all platforms ... at last

May I suppose you have educated many modders ? Thank you !

I wish it was a question of educating the modders. In the case of Civ, the best mods use a custom .dll file because that is the only way to accomplish some of the things they want to do. For simple mods, they can modify the .xml files. My wish is for the modders to do whatever they want and have it work cross platform. As I said, some games allow this. Unfortunately, Civ does not.

 

[Greenlocke]

Awww...

I noticed that Civ4 had been ported to the Mac and was actually considering buying one, (thanks to Vista's many flaws and my refusal to deal with them). Civ has always been the 'best' game in my mind - and I would have been satisfied owning a mac if I could play Civ on it.

Alas, it appears that Mac versions will not get future support (BtS) and that it is very difficult to interact with the rest of the community (mods).


Now the pendulum swings to Windows 7.

 

[AlanH]

Why not have the best of both worlds? Many of the Mac players play Civ4 and its expansions in Windows, but do their "real work" in Mac OS.

 

[Volga]

If it ends up not being ported (because of low Warlords sales), you can run it on boot camp, provided you buy windows versions of the software.

 

[AlanH]

Hi, welcome

Yes, that''s what I meant. And the price difference between the Mac and PC versions of Civ4 help to pay for an OEM copy of Windows, as well

 

[BTSformac]

To anybody who DOES want a mac port of BTS, I have started a petition here:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=314264