Solo

OK I think I can see the issues with PC vs Consoles. Forget about the people and look at the equipment one needs to play games. The PC does have more power than consoles. Consoles have better ways of playing games than the PC. Now many are waving their hands up at that last crack. The reason I say this is this. The console has all it needs to play the games and only the software writers need to do is make it work on that console. The PC has all kinds of issues because not everybody has the same equipment as the other. The PC needs this CPU and speed along with this video card and video merory. Hard drive space with memory of the PC needed to be very high. Granted game play is limited on the console but can be tweeked to run better and be more gameable if the Devs choose so. The PC game market is set to run on the highest and best equipment with little regards as to others who have good systems to start with in the beginning. What is so important about FP that it takes so much resources that the average user has to always upgrade just to play? Back in the old days when Commodore, Atari, Tandy, IBM, and Mac were all very good for games. The consoles then were the Atari 2600 and upward, Nintendo, Collico, and some others I forget. Point being to this mini rant is that mojority of the games were made for them. You choosed what you wanted to play. Yes some games did not get ported or made for the others but you had your choice. I think since all this exclusive mombo jumbo BS should go. That is one reason for the lack of ideas and creative movements because most of the Devs are locked into one system to build. So until fair play on both sides are done we can't really say for sure one way or the other which is the best. I have the Wii and love it for what it does. I also have a PS2. More than likely until the PS3 has a better price and better games for me to waste my money on. I'm not buying it. The PS2 best part was it could play PS games. The new version of PS3 cannot play PS and PS2 games. The XBox360 now has a way to play older Xbox games so I may think about it even though I don't like M$. It does have a lot of games that I cannot play because the owners of the titles did not make a version for the other systems. And some times when they do (case point DA for the Mac) they make crippled software that falls way behind what was originally made. So all this talk about what system is better is moot when the games cannot be played on all the systems now a days. Until that happens then maybe we can say and see better. I'm half a sleep from not resting well and my last class really wore me out. So if I'm not clear to understand. Be nice and say so. Thanks to all for reading this chicken scratch of mine.

I wonder if the companies at all really know just how easily their DRM product can be cracked? I think that they keep thinking that they can indeed have a killer DRM that wont be cracked. Why else would they keep having and upgrading the DRM's in the games now a days? I just want them to make bug free games and if some security measures are needed then let them be normal type in the code and be done with it.

See. Now you know why I said what I said. Let's see what iPad 2.0 has to offer if it makes it to that stage.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Then indeed the iPad has a long way to go with me then.

After looking at this product I have this to say. Baka baka shi. It's just an over size iPod touch. Now if they redisgned it with at least one usb slot and or card slot then it would be a slight improvement. Plus since it is 1.0 now, I'd wait until they update (upgrade) it more or better than now. Then maybe I'd think about getting it. Right now I'll pass on this. It's a nice idea but it really needs more in order to win me over. For those who don't know me I'm a Mac user. Maybe it's a great cup of tea for others but this flavore does nothing for me. One more thing to ask. Does it run on the iPhone OS or Mac OS? I thought I read Mac OS but it didn't say leopard or snow leopard as the OS. Might have missed it somewhere. If it's the iPhone OS would that be what's out now which is 3.0? I would hope it would be 4.0 to save face for them.

I have mix ideas on this. For one. I really don't have an interest in tablets. Two. While it does seem over priced, It's not as high as I expected it to be. The problem is as I see it is who needs it? I would think warehouses that already use the Mac OS for inventory but wished to have a portable Mac device other than the 13" laptops would look at it. Another is that maybe the tablets already out don't have the punch as in design to pull the masses over. Again a guess by me. The image of the Sony 13" note with it's specs are very nice but many shun Sony for the reports of poor quality as they seem to break quickly and often. I have a manger and he saids he'll never buy another Sony after the last three boke within a short time of owning them. Again, just know what my friends and co-workers have said for I have never used a Sony computer myself. I really need to check the full specs and re-write some of my thoughts some more on this. Just off the bat I can't see myself wanting it right now.

