SGOTM & Mac C3C ?

[Blue Monkey]

Ulex's thread about his PBEM troubles reminded me about the fun we had playing the Mac Mayaniacs Succession Game right after Complete came out for the Mac, and how much I learned about playing Civ as a result. It got me thinking about the SGOTMs. I looked at the SGOTM informational thread, and all of the Mac related directions predate Complete, let alone our "Patch". So I have the following questions:

1) If I want to participate in a SGOTM on my Mac using C3C, what modifications do I need to make? Must I have the "patch" with its attendant shortcomings installed?

2) Is there a track record of people playing on a SGOTM team mixed-platform (ie sending the saves successfully between Macs & PCs)? Should File Valet be used?

3) If there are platform compatibility issues, could a purely Mac-based team participate & be able to post appropriate files?

4) Given useful answers to the above, are there any other Mac players out there who would be interesting in helping me put together a Mac-based team to a) mutually enjoy a SGOTM, and b) hopefully hone our skills enough to eventually make an effective showing?

 

[AlanH]

1. There's absolutely nothing to stop you playing on an SGOTM team using your Mac.

2. There are no required mods, other than the SGOTM mod used by all teams if it's specified. If you want to play without the patch, and the SGOTM you play requires the SGOTM mod, then I'll have to remind myself how to install the mod, as the unpatched game has trouble with it if you just stick it in Scenarios. However, we may well drop the SGOTM mod in future and just use the standard C3C resources.
And yes, you will have to use FileValet, as (a) you need to submit compressed saves, and the unpatched software doesn't do compression, and (b) the PC players may pass you saves containing the "corruption" that Ulex has seen. Both issues should be fixed using FileValet, though Ulex's last post *may* indicate that there are new problems, even with the patch.

Track record? Well, no one actually needs to say that they are playing on a Mac, so I can't be certain. Dojoboy uses a Mac, but also has a PC, and tao is the same. I'm pretty sure MacBaldrick played SGOTM 10 on a Mac. I'm currently in the longest running, slowest SG in history - "Space 4 Mystery Game." I've played a couple of turn sets, and am about to play another, Real Soon Now (TM), and have had no problems swapping files with the other players who are all on Windows. I also branded and tested all the starting files for the last two C3C-only GOTMs on my Mac, adn I periodically need to download team saves and open them here. No problems.


Since I am also responsible for maintaining the save file readers for the GOTM/SGOTM series, I *know* that the files are the same, barring the known "corruption" issue, and if I ever discover they aren't in some situation, I can adapt FileValet to fix them.

3. Not applicable, but if you want to try to put together a Mac-only team for the next one, be my guest.

4. When we start the next game, a Mac team will be welcome. Alternatively, please feel free to sign up to join another team.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Thanks for the prompt response & info that I'm sure will be of interest to others also.

 

[MacBaldrick]

Yes I did play SGOM 10 with no problems, using Alan's FileValet to clean up files. Came a creditable mid-table having made the wrong strategic decision on conquest vs co-operation.

Yes I would be interested in playing another - as part of a Mac team sounds great. I will check what is on offer.