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freakboy2 · Apr 21, 2004, 02:47 PM

This game rules! Woot! Good to see people porting good games to the mac!

if you liked EV or EVN you need to get this game.

bartman00 · Apr 21, 2004, 09:42 PM

any link or place to download a mac demo.. or like when's it comeing out.. little info please

Lateralus · Apr 21, 2004, 10:58 PM

I hadn't heard much about X2 until last week. But it looks like it is something that I am going to buy. And I don't usually buy more than 1 game a year, so that says a lot.

Rev-O · Apr 22, 2004, 09:30 AM

found VP's website with some info. I'm very interested yet apprehensive. VP put out 'Mind Rover: The Europa Project' which liked to bail early and often in both 10.2.8 and 10.3. Hopefully this effort is better.

freakboy2 · Apr 23, 2004, 02:27 PM

sorry, don't have any real info on the porters, but a quick google search will find info on the game..

it's really quite fun

just bought a couple of covettes to patrol my shipping lanes against pirates.

Rev-O · Oct 20, 2004, 11:56 PM

Just out checking up on some of the games supposedly under development and saw an actual release date for X2: the Threat.December 11th, 2004. Looking forward to this one!

NemesisEG · Oct 21, 2004, 06:33 AM

It's a pleasure to play it on the PC; although some of the voicework is awful.

Rev-O · Nov 13, 2004, 12:25 AM

...pushed back to January 22nd, 2005...

moonmonkey · Jun 2, 2005, 02:06 AM

Finally released, i'm downloading it now!

http://www.vpltd.com/index.php?main_...roducts_id=182

rm199 · Jun 2, 2005, 05:45 AM

I hope its just my copy but the game is highly unstable (on 10.4.1) and does not have mouse support (certainly no instructions on how to enable the mouse if there is). How is the game for others?

a2daj · Jun 2, 2005, 01:01 PM

Did you configure the mouse in the initial startup dialog box?

NemesisEG · Jun 2, 2005, 01:17 PM

I'm just downloading it now from VP; it's going like the clappers @ 100 Kb/sec. It needs to as the filesize is 1.03GB. Youch.

It should be done by the time I get home tonight; so I'll post some thoughts. I've played the PC version so if you are finding framerate issues knock off the shadows and you'll find it's a bit nicer.

See you all in 3 hours!

rm199 · Jun 2, 2005, 02:00 PM

well to be honest I can't make heads or tails of that dialog box all the options are too cryptic for me! If you actually have mouse control then at least I know it is possible and can do some trial and error. Is the game stable for you? I need to ensure I save every few systems at the moment

NemesisEG · Jun 2, 2005, 07:03 PM

/wanders back in.

Well, rock solid here so far. The mouse (Logitech 510) picked up movement and commands without any tweaking.

I'm running this at 1680x1050 on a 1.33ghz PB 15 with the 9700 GPU on an external Cinema Display. I found it's the same as the PC version, in that taking off Shadows and Bumps makes things a hell of a lot smoother and it's very good with those settings.

It's only the intro that lags, so I might switch on the bumpmapping and see what that's like during the game. So far so good, looks like a decent port and it's such a good game. Forgot just how nice the music and graphics are on this one.

On my PC, I only managed that 1680x resolution at a decent FPS with everything on once I'd put the X800 card in the box. So I think the PB is doing a sterling job to handle the same res with a few settings removed.

I'll also dig out the Cyborg joystick I have in the loft; see if that makes the controls a bit easier. As you get further into the game, dampeners and suchlike improve the handling. So don't feel disheartened by what you deem as slightly...slow...turning and so forth. It's the ship you're flying, nothing more. Or so I'm told!

Gotta love those awful voice-overs. Shocking!

Gets a thumbs up from me overall.

rm199 · Jun 3, 2005, 04:21 AM

wow that sounds great, perhaps I'll reinstall and see if that fixes the mouse and stability problems. At the moment I can't go more than 10-15 minutes without the game quitting (but it is so compelling I've just been saving constantly to keep playing!)

