Civ III Mac: 1.29 Patch/PtW Fears ...

[FlameFlash]

Another Civ game I'm often involved with also works quite well under Classic in X.2:

Call to Power.

Even the PC->Mac save file converter worked seamlessly. Shortly I hope to host a way to download the Carbon versions of SMAX and SMAC for those of you who want to download them.

[Gatekeeper]

Good news all around, FlameFlash. Now all we have to do is root for the 1.29/PtW patch/port to the Macintosh.

Gatekeeper

[FlameFlash]

Amen.
Gatekeeper.
Amen.

[blahedo]

CivIII on TiBooks---still nothing

I'm really getting pretty irritated that they haven't released the 1.29 patch yet for the Mac---when I called in August, they implied that it was nearly done and would be rolled out in a few weeks. Since I can't play CivIII at all on my TiBook until the patch comes out (due to idiocy regarding screen resolution), I would have returned the game if I thought it was going to be another three months (and counting...)

I don't suppose anyone here has any information about whether the patch is ever coming out? (I posted this to the CivIII-General board a while ago, but was told to post here. You guys should advertise better, I didn't even know this forum existed.

...but actually, I'm more just trying to get out the word that Infogrames et al are totally lying on their system requirements---all of which I exceed---by not including the phrase "...except for high-end laptops, which don't work with our game because we're idiots."

[FlameFlash]

Re: CivIII on TiBooks---still nothing

Originally posted by blahedo
I'm really getting pretty irritated that they haven't released the 1.29 patch yet for the Mac---when I called in August, they implied that it was nearly done and would be rolled out in a few weeks. Since I can't play CivIII at all on my TiBook until the patch comes out (due to idiocy regarding screen resolution), I would have returned the game if I thought it was going to be another three months (and counting...)

/me shudders.

Ugh... Thank God I have a desktop...

Besides for the screen resolution bug, what else would the 1.29 fix?

I don't suppose anyone here has any information about whether the patch is ever coming out? (I posted this to the CivIII-General board a while ago, but was told to post here. You guys should advertise better, I didn't even know this forum existed.

No clue... saddly... I wish I could help you out more on that one.

...but actually, I'm more just trying to get out the word that Infogrames et al are totally lying on their system requirements---all of which I exceed---by not including the phrase "...except for high-end laptops, which don't work with our game because we're idiots."

Well, I think we already knew that one... but thanks for letting us know it.

Have you been able to play the game at all?!

I think you've got a big case for calling and harassing Infogrames every day... I'll start too once I get the game (if it's even recommended that I get it anymore...)

And good luck!

[blahedo]

Re: Re: CivIII on TiBooks---still nothing

Originally posted by FlameFlash
Besides for the screen resolution bug, what else would the 1.29 fix?

Well, all the things that 1.29 fixed in the PC version, I would assume...

Have you been able to play the game at all?!

Nope. I double click it, it bounces in the dock for perhaps ten seconds, and then it quits. Not even a dialog box pops up (which is interesting, because in the FAQ it says that even with the screen resolution problem you get to the initial config screen).

I think you've got a big case for calling and harassing Infogrames every day... I'll start too once I get the game (if it's even recommended that I get it anymore...)

See, that's the thing---I still really really want to play it, because it's a great game (my housemate has it on her PC, and I've played it a bunch over there). I definitely plan on calling Infogrames to harass them about this, though.

[FlameFlash]

Glad to know it is a great game... just buggy...

I'll certainly still consider getting it then.

And then I'll happily start harassing Infogrames as well...

[EJDay]

Re: CivIII on TiBooks---still nothing

Originally posted by blahedo
I'm really getting pretty irritated that they haven't released the 1.29 patch yet for the Mac---when I called in August, they implied that it was nearly done and would be rolled out in a few weeks. Since I can't play CivIII at all on my TiBook until the patch comes out (due to idiocy regarding screen resolution), I would have returned the game if I thought it was going to be another three months (and counting...)

