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appledude83 · Dec 19, 2002, 08:37 PM

Does anybody have the game yet? I'd like to know how it is, gameplay and everything as well as the Mac translation. Also I'm curious as to how it would run on my new iBook 800 mhz. It seems like it would be allright, especially since I have the 32MB graphic card and 640 MB of RAM.

-Q- · Dec 20, 2002, 12:25 AM

Just got the shipping confirmation today, so I should have it by the weekend. I have the same machine, same specs even, so I'll let you know how it goes...

Dec 20, 2002, 12:39 PM

I should get it soon too. I'll let you know when it arrives..

Steve

cdrgonzo20 · Dec 20, 2002, 07:28 PM

I just got it an hour ago. The game is an excellent port. The graphics are, in my opinion, better looking than WC3. I am running it on a 733 w/ GeforceTI, 1.2gb ram. It runs at 1024x768, everything on, ultra smooth with no hiccups whatsoever. I think the game has anti-aliasing for certain cards activated automatically. There is very little aliasing. The models and textures appear to be very detailed (for this type of game). The game is a blast to play.

One slight gripe I have so far is the inability to rotate the camera. I'm sure it's something I've passed over, but I have been unable to find an option to allow the camera to rotate. According to the manual, this should work by holding option and moving the mouse, but the only option in the game enables zooming by this method, not rotating. It really gets frustrating quickly, so if anybody has a solution to this I would appreciate it.

If you can swing it, buy this game. It's the most fun I've had in the first hour of a mac game for a long time.

I'm sure it will run very well on the iBook at reasonable settings. It flies on this box.

Rickster · Dec 23, 2002, 02:46 AM

Check the in-game Options screen... you'll find a checkbox for enabling camera rotation there.

A new iBook/800 should be plenty good for playing FF on. Enjoy!

a2daj · Dec 23, 2002, 05:30 AM

You guys did a great job with the port. I run the game at 1600x1200 and it's just as smooth as 1024x768. The game's hilarious.

-Q- · Dec 31, 2002, 03:34 PM

I have to second that sentiment! I'm loving this game. Now if I could only find all the meshes that I need to add more customer characters....

Rinpoche · Jan 3, 2003, 02:23 PM

nice! i've been looking forward to this game but unfortunatley they still dont carry it anywhere in my area. how is the gameplay? is it a game simliar to legend of zelda, 3rd person max payne type game at a higher angle, or warcraft...?? the screenshots i have seen look incredibly fun, the whole atmosphere of the game looks awesome!

rstevens · Jan 3, 2003, 02:46 PM

dammit! i was just at compusa and didn't realize this game was out.

Rickster · Jan 3, 2003, 04:00 PM

how is the gameplay? is it a game simliar to legend of zelda, 3rd person max payne type game at a higher angle, or warcraft...??

Of those, it's most similar to Warcraft 3... you have a squad of heroes, and you make them move or do stuff by clicking targets and choosing commands from menus. But they develop over time, and there's no buildings or resource gathering, so it's a little like an RPG, too.

Adam Betts · Jan 4, 2003, 05:42 PM

Will it perform great (with all setting low or off) on my TiG4 400mhz 512mb of ram and ATI Rage Pro 128 8mb? I'd love to try this game out. Is there a demo coming?

Rickster · Jan 4, 2003, 07:40 PM

It was quite playable on Omni's first-generation TiBook, but I don't recall whether that's the 400Mhz or 500Mhz version.

There wasn't a demo on the PC, so that makes it quite a bit harder to do a Mac demo. It might still be possible, though. But either way, I couldn't tell you whether Omni or MacPlay is planning (or doing) a demo at this point.

RoofusPennymore · Jan 6, 2003, 03:09 AM

This is one of the best games out there, IMHO. I;m surprised it doesnt get more press.

It plays in wide screen on my TiBook, YAY!

Its not clear to me if there is anything "extra" in the Mac version vs the PC version.