NemesisEG · Jun 3, 2005, 12:18 PM

That sounds very odd; is X2 the only game doing this?

rm199 · Jun 3, 2005, 07:49 PM

This has to be my favourite game in a long time, but I have to give it a break - just too crashy to play.

a2daj · Jun 3, 2005, 09:37 PM

rm199, try using Tiger's built-in OpenAL library rather than the game's version. To do this , Show Package Contents, then open Contents/Frameworks. Rename the library then restart the game. Also, have you sent your crash logs to the developer?

rm199 · Jun 3, 2005, 09:45 PM

I'll try that - it could very well be sound related as the quits always occur alondside some sound stuttering. Regarding crash logs I'm not sure there are any, the game just quits and thats that!

*cross fingers*

while searching for information on the web I came across X3 and the videos from E3 2005... oh my does that look good!

NemesisEG · Jun 4, 2005, 05:03 PM

it does look rather smashing; let's hope it not got Havok code in it!

Given up with the Cyborg joystick. It maps perfectly, but this joystick is a pig to use. It has a spring and disc to return everything to centre and it makes for small directional changes almost impossible.

I had a couple of drops to desktop, but I was zapping in and out of the game and messing with the dead-zones on the 'stick. Other than that, rock solid.

Briareus · Jun 4, 2005, 06:29 PM

looks interesting, and I really need a new game for the summer months.

Hopefully a demo will be released soon...

JoshuaZ · Jun 5, 2005, 01:42 AM

A demo would be very helpful in this sort of situation. Looks cool though.

moonmonkey · Jun 5, 2005, 08:14 PM

Runs OK here on a 1.4 G4 Mac mini 256Meg RAM

Set to 800 600 thousands. minimum graphics settings.

The cut-scenes are appalling though, I can't seem to skip them reliably too.

How the hall can I make some money?? any ideas??

rm199 · Jun 5, 2005, 08:52 PM

mobile mining (costs you about 350k to get started though, but you can get that from the end of mission 2) and/or capturing pirate ships (costs 7-12k in wasp missiles per ship you capture). Either way you can turn over a few million in a couple of hours easy. Once those millions go into Solar Power Plants and Crystal Fabs you won't have a shortage of cash, just a shortage of patience for how dumb your freighter pilots can be. There are scripts for the PC version that fix some of those things but I've not read if anyone has got them working on the mac yet.

I started straight off with a Solar plant and not enough working capital to get it running so I had to 'feed' it (hand to mouth fashion) with captured pirate ship funds. Was very slow to get going - perhaps it would have been better to just save 5 million or so from pirate ships or mining before starting factories.

The game still isn't release quality stable for me but I just ensure I have 20 salvage insurances from the goner temple and save every couple of jumps.

discotronic · Jun 14, 2005, 09:04 PM

This is a sweet game. Running smooth as silk on a PowerMac G5 1.8GHz with Radeon 9600XT and 10.4.1. Resolution set at 1680x1050 and all options turned on except Antialiasing.

To get it to run correctly I removed the OpenAL.framework file. I took the advice of a2daj as posted above. Before that it was very choppy and almost unplayable.

jabosehus · 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by rm199

I hope its just my copy but the game is highly unstable (on 10.4.1) and does not have mouse support (certainly no instructions on how to enable the mouse if there is). How is the game for others?

It's highly unstable for me as well, with constant the game crashes it's unplayable. It's in desperate need of patching, even crashes at the main menu.
2.5 GHz G5 with 1GB RAM GeForce 6800 Ultra

Rev-O · Jun 19, 2005, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by discotronic

<snip>
To get it to run correctly I removed the OpenAL.framework file.
<snip>

This statement alone is enough to keep me from buying this game right now. I'm sorry, and perhaps I'm being unrealistic here, but I expect a game to run out of the box.
If the discussion was crashing into asteroids instead of crashing to desktop...
Sigh.
And I had such high hopes for X2.

