Mac and PC multiplayer

[ScreamingCube]

Hi, I started a topic here months ago wondering about whether you can play a network game between a PC and a Mac running SMAC. Does anyone know any specifics about which versions each should be running? The latest PC version doesn't seem to have a Mac equivalent patch, what should we do?

Thanks a lot.

[Darsnan]

wgabrie used to run SMAC on a Mac. You might want to PM him and ask him if this is possible.

However, back in '02 I do recall inviting wgabrie to a TCP/IP game once, and he said that the game wouldn't run between the two OS's in that manner. I am assuming that this still holds true. FYI.


D

[ScreamingCube]

Thanks a lot, I'll PM him right now. Anyone else have any idea?

[wgabrie]

Hi there, I was recommended by someone on the Apolyton forums to ask you how to play a multiplayer SMAC game against someone on a mac, when I have a PC. Is there any way to get them to play together on a network? What version patch will I need for each? Thanks.

For network games, The short answer is you can't. SMAC PC uses a Windows only communications package. The Mac SMAC port doesn't support this protocol. You can still play Hotseat/Play by email though. Just make sure you both update to the latest version.

The PC update should be on Firaxis' site. www.firaxis.com. You can also get the latest Mac update from Aspyr if you go to their games section. www.aspyr.com


I just got the PM. I'm posting the reply by PM and here in case anyone else finds this thread and was wondering about the same thing. You know, I search google with questions sometimes and find forums where no one cared enough to answer the question other than through email. And of course by the time I came around everyone associated with the thread grew old and died.

[ScreamingCube]

Originally posted by wgabrie


For network games, The short answer is you can't. SMAC PC uses a Windows only communications package. The Mac SMAC port doesn't support this protocol. You can still play Hotseat/Play by email though. Just make sure you both update to the latest version.

The PC update should be on Firaxis' site. www.firaxis.com. You can also get the latest Mac update from Aspyr if you go to their games section. www.aspyr.com

Thanks a lot for the thorough answer . I don't suppose there's any way to get around this windows-only protocol, or to add support for the Mac version? Oh well. Thanks again.

[wgabrie]

Unfortunatly, there's no way to solve this without a total rewrite of SMAC on the programing level. SMAC PC was writen with and uses the network sprocket from DirectX. Its Windows optimized code, not open standards. This kept the developers from targeting multiple platforms with the same feature set.

The Aspyr team ported SMAC with Apple's own game sprockets. These could connect to other Mac versions of the game but not with DirectX. As far as compatiblitity goes these two protocols are worlds apart. Totally incompatible.

Little chance that Microsoft could even program a Mac version of DirectX. Even if they could SMAC Mac is hard coded. It would require a total rewrite to take advantage of a new feature set. And Aspyr discontinued active develpment on the Mac port several years ago. They didn't even bother Carbonizing it for Mac OS X! So no help there.

[ScreamingCube]

Fair enough. I wonder if I could find any kind of mac OS emulator that could run SMAC....

[wgabrie]

I have been out of the Mac emulation scene for several years. However, there was a good site dedicated to Mac emulators. http://www.emaculation.com/ The problems with Mac emulation however are that they are based on the old 68K series Motorola CPUs, They usualy require a ROM image taken from the Mac model the program is emulating, and they don't yet support PowerPC code. This last part is a problem.

SMAC System Requirements:
MacOS
System 7.5.3 or later
PowerPC 603e at 150 mHz or faster
Plays on any iMac or G3
16MB RAM (32 recommended)
4X CD-ROM Drive
Hard Drive and Color Monitor
Capable of 800x600 resolution
QuickTime 4.0 (included)

Looking at the SMAC's Mac system requirements it needs a PowerPC 603e 150 MHz or better. So you'll be looking for chips from the following series: 603e, 604, 604e, G3, or G4. Not G5. None of which are currently emulated.

Instead I recomend purchasing a used PowerMac or iMac G3 from ebay, at least the price is right. Use a site such as www.apple-history.com or www.lowendmac.com to find a Mac model that at fits the specs for SMAC Mac with maybe a little padding on the system requirements. I should point out that Low End Mac also has a section on "Best used Mac buys" http://www.lowendmac.com/best/index.shtml And they also have a "Road Apples" list to help you avoid the bad models, http://www.lowendmac.com/roadapples/index.shtml it might help you out.