The System Requirements say G4 needed. I'm gessing this isnt true from the comments here.

a2daj · Jan 6, 2003, 07:23 AM

Originally posted by Rickster:
It was quite playable on Omni's first-generation TiBook, but I don't recall whether that's the 400Mhz or 500Mhz version.

There wasn't a demo on the PC, so that makes it quite a bit harder to do a Mac demo. It might still be possible, though. But either way, I couldn't tell you whether Omni or MacPlay is planning (or doing) a demo at this point.

You sure there wasn't a demo? I'm pretty sure I have it installed on my PC work laptop. It's basically the tutorial. You can get it at FilePlanet. The front page of the official FF site even says so:

http://www.myfreedomforce.com/flat_index.html
(look in the yellow box on the right.)

Rinpoche · Jan 6, 2003, 03:15 PM

is there a no cd patch available for the game?

Rickster · Jan 6, 2003, 06:08 PM

You sure there wasn't a demo?

Oops, my bad... was looking in the wrong places.

That a demo exists clears some, but not all, of the technical hurdles towards making a Mac demo. And there are business issues involved as well. So, maybe, maybe not.

is there a no cd patch available for the game?

Tim used a couple of new anti-piracy tricks on this one, so I doubt it.

Guy Incognito · Jan 6, 2003, 07:15 PM

Originally posted by Rickster:
Oops, my bad... was looking in the wrong places. That a demo exists clears some, but not all, of the technical hurdles towards making a Mac demo. And there are business issues involved as well. So, maybe, maybe not.

Tim used a couple of new anti-piracy tricks on this one, so I doubt it.

What prevents someone from burning a copy of Freedom Force though and using this CD for his pirating needs?

Rinpoche · 11:43 PM

well i got the game yesterday and i think overall its pretty cool. i'd give it an 8 out of 10 total. certain things bug me, like i wish they had a camera rotating option available. sometimes during the fight scenes the angles get a bit awkward, and i hate fighting when its zoomed all the way up in birds eye view. also, it gets hectic at times controlling all of the characters in a 4 team squad. but overall the game is pretty good,

dws · Jan 10, 2003, 01:21 AM

I tend to agree with all the positive comments, but I find mouse movements to be so glacial that it really hampers gameplay. Is this an issue that anybody else is having a problem with?

Guy Incognito · Jan 10, 2003, 01:24 AM

Originally posted by Rinpoche:
well i got the game yesterday and i think overall its pretty cool. i'd give it an 8 out of 10 total. certain things bug me, like i wish they had a camera rotating option available. sometimes during the fight scenes the angles get a bit awkward, and i hate fighting when its zoomed all the way up in birds eye view.

Did you even read anything from this thread? The camera rotation option is in the Option screen.

a2daj · Jan 10, 2003, 01:56 AM

Slow mouse movement isn't an issue with me. It works just fine.

Guy Incognito · Jan 15, 2003, 01:02 PM

I know this may sound like a dumb question but: How is Freedom Force's install? Is it a drag'n'drop bundle?

Liquidity X · Jan 15, 2003, 02:30 PM

drag the folder to the HD, thats it

Guy Incognito · Jan 15, 2003, 03:32 PM

Originally posted by Liquidity X:
drag the folder to the HD, thats it

Folder?

What other things are in the folder? Plugins folders and stuff?

Liquidity X · Jan 15, 2003, 04:40 PM

A data folder, System Folder, FF App, and a ff.err and ff.log files.

appledude83 · Jan 23, 2003, 08:18 PM

Well I think I am finally going to go buy it, sounds like it would run well on my new iBook. I saw someone mention that they were surprised it didn't get more press. I agree, it got really good ratings on all the PC gaming sites when it came out. I think it just slipped through the cracks somehow.

MilkmanDan · Jan 29, 2003, 04:24 PM

I've been playing the game on a G4 867 with a Radeon 9000 and 512 RAm. After a while of playing the game gets really choppy and laggy. So far as to not be playable. Any ideas on what could be happening? I did a fresh install of 10.2 eariler this month, so I'm mostly sure its not the system. Oh well, any ideas?