Adventure Seeker · Jun 20, 2005, 09:05 AM

I posted a link to this forum on Freeverse's site's forum with a question about the stability. One of the admins confirmed that there are problems with Open AL and ATI drivers that will be fixed in the next OS X update.
Let's hope that the problems are taken care of. This is game is really cool and once the bugs are ironed out, may turn out to be one of my all-time favorites

discotronic · Jun 20, 2005, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Rev-O

This statement alone is enough to keep me from buying this game right now. I'm sorry, and perhaps I'm being unrealistic here, but I expect a game to run out of the box.
If the discussion was crashing into asteroids instead of crashing to desktop...
Sigh.
And I had such high hopes for X2.

I don't blame you for feeling that way. I remember when Homeworld 2 was released and it was virtually unplayable with an Nvidia GPU. I had a new iMac G5 and was just itching to play it. I had to hold off until the next OS update so I could get an updated driver. After that it was all smooth sailing.

jabosehus · Jul 2, 2005, 09:50 AM

ok for lack of feedback from VPLTD support, I would like to know if others are experiencing issues with Very frequent crashes to the desktop with X2 The Threat for Mac.
The first crashed experienced occurred within a few minutes of launching the training simulator, and after several crashes there I decided to skip the training simulator and jump into a mission. I was able to complete the first mission with only a few crashes. The second mission is where the real headache began with a reproducible crash by allowing the initial briefing cuts-scene to play; however, I was able to launch by skipping the briefing but there’s a second cut-scene briefing that can’t be skipped when you’ve launched and that causes a repeatable crash to the desktop.
I sent VPLTD support the crash report, prefs file, and system profiler report and a few days later I received a reply with the following suggestion:

“…In the meantime, since you have 10.4.1. please try this
recommendation from Apple:

Locate X2 application.
Right click 'Show package contents'
Open 'Contents'
Open 'frameworks'
Delete OpenAL.framework'

this will force the game to use Tiger in build openAL, which Apple
feels is more stable.

Please advise how this performs.”

Deleting the OpenAL.framework from the package contents had no effect on the crashes. I loaded two additional drives one with 10.3x and the other with 10.4x and loaded the game onto each. They performed identically and I’ve sent several follow-up emails with crash reports, preference file, and system profile to VPLTD support but I have not received any additional answers to my requests; furthermore, posting on Freeverse forum yielded the following reply:

“Contact [email protected] as they did all the coding and such, we literally are just selling it in North America. Any crash log you have and can send to them is helpful.”

Thus I’m reaching out for information of other users experiences with X2. Powermac G5 2.5 GHz with 1GB RAM and GeForce 6800 Ultra

stuartluff · Jul 9, 2005, 08:41 AM

I too have had VERY frequent crashes in 10.4.1 on my 1.8DP G5. I contacted Virtual Programming and they told me to delete the openAL file to force it to use Tigers framework which Apple say is much more stable. See earlier posts how to do this.

After deleting the file I have found the game IS more stable but still frequently crashes, but I have noticed it only seems to be when there is a certain amount of laser fire in the sector. Virtual Programming told me that the problems are graphics (ATI) related and ATI are working on a new set of drivers for Tiger. Im guessing people with Nvidia cards wont have a problem?! I have ATI 9800Pro.

My version also crashes sometimes when my ship has been scanned by a sector patrol and the video screen of the pilot fails to load and it crashes to desktop.

I have waited for this to come to the mac for ages (i had the original on PC) but I am really dissapointed about how unstable it is.

One way I have found to make the game a little less annoying is to use your onboard nav system and turn on autopilot, and get it to dock quite frequently at random stations, if you use the SETA its quite fast, this saves your progress everytime you dock at a station. If not you will find it very annoying because you will get so far and it will crash and you lose an hours worth of flying time.

