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

[Welnic]

Civ IV timeline:

2005/10/19
Civ IV goes gold, ships to retailers October 25th.

2005/10/27
Aspyr Media will do Mac port early next year.

2006/6/26
Civ IV for Mac now shipping.

2006/7/6
Warlords goes gold.

2006/7/24
Warlords ships.

2006/8/29
Aspyr Media will do Mac version of Warlords.

2006/11/14
Warlords for Mac ships.

2007/7/23
BTS ships. Firaxis site too full of news about Civilization Revolution! to have a news item about BTS shipping.

2007/7/25
Welnic downloads BTS from Direct2Drive.

2007/10/8
Mac Civ IV patch 1.74 released.

 

[dutchking]

2006/7/24
Warlords ships.

2006/8/29
Aspyr Media will do Mac version of Warlords.

2006/11/14
Warlords for Mac ships.

...
A span of 4 months for Warlords, its been 7 since BTS came out for Windows, not even an announcement.

 

[AlanH]

And the Warlords version 2.13 patch has also been out for Windows for seven months. Aspyr have stated that they were working on it last year, but there's still no word as to when it will arrive for Mac ... if ever.

 

[dutchking]

Hate to be a rain on your guys parade, but I've already gotten Windows (in July).
Its not that hard if you guys really want it, just look on amazon for a OEM version of windows (its the same as regular windows, just 100$ cheaper and the only thing you loose is that it costs money to call microsoft) and get bootcamp. I'm here if you have any questions. Assuming it won't come out for mac. You can load mods easier and everything too. I don't like windows itself, but its done a decent job.

 

[Tiepolo]

I really hate aspyr.

 

[Onagan]

Hate to be a rain on your guys parade, but I've already gotten Windows (in July).
Its not that hard if you guys really want it, just look on amazon for a OEM version of windows (its the same as regular windows, just 100$ cheaper and the only thing you loose is that it costs money to call microsoft) and get bootcamp. I'm here if you have any questions. Assuming it won't come out for mac. You can load mods easier and everything too. I don't like windows itself, but its done a decent job.

I still have a G5 and playing on my MacBook isn't fun either (to small screen)

 

[enkiduMT]

I am on the cusp of either going for Crossover (Orange Box) or Windows (bootcamp and most any windows game - really thinking hard about Halo2)

I am sick of 'ports' being half a shipping product...
crippled mods, no MP for Warlords, nonexistent support.

Oh well, Spore will be along this Fall.

 

[dojoboy]

I am on the cusp of either going for Crossover (Orange Box) or Windows (bootcamp and most any windows game - really thinking hard about Halo2)

I am sick of 'ports' being half a shipping product...
crippled mods, no MP for Warlords, nonexistent support.

Oh well, Spore will be along this Fall.

And CivRev in April, for my DS. Spore will also be on the DS, which surprises me.

 

[dojoboy]

I really hate aspyr.

I'm no where near hating them, just frustrated. They did grab the rights to Civ when Macsoft Games let them lapse. They gave us C3C, and Civ4 + Warlords. I like to believe they're swamped with projects, so nailing down the MP bug in the delayed patch is a real issue for them.

 

[MAS]

I'm no where near hating them, just frustrated. They did grab the rights to Civ when Macsoft Games let them lapse. They gave us C3C, and Civ4 + Warlords.

I second that.

I'm not a fanboy of Aspyr, or any publisher for that matter, but they did give us C3C, when no one though it would still happen! You can't just deny the good that has been done the moment you feel like it.

 

[Bazzalisk]

I suspect that the problem may be more Firaxis than Aspyr.

 

[dojoboy]

I suspect that the problem may be more Firaxis than Aspyr.

How so? I'd be surprised, given the relationship between the two, if Firaxis was the issue.

 

[AlanH]

The problem *could* be with Firaxis.

The BtS software inlcudes a lot of fan-built adaptations. Therefore it might include some of the XML/Python incompatibilities that have caused us so much grief when trying to run mods on the Mac versions of Civ4. I can confirm that BBEdit does find 'gremlins' in at least one BtS XML file (CIV4DiplomacyText_BTS.xml). So if that file fails to load when Aspyr ports BtS to a Mac, then that alone would be enough to cause problems.

We can choose to fix the incompatible mods and carry on. if we want to play cross-platform modded games we can persuade our Windows friends to use our version of the mod. Aspyr could only do that with the core BtS software if (a) they can persuade Firaxis to adopt the changes they have to make, or (b) they accept that the Aspyr version will not run multi-player against Windows.

I could live with option (b), as I only have to support single-player activities in the GOTM series', and I have no interest in multi-player gaming - single or cross-platform. But I'm sure there are many other potential BtS customers who would not be so forgiving, and Firaxis themselves may reject a Mac version that is not cross-platform. So Aspyr may prefer, or require, option (a), but be unable to persuade Firaxis to re-release BtS with the changes they would need. They could be between a rock and a hard place.

DISCLAIMER: All of the above is pure speculation. I have no inside track in Aspyr, and I don't know for sure that the BtS XML is incompatible with OS X. I simply offer this as a possible justification for Bazzalisk's suspicion.

 

[enkiduMT]

BtS is one thing, i could see how it may be hard/impossible to make MP work with all the DLL stuff in the PC version...

but Warlords multiplayer WORKED
now it DOESN'T
it says gamespy on the box and it doesn't work
if I knew more about the law I'd start thinking about a class action suit or some similar bad press to light a fire under aspyr

basically the Warlords issue has soured me on aspyr products: better to give my money to other companies if these folks can't deliver what it says on the box

 

[AlanH]

@enkiduMT: Please note that this thread is about BtS. If you want to post a rant about Warlords, I recommend you move it to another thread.

 

[enkiduMT]

My first sentence clearly states an opinion about BtS, the rest relates to aspyr's lack of performance and support for CIV mac products. Maybe internet crossplatform multiplay doesn't matter to you AH, but it does to some players.

'Rant'? sheesh
whatever

 

[AlanH]

I only asked, politely, I thought, that you stick to the subject of this thread when posting to it.

I am not trying to suppress your views about cross-platform Warlords play, and I am well aware that it is a major issue for many players. I hope I haven't implied otherwise. I simply encouraged you to express your concerns where they will not be buried in a BtS thread!

 

[rosynelson]

Hi,

When will Beyond the Sword be available for the Mac?

Rosy

 

[mourndraken]

xxxxxxxxxx

 

[dojoboy]

Hi,

When will Beyond the Sword be available for the Mac?

Rosy

It would seem it's on indefinite hold.