When will "Beyond the Sword" come out for mac?

[AlanH]

It took lots of patches to get to Windows versions of vanilla Civ4 that didn't crash, and video drivers were an ever-present problem in the early days. Version 1.74 is quite a high number! We didn't invent "black ice" on the Mac, it was around on the PC first. There is still a rumoured patch proposed to fix some open issues with BtS.

I imagine we are suffering some of those problems, plus new ones created by the need to convert DirectX to OpenGL and OpenAL. There are probably extra issues for PowerPC Macs, with byte order reversal required.

 

[iamliberal]

Alan, thanks again for working so hard to moderate our forums. I'm glad to get some conclusive-type answer out of Aspyr, although extremely disappointed.

Similar to the previous poster, I think the "gaffe" was a truth, and I've had the impression the game, while super fun, has been poorly written over the years. I actually first felt this way back in like 2001 with Civ3 on PC when I first had coloring/black ice type problems - after a patch it was fine. But Civ 4 has been filled with problems for a lot of people on both PC and Mac side. Interestingly enough, I was cruising around the forums and off to game review site about Civilization Revolution, and in one of Sid's interviews, I remember him saying something to the effect of enjoying writing Civ Revolutions for consoles without any pre-existing code and just writing from the ground up. I don't know if these topics really relate, but in my mind I draw a link... seems like Civilization has been patched and upgraded and tweaked so much through the years, perhaps a fresh re-writing of the whole thing is in order?

On that note, I wonder if the console game Civilization Revolution will be ported to computers, PC or Mac? After reading about them, I kind of like the idea of less details and faster pace, and better graphics and interface. But I don't want to go spend $600 on a PS3 (ok I kind of want to, but geesh they're expensive).

Anyway, I've said it before, I sure wish Firaxis would write all of their Civ games to be Mac-compatible from the beginning like Blizzard does for their games.

 

[vyeh]

I think there is a problem when a TBS game requires more computing power than a RTS game.

And maybe Civ 4 isn't an improvement in the franchise if our esteemed moderator plays more Civ 3 than Civ 4!

 

[iamliberal]

Ya, woops, forgot to state the most obvious evidence of my point of the code being clunky and needing a whole redo.. the fact that uber machines like mine chug along and crash periodically in civ4 even though the graphics and such aren't nearly as advanced as games that run a lot smoother and easier.

On the other hand, I always like the game rules and features improvements of each expansion, so meh, I can't go back and play civ3 or older versions.

 

[AlanH]

I think there is a problem when a TBS game requires more computing power than a RTS game.

The problem was probably that Civ4 uses a 3D game engine designed to drive a RTS (Gamebryo?). That immediately cancels any advantage of a TBS game. Add to that the fact that a RTS game usually has a limited number of active, animated items on screen at any time. Civ4, in contrast, has almost every tree, unit, resource and building shuffling and puffing smoke, and Civ4 becomes more demanding than an RTS. It may also be difficult to restrict the animation graphics processing to just the visible items, so big maps with lots of trees and units and stuff suffer even more.

And maybe Civ 4 isn't an improvement in the franchise if our esteemed moderator plays more Civ 3 than Civ 4!

Well, I don't play any Civ3, either. I never even got to grips with Conquests.
I suspect the real reason is that I have a low attention span, and it was the GOTM and SGOTM competitions that grabbed it. Once I became involved in managing those competitions, it was not really possible to play in them as well, and my interest and time for learning new variations on the Civ theme waned.

 

[vyeh]

The problem was probably that Civ4 uses a 3D game engine designed to drive a RTS (Gamebryo?). That immediately cancels any advantage of a TBS game.

Using a RTS engine for a TBS game does more than cancel any advantage. You get the worst of both worlds.

Civ4, in contrast, has almost every tree, unit, resource and building shuffling and puffing smoke, and Civ4 becomes more demanding than an RTS. It may also be difficult to restrict the animation graphics processing to just the visible items, so big maps with lots of trees and units and stuff suffer even more.

Animation graphics for items that won't be seen by the user? There is something disturbingly wrong there.

Well, I don't play any Civ3, either. I never even got to grips with Conquests.
I suspect the real reason is that I have a low attention span, and it was the GOTM and SGOTM competitions that grabbed it. Once I became involved in managing those competitions, it was not really possible to play in them as well, and my interest and time for learning new variations on the Civ theme waned.

