How is the Mac Civ II Different from PC Version?

[Gatekeeper]

Everyone:

Just what the subject line states. During my time at 'Poly, I've seen some issues raised about the PC version of Civ II that I never really encounter when I play the game (such as the monumentally stupid AI). Is this just a figment of my imagination or was the code tightened a bit for the Mac release?

CYBERAmazon

(P.S. One thing that is common across the platforms is the AI's non-use of aircraft carriers, which is sad.)

[Henrik]

Re: How is the Mac Civ II Different from PC Version?

Originally posted by CYBERAmazon
Everyone:

Just what the subject line states. During my time at 'Poly, I've seen some issues raised about the PC version of Civ II that I never really encounter when I play the game (such as the monumentally stupid AI). Is this just a figment of my imagination or was the code tightened a bit for the Mac release?

I believe so, yes, but only for the classic version, it seems they ported MGE directly from PC MGE and didnt do the same changes, thus the mac MGE AI is just as stupid as the PC AI (I used to use the goto comand when I had the classic version, something I for obvious reasons had to stop doing when I got MGE).

[Wiglaf]

If you're talking about the classic release, CYBER, I don't think there's much of a difference (only played for ten minutes on the PC, but I'm pretty sure - as for bugs, that's a much more definite cutoff, macs are quite a bit more stable in my experiance). MGE is probably where the AI holes start to appear.

[Gatekeeper]

Henrik, Wiglaf:

**shudder** The Mac version of MGE leaves two solid memories in my mind: the incredibly aggressive AI and, worse, the bug that would crash the program when trying to exit it.

CYBERAmazon

[FlameFlash]

*shrugs* I've never noticed much of a problem... once I got my G4 I actually started getting graphic errors on the screen with the other empire leader, but that's about it.

[Wiglaf]

**shudder** The Mac version of MGE leaves two solid memories in my mind: the incredibly aggressive AI and, worse, the bug that would crash the program when trying to exit it.

Hm. What OS was that crash bug on?

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Wiglaf


Hm. What OS was that crash bug on?

8.5.1

I still use that OS, too, and won't change it since I plan on buying a 700mhz iMac in the next few months or so. If I recall right, Brian Nesse (a Macsoft programmer) said it was something related to the MP part of the game. We never could fix it, short of ripping out the MP.

CYBERAmazon

[Smash]

That crash when quitting glitch disappeared from my mac version with one of the patches.I don't recall it being mentioned but it was gone.It didn't affect save games....TG.

The mac version looks slightly better.Nicer fonts and sizes.Smaller dialogue boxes.Couple of the pc dialogue boxes stretch across the entire screen for a few sentences.

One thing I have not seen in the pc version is barbs before founding.This would happen occasionally in the mac version.Quite rare but possible.

The outstanding MAC issue involved barbs freezing the game in mp.Nesse surmized we might lose pc compatibilty to fully fix it.Thankfully, it is also quite infrequent.

[lucy78green]

I've been running civ 2 on a power mac 4400/200 with OS 8.6 for years and didn't notice any serious glitches, but I've never played it on a pc to compare.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Smash
That crash when quitting glitch disappeared from my mac version with one of the patches.I don't recall it being mentioned but it was gone.It didn't affect save games....TG.

Hmpfh. We were never able to get rid of it on my computer — an iMac 333mhz, 8.5.1 with 160 RAM. Nesse did say it appeared to be a hit-n-miss problem that didn't pop up on all the Macintoshes, though. But I wasn't the only one who had this problem. Odd, isn't it?

CYBERAmazon

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by lucy78green
I've been running civ 2 on a power mac 4400/200 with OS 8.6 for years and didn't notice any serious glitches, but I've never played it on a pc to compare.

The only glitch I've ever noticed — the "exit program" command that crashes the game half the time — was with Civ II Gold (multiplayer). The normal Civ II game has no glitches, insofar as I can tell (which is why I don't want to part with it when I upgrade to an iMac 800mhz w/OS10.1.x in a few months).

CYBERAmazon

[monolith94]

Civ 2 runs oh so well on my mac... Practically flawlessly. Of course, the AI isn't the smartest, but that's ok by me!

[finbar]

My MGE still jams on the AI turn. Did it twice in a session recently. On the other hand, I can play for weeks without a problem. Brian Nesse said it was insoluble.

Oh, and the biggest difference between the PC and Mac versions, to my mind, is that the barbs can kill a Mac capital if it's your first and only city. Not always, but they can do it. Because they've done it to me. On the PC version, your capital (as first and only city) is safe no matter what the barbs throw at it.

[FlameFlash]

Originally posted by finbar
Oh, and the biggest difference between the PC and Mac versions, to my mind, is that the barbs can kill a Mac capital if it's your first and only city. Not always, but they can do it. Because they've done it to me. On the PC version, your capital (as first and only city) is safe no matter what the barbs throw at it.

Now that's a cool difference... never had barbs take a city of mine except early on before I sent out settlers wo/ some kind of protection from the get-go.

[monolith94]

Oh, also, civ 2 for mac has a secret level.