You can also use salvage insurance but the amount of times it crashes it will cost you a fortune pre-empting a crash and saving just to be sure.

Because of the bug im limited to just trading and avoiding pirates at all costs because as soon as there is a certain amount of laser fire it crashes.

Bugger!

a2daj · Jul 13, 2005, 11:32 AM

New patch released. The link is below the Features and Requirements.

http://www.vpltd.com/index.php?main_...roducts_id=182

Rev-O · Jul 13, 2005, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by a2daj

New patch released. The link is below the Features and Requirements.

http://www.vpltd.com/index.php?main_...roducts_id=182

Patch or not, they aren't getting my money until some other poor soul guinea pigs this one for me. VP is definately not getting the benefit of the doubt from me!

Adventure Seeker · Jul 14, 2005, 09:33 AM

I played the game for several hours last night, after applying the patch. The game is much more stable, though there still are some bugs that make it crash to the finder now and then (during some of my feeble attempts at combat, but not all times). Game still isn't perfect, but you can go long stretches without crashing now, while before, it seemed like every few minutes.
The game is definitely getting there.

schwa · Jul 18, 2005, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by a2daj

Did you configure the mouse in the initial startup dialog box?

Is there some special "enabling" that needs to be done for the mouse? My mouse (Logitech MX1000) isn't recognized at all

a2daj · Jul 18, 2005, 01:54 PM

I have the same mouse. The game sees it as "USB Receiver" (or something like that).

schwa · Jul 18, 2005, 03:12 PM

Weird. Is there any special config that needs to be done? The settings look correct out of the box, but no dice.

Are you using USB Overdrive? I am, but don't have it enabled for the app.

a2daj · Jul 18, 2005, 04:45 PM

I'm also using USB OD. I haven't got around to creating a separate profile for X2 since I use a joystick to control my ship. But I did mess around with mouse controls once and they seem to work. I can try again to night.

schwa · Jul 18, 2005, 06:58 PM

I can't seem to save a config- it pops up an error box saying "This game only understands 3 buttons from all devices at one time. Please reduce the number of buttons assigned to this type of device and try again."

Wow... cryptic much?

a2daj · Jul 18, 2005, 08:59 PM

You can only assign 3 or 4 mouse buttons. Just unassign mouse buttons until you stop getting the error. I recommend assigning the rest of the buttons to keystrokes via USB OD.

schwa · Jul 18, 2005, 11:02 PM

Is there any way you can send me your controls.plist and HID_device_usage_strings.plist? Even if I turn everything off, it's still telling me it can't save...

schwa · Jul 19, 2005, 02:20 PM

Huh, weird. I wiped my install and reinstalled from scratch, unplugging my MX1000 and plugging in my Apple mouse. This let me do config- I swapped the mice back and it seems to play OK...

skurczysyn · Jul 31, 2005, 10:19 AM

They should not have distributed it until they made the thing STABLE. The patch helped the game crash LESS, but it's still a space-to-desktop simulator. I believe I'll be looking for a refund.

Rev-O · Jul 31, 2005, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by skurczysyn

...it's still a space-to-desktop simulator.

rslifka · Aug 1, 2005, 08:07 PM

I was one of the unfortunate ones to play this game on the PC when it was first released. Unstable nightmare with horrendous controls. When the developers started saying that ridiculous behaviour "is expected" on the tech support forums, I sold it.

Please don't get me started on the enemy AI. Almost every patch said they addressed it. If they did, I'd probably still be playing. "Oh Rob, you just don't have the right ship with the right upgrades." OK, so I stopped trying to do the missions or fight and put up 3 solar power plants. Made a ton of $ and bought a tricked out fighter. Sorry, still no good. Privateer ONE got it right back in the early 90s. Dunno why these guys can't.

Piece. Of. Crap.

Rob