And just what other platform could one move to play then? Right now as from the posts I've seen many PC games are moving closer to limiting what the end user csn do. So does this mean since no one wants to help the markets for Linux or Macs that the console is the next platform to switch to? What if console games start going this route? The companies have to understand that not all have high speed networks to use and or tolerance of always having to be linked to a server just to play a game. Case in point. FF11. I will never buy that game. Online should be an option and not a requirement. Being a Mac user I am getting use to not playing games now a days on the computer since OS X has debuted. Was tempting to think of getting a larger external HD for Bootcamp so I could play some PC games but now I will scrap that plan. I will stick with my PS2, PSP, and Wii until I no longer enjoy palying these games I have. Sorry for my rant on here guys. Solo

Thanks for the clearing the myths from the non facts on what I posted in here. From all of this still bears the need for this question. When did all of this happen? I remember games for the PC, Tandy, Mac, Amiga, and Atari to name the computer hardware. Just in that alone many games were for many of those systems. When the OS started to change a bit for the PC and Mac I heard the rip was that of the graphic and coding difference. So many people were complaining about how good directX is and about intel that many bashed Open GL and the PPC. Though through the comments in this thread. If the green light was given, a possible toolset and of course more games could be made? I still have to think that when there were games that at that time the Mac sale of games were bad then? When the PC and Mac were on par I don't remember such a difference. Granted I was young and the net wasn't around either. So again what was the main reason so many stopped working on the games for Mac? The PC was evolving as well as the Mac so there had to be a main reason I would think? There are more Macs now than before with a rather large crowd asking for games and yet they still say we are a small market that can't be bothered with? Again, I say this. There are more Macs than before but if the companies keep on passing us by we will enventually just forget it. That is the problem with NWN2. I hate to say this as well. NWN could have been even bigger if they would have allowed a toolset for both Macs and Linux users to use. There was a native build for the Mac so it should have had the toolset. Why couldn't it have been made? Not to be yelling at you guys for you had no control over it. Just can't figure this out. They can do some of these things but they don't. They say it's not worth the time but we keep asking for it. Soon the numbers will go down not in the fact of not buying Macs but taking the game companies seriously that they will do something right in the first place. Again NWN2 is a perfect example of this. Keep giving the other systems haplf of what you do for the PC and yes in the end if you don't support the game you made people will not support you back and may just not buy any more games from you at all. So maybe my head is thick or I simple just don't understand the game market. Just some of the reason I find hard to ecept as the main reason why it happens to non PC users more than PC users.

Not to turn this into a this and that OS bash so here's my opinion. .NET was designed to run as well as it can on one OS. That OS is Windows. Since it is customized for Windows it does a grand job while bundle with DirectX as a tag team match. The Mac gets left back not only because of the Open GL deal but since the game industry its self has left it for DirectX and the toolsets of .NET. That's why the Mac version of NWN never saw a toolset for it even though it was made native for the Mac. The toolset was made in .NET. So it boils down to this. Apple will get more serious (guess on my part) on the desktop and laptops when the game industry decides to. We have only Blizzard that seems that they have true heart to have supported and running games while other companies just put something out that is not runnable and then are quick to call the market dead or failing becausenot enough people are buying these terrible made games. Without naming names many should know just what I mean by this. Apple has shifted to the iPod and iPhone devices simply because this little nitch is hot and ripe to experiment with. Again guesses on my part. Though with the release of Snow Leopard maybe now game makers will re-look at the Macs with their hardware not much different now then what the PC hardware is, not that they were that much different to begin with, we can se some support and or more honest interest of games for the Mac and of course Linux. If not, I will simply say that NWN2 is my last computer game to have for my Mac. I don't want to rant for I really have some issues but this is not the site nor place for it. As said before, it is the IP holders fault for not seeing a bigger picture of how to expand when they could easily do so. I now understand why Windows has such a hold even though it has lost ground some. People are afraid to change. Things are simple now. One OS. One toolset made on that OS. The buyers owning said OS. Company makes money. Why? Only the people who have the OS will be able to play thus will buy the game. This forces others who do not have the OS to get the OS in order to play this game if they want to play. Doesn't matter if it's CrossOver, Parallels, or Fusion. The game is only in OS format. Linux is a free os as I think Google's OS Chrome is too. Will they look at the possibility of these OS further because they in turn could help tweek the OS to run their own games better? Depends on the toolset I would think. Well since I very close to ranting as I said I wouldn't I shall end this here. I know companies want to make money. Just give us consumers a chance to spend our money on your product even though we aren't Win OS users.