So you help people with their technical problems, moderate a couple of fora, write the HoF mod, and manage the GOTM, SGOTM competition. I hope you play something to get away.

 

[gfeier]

Civ4 Complete would still require someone to spend all those weeks and months converting "very complex code" to the Mac. I can't see it happening ... unless Brad's arrival back home changes the development timescale equation.

'zactly!

 

[AlanH]

Animation graphics for items that won't be seen by the user? There is something disturbingly wrong there.

That bit is pure speculation on my part, but would help to excplain why Civ4 slows on big maps and in the late game. A big/late map could have major performance issues purely because it uses a lot of memory, of course.

So you help people with their technical problems, moderate a couple of fora, write the HoF mod, and manage the GOTM, SGOTM competition. I hope you play something to get away.

That *is* play!

 

[Thrallia]

On that note, I wonder if the console game Civilization Revolution will be ported to computers, PC or Mac? After reading about them, I kind of like the idea of less details and faster pace, and better graphics and interface. But I don't want to go spend $600 on a PS3 (ok I kind of want to, but geesh they're expensive).

Just to note: Civilization Revolution will not be coming to anything other than consoles, it is being built specifically for consoles, and for console users.

However, you don't need to spend $600 on a PS3 to get it, you can get a DS for $130, an Xbox 360 for $350, or a PS3 for $400-500.

 

[dojoboy]

Just to note: Civilization Revolution will not be coming to anything other than consoles, it is being built specifically for consoles, and for console users.

However, you don't need to spend $600 on a PS3 to get it, you can get a DS for $130, an Xbox 360 for $350, or a PS3 for $400-500.

I concur. For $129.99, or less for a used DS, you'll have access to some really incredible games. And, they're less expensive than most Mac and PC games.

In addition to CivRev in July, I highly recommend:

(1) Zelda: Phantom Hour Glass
(2) Age of Knights
(3) Anno 1701
(4) Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
(5) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (personal favorite atm)

Why a DS?

(1) In bed, after the wifer has fallen asleep
(2) Doctor's office waiting on the mandatory 20 min. after your son gets his allergy shot
(3) etc.

 

[Joey Numbaz]

EDIT - Post moved to this thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=249791&page=3 it's more appropriate there.

 

[Eio]

Anyway, I've said it before, I sure wish Firaxis would write all of their Civ games to be Mac-compatible from the beginning like Blizzard does for their games.

This would be ideal for all developers to do this. However Blizzard made the financial commitment years ago to do this. This requires labor and technical skills.

I'm sure we all agree that Firaxis has highly skilled programmers on their staff. However they don't seem like the type of firm that wants to have hundreds and hundreds of employees working on their titles. I think this is evident with the stoppage of the Wii CivRev version. They seem pretty maxed out right now with CivRev on three platforms plus Civ4: Colonization.

I'm really disappointed in the support Aspyr has given to Civ4. Patches have been late and usually buggy. No mention of BTS or patches to improve performance of their current products. I understand that Civ4 on Mac is very niche compared to say the latest and greatest FPS or The Sims 2. However, Aspyr released the product, released one of the expansions and has released a few patches. You'd think that they would at least continue to support the game.

After all said and done, I decided to just stop supporting Aspyr and buying Firaxis games directly from them instead.

 

[hockeyrox38]

I think we're all forgetting how quickly Aspyr delivered Civ4 and Warlords. I took them months not years. Which is (as far as I know) a very fast job at porting a game for the mac.

tru, but bts is a much bigger expansion, and it'll take longer to port, so there's no telling when

 

[AlanH]

...so there's no telling when

Well, Aspyr have said they have no plans to do it. So it's not even being worked on, regardless of how long a job it is. I strongly recommend that you stop waiting.

 

[davane]

As an aside for the DS option, the use of a stylus means other older and/or casual PC games are also getting ported over to the DS...

 

[Oskar Kahn]

I want iiiiiiiiiiiitttt!!!!!!!!!

Hate them!

AAaaaaarghh!!!!

Its true

 

[AlanH]

Moderator Action: @Oskar Kahn. Please do not spam this forum.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889