Well that's about all the expertiese I've got on the matter.

EDIT: Hey Low End Mac has a Deals page, maybe you could find a G3 based mac for cheap! http://www.lowendmac.com/deals.shtml

[PJayTycy]

and what about windows-emulators for the macintosh ?

[wgabrie]

Originally posted by PJayTycy
and what about windows-emulators for the macintosh ?

I've been out of the PC emulation scene for several years as well. But here's the PC page from my favorite site for emulators that run on the Mac. http://emulation.victoly.com/windoze/

Several versions ago, I used Virtual PC. A commertial program which I thought was the easiest to use. It also has networking features. But emulating an x86 is a slow processor intensive task because the emulator has to flip the binary code around. For some reason x86 and macs read binary code from opposite directions.

In VPC speed is based on how fast the Mac CPU is. Running VPC 2.1 on an iMac 233MHz felt like a P1 100MHz. When I ran VPC 6 on a iMac 600MHz it was about 233MHz. I haven't tested the latest versions. BTW one of the reasons I bought a PC to put near my Mac was because emulation runs about less than half the speed of the Processor. Virtual PC without OS now costs >$120 where as you can buy a used deal from ebay with twice the MHz speed and half the price.

But if you wanted to run SMAC in an emulator the specs are below. Nice specs, You certainly should be able to get it running. But if it's too slow for you or you run other games with bigger specs consider a used PC.

[SIZE=1] System requirements
Pentium 133 MHz or higher processor
Windows 95/98
16 MB RAM minimum
60 MB free hard drive space
DirectX 6 (included on the CD)
4X CD ROM drive
MS compatible mouse and keyboard
DirectX 6 compatible video card (2 MB)
DirectX 6 compatible sound card
Required for multiplayer:
Network with IPX/SPX compatible protocol (2-7 players)
Serial Connection (2 players)
28.8 kbps modem (2 players)
TCP/IP via user's Internet connection (2-4 players)
Microphone required for multiplayer voice communication

[Hercules]

Very useful Wgabrie. Just the sort of information that should be in the FAQ.

Maybe it is.

[wgabrie]

Ok, I got curious so I decided to try installing the game on my old Virtual PC and see what would happen. The installation went smoothly. However, I recommend following any and all advice in the readme and elsewhere to increase performance in Game, here's why:

After installing the low-res caviar It took me 26 minutes to load SMAC (I think it was trying to set 1024 res even though my emulator window was locked at 800); Choose the game preferences; Land; get to the Preferences; and unchecked Auto-save, check all move quickly options, disable the Sound, Movies, all Animations, and flatten the terrain. I recommend just hitting Quick start to get into the game faster on the first try. And if you find the code to set 800x600 res with the Alphacentauri.ini file, that would help too I think.

The second and third times were faster. But it still took about 6 Minutes to get past the Firaxis logo the second time. I guess it's a timer thing run amuck. It also took 4 Min to get from the faction screen into single player as the game drew the map and landed the escape pod. But once you get into the game, after disabling the bells and whistles and using quick moves, the game runs much less sluggishly than I would have thought considering the load times. It seems to runs at normal speed when moving units and stuff except it hangs for a few seconds when clicking buttons or check boxes in the game. You might want to disable any non-essential Warnings in the preferences.

Even though my PC is here, I wasn't able to test multiplayer. I couldn't figure out what Multiplayer options to use or how to use them. I've never had use for them before except for Play by Email so I never learned which option to choose and why. I'm such a network dunderhead.

[ScreamingCube]

Thanks for doing all that research, wgabrie. I guess I can start trying to convince my roommate to buy a PC, his Mac gets in the way of playing a lot of games.

One last question, if anyone knows offhand... Is there any way to run Alpha Centauri nicely in a window? The only thing I like more about Civilization 2 than Alpha Centauri is that you can run it in a window, and thus continue IMing/web browsing/ writing while playing network games. Alpha Centauri screws up windows colors, seems to invert a lot of them when I try alt-tabbing, and doesnt seem friendly to run-in-window mode. Anyone know of any way around this?

[GeoModder]

Well, for having your normal screen colors simply adjust them to standard after starting the game. As long as you don't quit SMAC and restart they won't adjust automatically again.

Windowed mode I don't know.