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im_noahselby · Dec 27, 2002, 01:45 AM

Any news yet on Sim City 4?

Considering the release of this title is set for January 14th on the PC, I'm a bit choked that Maxis/EA hasn't had the courtesy of informing their fans on the Mac side regarding the status of Mac development/port/progress of Sim City 4

If it does, yet exist, it would sure be nice to know....

So does anyone have information that pertains to this title? For those who have been following Maxis's Sim City games in the last few years: How long of a delay was it between the PC and Mac versions of Sim City 3000 and Sim City Unlimited?

Thanks,

Noah

Angus_D · Dec 27, 2002, 10:26 AM

No news about Mac ports yes, but there was a delay of at least a few months for SC3K IIRC, and the port was quite badly done (required outrageous specs to run acceptably)

willed · Dec 27, 2002, 06:47 PM

Ah, I remeber the days of SC2K when the Mac version was the default and the PC version and afterthought! Tham were the days...

FlashGordon · Dec 27, 2002, 09:15 PM

SS4 has gone gold master, but there are no reports of a Mac port. The success of the Sims series on Mac makes a port very likely though. Who knows when however.

Big Mac · Dec 31, 2002, 07:13 PM

It is truly lamentable that Maxis, a once great Mac developer, now does no Mac development whatsoever since it is only a divison of the anti-Mac EA. All of the recent Maxis titles have been ports. I wonder how many original Maxis developers are still there and what their thoughts are on the abandonment of the Mac.

calamar1 · Jan 2, 2003, 03:56 PM

i am quite desperate to find out when it's coming. Given all the recent 'surprise' unveilings of secret Westlake projects and Aspyr titles, i was kinda hoping SC4 would be one of them.

SC3k was a good game, but it was just a hog. It runs smoothly now, now that i have a G4/867. Unfortunately the game predated G4s of any speed, and was just embarrassingly slow on my 604e/200 at the time.

nycdunz · Jan 3, 2003, 09:19 AM

i hope to see simcity 4 for mac released, if not im gonna be pissed... a good game like this needs to be run on a good computer... damn man... c'mon somebody out there! i hope this doesn't take months to port, sigh...

Frumpy · Jan 11, 2003, 03:39 AM

Been staring at the PC box since we got it in a couple days ago (work at Circuit City in NY). Looks great, but can't start selling it until the 14th. 3000 has been a favorite of mine, but i haven't tried it since i upgraded to X. Hmmm...

Parvulesco · Jan 20, 2003, 05:47 PM

Originally posted by Big Mac:
It is truly lamentable that Maxis, a once great Mac developer, now does no Mac development whatsoever since it is only a divison of the anti-Mac EA. All of the recent Maxis titles have been ports. I wonder how many original Maxis developers are still there and what their thoughts are on the abandonment of the Mac.

Maxis was never a "Mac developer"--they were a developer for multiple platforms since their inception. The first version of SimCity was for the Commodore 64, and the Amiga version of SimCity ran rings around the Mac version (which was black and white only).

Adam Betts · Jan 21, 2003, 05:31 AM

Originally posted by Parvulesco:
Maxis was never a "Mac developer"--they were a developer for multiple platforms since their inception. The first version of SimCity was for the Commodore 64, and the Amiga version of SimCity ran rings around the Mac version (which was black and white only).

Maxis was a Mac Developer. Their company became famous after releasing SimCity Color for 68k. Lot of mac programmers joined and there they created SimAnt, SimFarm, SimEarth, SimAnimal etc etc. Most of them was started on Mac and later ported to Windows

So yes Maxis was a Mac Developer long time ago. In an old interview, they said that they "offically" started on Mac and expanded from there. Most of the mac loyal programmers left Maxis for other better jobs.

as2 · Jan 22, 2003, 06:20 AM

I want SC4K too....

Remembered how cool the original was when I found a version for my Cli�!! Now I can play in my lectures!

If only I still used OS9 I'd dig my copy of SC2K out too.

Ahh well..

Adam

schalliol · Jan 22, 2003, 02:54 PM

Should anyone be roaming around here that's wondering if they should produce the version for Mac, I'll pre-order today.

We had an Atari 800XL in the 80's, when we saw SimCity the first time we had to get it. In fact, before we bought our PC we bought SimCity. A month after the first post and with SC4 shipping, any news?

Parvulesco · Jan 22, 2003, 03:14 PM

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
Maxis was a Mac Developer. Their company became famous after releasing SimCity Color for 68k. Lot of mac programmers joined and there they created SimAnt, SimFarm, SimEarth, SimAnimal etc etc. Most of them was started on Mac and later ported to Windows

So yes Maxis was a Mac Developer long time ago. In an old interview, they said that they "offically" started on Mac and expanded from there. Most of the mac loyal programmers left Maxis for other better jobs.

I never denied that they wrote a great deal of software for the Mac--but this notion that they were a "Mac developer" (whatever that means) is simply incorrect. As I noted previously, SimCity was originally for another platform, and they have written software for multiple platforms since their inception.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

redJag · Jan 22, 2003, 11:54 PM

I have had Sim City 4 on my PC for a couple weeks (got it before release day, just didn't know it wasn't released yet) and its pretty cool. A lot more complex/confusing than the SimCity 2000 I remember. Anyway, if they DO port this to mac I have no doubt it will be slower than poop. Just buy a real gaming console, like windows XP. Although I've always thought it kind of lame that they use keyboards instead of controllers..

schalliol · Jan 23, 2003, 01:43 PM

FYI . . .