Rickster · Jan 29, 2003, 08:41 PM

Sounds odd. Anything interesting in the FF.err and FF.log files in the same folder as the app?

ccrider · Jan 29, 2003, 10:19 PM

Is this something that was added just for the mac port?

The PC review that I read stated that the lack of camera rotation was the one thing that really bugged them.

Or was it later added as a patch?

Anyway, I saw this game at macworld- it looked great, and it's been getting great reviews. I think I shall buy it. Yes, I will.

iamnid · Jan 29, 2003, 10:22 PM

Runs perfect on my system (specs below) and I had it running ok on a first generation dual-usb ibook with all of the settings at minimum. My only gripe is that recently I've been looking at screenshots of the game on the pc and it appears that the pc version has dynamic lighting and different colored lighting effects. I have all settings at max and am playing at 1600 X 1200. Rickster, is there something I'm missing or did the lighting effects just not make it into the port?

Check out pc.ign.com's review if you are wondering what I'm talking about... or for that matter, you can probably tell by looking at screenshots on any pc site that reviews freedom force.

iamnid · Jan 29, 2003, 10:23 PM

oh yeah.. i'm not sure what everybody is complaining about... camera rotation is quite clearly one of the options in the settings on my freedom force.

Pepi Picklefoot · Jan 29, 2003, 11:24 PM

I bought FF about a week ago and have been experiencing lots of problems.

1) Dragging and dropping the FF folder start copying all the files...it then gets to the huge sound file, copies about 99% of it and then the CD just spins down. Nothing happens for about a minute (the Finder copy window stays put for while) and then finally the timeout kicks in and says the file was not copied completely.

I had to add the rest of the files manually (which included 'System' folder and 'FreedomForce' itself.

Launching the game was amazing though. The little swirl effect is the coolest transition I've ever seen.

Anyways...

2) The game will occasionally go into some kind of OpenGL hiccup and flash anomolies on the screen. I'm not sure how to describe it...but I can see wireframes I guess.

3) Maybe caused by 2 or maybe caused by 'the mysterious G4 problem I've been having' (oh btw, I'm Guy Incognito

and yes, I still have the mysterious freeze problem that nobody, including Apple, could solve. The temporary solution was to disable Quartz Extreme.) Funny enough, QE is disabled when I'm running FF and it still freezes...I don't think it's related to the other freeze problem I was talking about in that off-topic parenthesis.

4) I can't play a simple net game with my buddy with the PC version. I enter his IP address and no games show up.

webb3201 · Feb 3, 2003, 11:17 AM

Originally posted by Liquidity X:
drag the folder to the HD, thats it

Another install question. I like to make disk images of my games so that I can carry a few with me without media. As I play on a powerbook, using an image rather than a spinning CD helps with battery life.

I cannot get this to work with FF. Is this some sort of copy protection?

Thanks

Thinine · Feb 3, 2003, 12:12 PM

It has to do with Apple's disk images rather than copy protection. Warcraft III used to do that until I made a disk image with toast instead of disk copy. For some reason, WC3 works off that image when mounted.

Rickster · 06:52 PM

Rickster, is there something I'm missing or did the lighting effects just not make it into the port?

Some effects might not work on the GPU you're using. Also, there were a couple of DirectX effects that OpenGL on Mac OS X doesn't currently have support for.

Is this some sort of copy protection?

Yes. FF makes sure its CD is actually in the drive instead of just checking for a name among mounted volumes. We've tested to make sure it doesn't try to keep the CD spinning, though, so you should be fine on a portable.

kentuckyfried · Feb 5, 2003, 01:13 PM

Umm....I guess this doesn't work on a G3?

* waiting ever, ever so patiently for 12" powerbook to arrive. *sigh*

Pepi Picklefoot · Feb 5, 2003, 02:41 PM

Hmmm...I still haven't gotten an answer to my problem/questions.

Centris650 · Mar 17, 2003, 06:17 PM

I was just wondering if the Character Tool was out for the mac? If so...Where? I really want to make my own characters. (This is one of the two reasons I bought the game!) Thanks in advance!