PTW: Mac port or Not?

[dojoboy]

Well, each day I surf for news notifying the public that PTW is scheduled to be ported over to the Mac. Each day, I get a little more frustrated and, yes,....sad.

So, I'm curious as to how many of you believe we'll see the expansion on our platform. Yes? How long? No? Why not? At the moment, I'm not so sure, but I'm an optimist. I've got to vote yes. I keep hoping one of Westlake Interactive's code-name games is PTW.

 

[dojoboy]

Oh, come on! You've got opinions.

 

[Txurce]

Yes, because they seem to have eventually ported everything else.

 

[Trabpukcip]

I beleive it is to hard to tell at this point.

 

[Grey Randall]

I voted no. I had heard that the multiplayer option was going to be difficult to implement

 

[Sid]

Yes, because … well, you can live in hope can't you?

I am concerned about MacSoft's approach to all this. Al Schilling and Nate Birkholz have their names on the credits of Civ3, but they have not treated their customers with the degree of respect that, say Blizzard or Aspyr, practice very well.

Civ3 is a long-term product and the greatest volume of sales will come when people see that the Mac version is as well supported as the Firaxian original. Once the patches, expansion and multiplayer are stabiised, the modding community will take the possibilities of this game out of sight.

I hope that MacSoft take the opportunity to view this thread and to respond with a statement--in the best traditions of customer service (remember that?).

 

[Pigumon]

Voted yes.

I think the company knows that there are decent number of Mac port customer who is waiting for PTW like people hunging around here.
When it is available, those customers will perchase it and enjoy this great game more! I believe the company can not ignore.

If multiplayer mode is an issue, Mac PTW may not have it and be just expansion of civs, units, maps, etc. But then Mac PTW may be different from what we want. Is it still OK for us?

But the biggest problem for me is that when it is available (possibly some time next year), I do not think I have enough time to play.

 

[Sid]

… another thought.

In fairness to MacSoft, I want to mention that they must have a lot on their plate at the moment. Launching Masters of Orion 3 and porting Neverwinter Nights must be huge projects. However, a word from Al or Nate would be nice; I still want a Civ3 Editor.

 

[gfeier]

I expect we'll get it eventually. Nobody likes to leave money on the table. Here's a novel thought - how about waiting long enough so we get the final PC version and total compatibility this time. I think that would be worth quite a few extra months.

 

['Copter Pilot]

Yes, because I'm usually an optimistic person, and I want to send a message to MacSoft that they would disappoint me if they didn't port it.

 

[Mike.doc]

I read sonewhere that the next patch (1.29) with the editor etc, would be the last one. Thus PTW... condolences.

 

[ejday]

PTW for Mac? Dunno. I'd be happier:
1) getting the editor first, even at 1.21. After that comes the law of diminishing returns:
2) Getting 1.29 and editor would be slightly nicer, but not significantly nicer than *any* dang editor.
3) Seeing PTW for X would be nicer still, but by even a smaller margin. If it came out, though, I'd give them my cash in a heartbeat. If I bought PTW, though, and it didn't have an editor, and we still didn't have an editor for 1.21...? Wow. That would be stunningly bad.

 

[Shogoth]

in regards of the history of the patches i voted no.

there's still a slight chance because you can earn money with ptw but not with patches.
actually i'm just fed up with the whole stuff :rocket:

first they put an unfinished game in the shelves, then there comes patch after patch, at least for english pc users.
mac gamers and owners of translated versions (german/french) have to beg for new versions and extensions. and as far as i know all three mentioned groups will not get 1.29. we might....

perhaps some programers (thanks brad !) will do it again for free.

nice for firaxis/westlake/macsoft or whoever else earned some money with it.

and i don't care about "we only gave the rights" blahblah, patching belongs to modern gameplay, we're not in the kindergarden, if it's not in the contract you're responsible also.

so, i rumbled around enough, but i can realy get hot about this topic.
perhaps it would be better to finish the zulu

 

[gfeier]

Originally posted by ejday
PTW for Mac? Dunno. I'd be happier:
1) getting the editor first, even at 1.21. After that comes the law of diminishing returns:
2) Getting 1.29 and editor would be slightly nicer, but not significantly nicer than *any* dang editor.
3) Seeing PTW for X would be nicer still, but by even a smaller margin. If it came out, though, I'd give them my cash in a heartbeat. If I bought PTW, though, and it didn't have an editor, and we still didn't have an editor for 1.21...? Wow. That would be stunningly bad.

Number one should not be a problem. Back in late August, Brad Oliver said a month sounded good for a beta of the editor. He should know. He's writing it.

 

[2001Wolfy]

I've voted yes in the hopes the powers that be see this poll. Nuts, I've already committed to two Mac friends to purchase PTW for them if it comes out on the Mac platform!

Cheers!

 

[Sid]

Another coupla cents worth. I would like to have all of the features of Civ3 that the PC platform has. I am not too fussed about getting cross-platform multiplayer compatibility, 'cos I think this is probably the most difficult feature to achieve.

I sense that we are creating a good enough Mac community through these pages, and the Mac Tourney. What I would like from the larger community is to be able to access the fruits of their creativity and then share it/compete with you guys.

 

[Babble-on]

Well, and another thing...since they are saying that the multiplayer functionality is built upon proprietary Microsoft/Windows technology, and will be difficult to port to the Mac, why not just create a multiplayer version for the Macs only. Considering that the Mac, especially with OS X, has so much security and networking built into its native operating system - Linux, Apache and such, it should be a real cinch for them to add us in, if they will but step out of their Wintel boxes. I know, I encountered this a lot when working for an internet solutions company. Often by stepping away from traditional MS networking and internet solutions, you often open up the forum for all users - it just requires more work - something programmers and project managers are usually never willing to do, sadly.

They can also set up a central server, which will no doubt be necessary to control and assign multiplayer matches, and then just build in different interface layers, or "gluecode" that will accept players accessing the central server by whatever networking method they are using. Honestly, there is a simple way to make it universal. Ultimately, it is just a matter of how much effort the companies are willing to put into it - usually business laws are such that they will favor the majority, which will require minimal coding and effort and have a big sell in the end. It is one of the sad consequences of commercialism.

I still will hope for the best. I want to play Spain and the Celts in PTW!

 

[jicépé]

Yes because live is hope !

 

[dojoboy]

Well, now that PTW has gone gold, this would be the opportune time to announce a mac port. If, it was the code MacSoft has been waiting on to make a decision.

 

[dayfax]

I read on insidemacgames, as Babble-on said, PTW uses proprietary MSFT networking protocols ... I think I saw DirectX mentioned in there.

Proprietary networking tech means, afaik, that they will have to rewrite the _entire_ thing from the ground up for the Mac. So that means it will be a helluva long time before you see this.

Things which make me hopeful :

- The insidemacgames article mentioned that the producers of Civ3 made $$$ off the Mac version. Money made off the original version makes a port more likely.
- They ported over all the Civ 2 Expansions, including multi-player, over to the Mac. Granted, it took too long and cost too much money -- almost, if I remember ccirrectly, as much as the original game, but companies with a history of having their stuff ported to the Mac usually continue to do so.
- Hey, if some nutty company can port Fallout 2 over to OS X, four or five _years_ after the PC version came out (the thing was never ported to the original MacOS), _anything_ is possible. Heh.

PS : The editor would be nice. I miss that from Civ II.