My Email to Aspyr________________
> According to ESRB you're making the Sim City 4 version for Mac (assuming OS
> X). I was just wondering if you have any news about the time that it will be
> available? I'm ready to pay nearly any amount (well under $100) to pre-order
>it today! :-)
>Link: http://www.esrb.com/search_results.a...&y=0&type=game

Aspyr's Response_________________
Howdy Jon,

First, we appreciate you thinking of us when you think about having games
developed for the Macintosh platform.

If you have not done so, you can subscribe to our newsletter, which is sent
out via email on a monthly basis. This newsletter is where we announce new
projects. We also have a project status page at our web-site that shows
what is being worked on.

Regrettably, if a game is not shown on that page, or we have not made an
announcement about a particular title, then we have no public comment as to
whether we are evaluating it or not. Other companies can make any claims
that they choose to, but we are not bound by those claims.

Thank you again for your interest and support of Macintosh gaming.

John
--
John Phelps
[email protected]
Tech support guru, game player, Macintosh loyalist.

mac freak · Jan 24, 2003, 02:13 AM

Don't ya love canned repsonses?

schalliol · Jan 24, 2003, 02:15 AM

You know I do, I wake up in the morning and rush to my computer to see them come in. My heart leaps at the sight of "no public comment".

superfula · Jan 24, 2003, 09:04 PM

Originally posted by Parvulesco:
I never denied that they wrote a great deal of software for the Mac--but this notion that they were a "Mac developer" (whatever that means) is simply incorrect. As I noted previously, SimCity was originally for another platform, and they have written software for multiple platforms since their inception.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

If you don't know what "Mac developer" means, how can you say Maxis wasn't one? You say they wrote software for the Mac...that means they were a Mac developer.

BTW, you are incorrect on another part. Maxis will tell you they started on the Mac and expanded to other platforms.

Parvulesco · Jan 27, 2003, 05:00 PM

Originally posted by superfula:
If you don't know what "Mac developer" means, how can you say Maxis wasn't one? You say they wrote software for the Mac...that means they were a Mac developer.

BTW, you are incorrect on another part. Maxis will tell you they started on the Mac and expanded to other platforms.

My intended point (which I admittedly didn't make very clear) was that Maxis did a lot of great work for the Mac, despite making software for a number of different platforms from their very beginning. (As I mentioned before, SimCity was originally released for the Commodore 64 in 1987, not for the Mac. In addition, the Mac version was outshined by the versions for other platforms, such as the Amiga.) You can't call Maxis a "Mac developer" because this implies that they developed exclusively for the Mac, which was never the case. But by no means does this entail that they did not develop great software for the Mac.

veryniceguy2002 · Jan 27, 2003, 11:09 PM

Originally posted by redJag:
I have had Sim City 4 on my PC for a couple weeks (got it before release day, just didn't know it wasn't released yet) and its pretty cool. A lot more complex/confusing than the SimCity 2000 I remember. Anyway, if they DO port this to mac I have no doubt it will be slower than poop. Just buy a real gaming console, like windows XP. Although I've always thought it kind of lame that they use keyboards instead of controllers..

Do you think it's worth the money to get a PC version now if people have a PIII machine lies around, and play it until the Mac version comes out?

I have a brief read on the Systems Requirements stated in the box. I think it states a PIII 700MHz as minimum... sounds like unless they (Maxis or Aspyr or whoever do the port) do a good job of porting, otherwise you will need a 1GHz machine to play on a Mac (or may be AltiVec does help in the rendering and doesn't need that high requirements when it comes to Mac?

)

schalliol · Jan 28, 2003, 04:39 AM

I would not think that you would need a higher MHz Mac to play it than a P3, if nothing else we're as fast, but I think we're faster per cycle.

RoofusPennymore · Jan 28, 2003, 11:18 AM

GameSpy has a review and they note that it can be slow, even on a fast machine.

Nephron · Jan 29, 2003, 12:38 AM

I am also impatient for a Mac port. I get the feeling that it is inevitable, but I hope we don't have to wait too long. All the previous versions of SimCity have spent time in my all-time favorite list.

Cheers!

redJag · Jan 29, 2003, 12:44 AM

Originally posted by veryniceguy2002:
Do you think it's worth the money to get a PC version now if people have a PIII machine lies around, and play it until the Mac version comes out?

For me personally, it would not be worth it. I don't know if I'm just not into the type of game anymore or not, but I got bored with Sim City 4 before I could figure out how to do everything. I never had a successful city even (profitable). I used to play SimCity2k for hours..I think I still could. IMHO, EA/Maxis went too far with trying to make this game bigger/better.

schalliol · Jan 29, 2003, 01:24 AM

I do hope that it is possible to make a city (on an easy level or something) that is sustainable.

I'm willing to pay my money to give it a shot though. There are few games where would I be willing to do this.

techweenie1 · Jan 29, 2003, 10:11 PM

Well Simcity 4 is a hog on my P4 1.8ghz, it litterally brings it down to it's knees.. I'm not sure it's such a great idea bringing it to the Mac at this point, they need to work out the performance issues first.

RoofusPennymore · Jan 29, 2003, 10:18 PM

Thats the same system I have. Guess I'll wait based on your review.

schalliol · Jan 29, 2003, 11:26 PM

That is really incredible. I can't believe how intensive the app is.

techweenie1 · Jan 29, 2003, 11:38 PM

I've tried it in 16-bit color now, and it runs marginally better, but still a hog.

Mac Zealot · Jan 30, 2003, 02:40 AM

I'd rather see roller coaster tycoon 2 for the mac