Just out of curiosity, what is it about screen resolution that prevents you from playing? I've got an old 400 TiBook and it plays fine on mine (from the beginning up through and including 1.21g).

[blahedo]

Re: Re: CivIII on TiBooks---still nothing

Originally posted by EJDay

Just out of curiosity, what is it about screen resolution that prevents you from playing? I've got an old 400 TiBook and it plays fine on mine (from the beginning up through and including 1.21g).

!

!!

The FAQ includes a question about CivIII crashing on tibooks, and the answer says that "this issue seems to be related to the screen resolutions unique to the wide screen on the PowerBook." The question as stated doesn't exactly describe my experience (it says "when I get to the gameplay screen", but I don't even get that far), so I called them, and they said it was definitely the resolution.

This is, of course, completely idiotic since the tibook also supports all the standard resolutions---and even if I switch to the standard resolutions it crashes on startup. Nevertheless, they said it's because of the resolution, and that the fix would be in the patch, which they implied would be out soon.

Three months ago.

But tell me about your experience here! You actually have a Titanium Powerbook G4? With a native resolution of 1152x768? And CivIII "plays fine"? Wow, I didn't think anything would piss me off more than them dragging their feet on the patch, but this'd be it.

[EJDay]

Re: Re: Re: CivIII on TiBooks---still nothing

Originally posted by blahedo
...But tell me about your experience here! You actually have a Titanium Powerbook G4? With a native resolution of 1152x768? And CivIII "plays fine"? Wow, I didn't think anything would piss me off more than them dragging their feet on the patch, but this'd be it.

Yup. Sorry to fuel the fire, but I play on 1152x768, millions of colors. Not stretched, if that makes a difference. Had some problems with playing the "movie" of game progress at the end, but not switching resolution for the movie -- and giving it a minute to think about it -- it plays fine, too.

[blahedo]

GAAAHHH.

After EJDay's post, I called tech support, and pointed out that my problem (they still had me on file!) still happened but clearly wasn't due to screen resolution. "Jason" asked me if I was running OS X ("yes"; "oh.") then, well, had I tried it under OS 9? No.

So I commenced to try it, but first I had to move the install over to my other partition, since it was on the UFS partition that only OS X could see. He suggested deleting it and reinstalling it (and then reapplying the patch), and if it still didn't work, to call back.

As I was waiting for the install, it dawned on me: the reason it didn't work was because Macsoft assumed an HFS+ drive, and never thought to test on UFS. I was dead certain that it would work fine under both systems, once it was installed on the HFS+ partition.

Sure enough...

It runs, I can start a game, I can do stuff, and at tibook 1152x768 resolution to boot.

I still can't save, though, or more exactly, I can't load a saved game; but that is a separate problem that I can call tech support about tomorrow.

JEE-zus I wish they had told me this four months ago. I bet they don't even have any idea that UFS partitions don't work with their software. They certainly don't mention it in the FAQ.

[FlameFlash]

Well, that will certainly be something to mention to them when you give them a call.

Just glad you're finally kind of up and running (now to load those saves... )

[EJDay]

Originally posted by blahedo
I still can't save, though, or more exactly, I can't load a saved game; but that is a separate problem that I can call tech support about tomorrow.

Happy to eliminate possibilities.
On the save issue, I've noticed it can be finicky. If you're playing a different patch level than you saved, it won't open the game (a consideration if you did a fresh install). If you're just moving the game around, something usually seems to get corrupted. I remember reinstalling the game and repatching to my previous level (hard drive issues), only to find while the original the .sav files had been corrupted. Bummer. If you start a new game, can you save it and go back to it? If so, you may be experiencing the same corruptions I was getting (and if that's the case, the empire locked in those old .sav files are gone forever).

[blahedo]

Nope, I generated the save file from scratch under this installation, after applying the patch.

[EJDay]

Originally posted by blahedo
Nope, I generated the save file from scratch under this installation, after applying the patch.

Hm. I'm stumped. Do you remember the specific error message? Or what exactly happens?