I too haven't seen 4.0 myself. But from what I have heard they did a number on things we knew from the start. But from the skimming of the books (still wrapped in plastic) it does give the impression of a really dumbed down look. I still prefer 2ed even with the flaws that some may feel it has. I started out in 1ed and when the wind of change happen got into 2ed. I haven't been able to play 3ed or 3.5 except on the computer. NWN1 and NWN2. So many things as in having your friends over and actually role play vs the computer in 3.5ed is a bit hard for me to understand. But I'm slowly getting used to it. Now 4ed has come out. Don't know how I would handle it, though I feel that my ranger character will be totally taken back as I try to figure out the new system regardless if it's on the computer or in the book. But maybe something good will come about if I try to say possitive instead of negative. I know my post doesn't really help much in here but maybe by the time the new games roll out, they may have fixed or upgraded it to be what it should be. A game for all that relies on your mind and good friends to bring the story to life. As for the computer, it should be a well written story and have good NPC's to help add more flavor to the game adventure. To some extent. I'm tired of all the eye candy graphics in games. Too much focus on fps and CG just doesn't cut it for me. It all means nothing if the story, the game is not solid it self.

That's a very good question. I'm not sure if MoW was ever thought to be played on anything else but the PC to be honest. But since the Mac is so bloody far behind, patch wise, that it's possible that even if the Mac were to be patched up, it would probably take another upgrade to get it to work. In other words it would need to be ported over by the same company that ported NWN2 over for the Mac I would think. But I could be wrong and a simple upgraded patch may be all that is needed. I can dream I suppose that such a thing could actually happen.

FF6 was fun to play. FF7 wasn't bad because it was something new of controls and power useage. FF9 was a great story that I liked. FF10 was the first time, after getting the international version, that I could play it in English! Both speaking and text. FF10 2 was for.....better not say on here. But was very mad that the international version was not done like the way FF10 was. FF10 2 has only the characters speaking in English but all the words (text) are still in Japanese?! International FF12 is the same way. But I really liked it until doing the mog hunts. Some of the bosses took hours and I'm not kidding hours to beat. With some help from my wife, who is Japanese I can do the local versions of FF. But I do prefer them in English ever since I got hooked on playing FF10 in it. So if and when FF13 the international version comes out, I hope they will do it like FF10 was done for languages. The job functions are suppose to be better in FF13 from what I have heard here in Japan. Solo

SSI Pools of Radiance was that way. Some times you needed the translating wheel to start up the game. The good old days of the Commodore 64. Doesn't matter crack or not. Still the Mac and Linux users will not be able to play this mod. Not that I promote the idea of pirating this mod at all, cause I don't. I just wish that it was cross-platform like the mods for NWN. Then all we would have to do is just move the needed files over into the right folders and vola, MoW play time. But nope. The Macs are stuck at 1.12 while MoW needs patch 1.22 because of the DRM in the patch that needs to work with the DRM in MoW. So another lost sale because they can't seem to understand that the only thing they are protecting is their fear of what if.

That's Atari for you. What do they care. I mean they have so many other games that what AD&D role playing must be nothing but pocket change for them. If it weren't, they would have stayed on top of things and made sure that not only the PC but Macs and Linux users would be able to play as well. I have heard this fear of second sales said before. How can they justify someone who for what ever reasons after playing the game decide that they don't want it? Oh, right. That's what the DL is for. I got it now. Don't let the team that's making this game for you make it on a disc. Put a lot of fire hoops for people to jump through just to install it. Then when the end user is done with the game they have a choice. Keep it or delete it. Vola, no more second hand sales. Nice how companies think about making life harder than what it is.

Thanks for the info there. I'll be checking that out. Thanks again for the help. Solo

Still would like to see the demo on how it looked liked. Guess I could try to google it and see if I find anything.

Just a few unlogical posts to post in here. EA back in the days had some really good console games. But when it came for the computer most of the games as I remembered had problems. So me and EA never really hit it off. I'm talking the days of Commodore and such. But when sports games were a dime a dozen, EA rose and came out on top. For many sport fans it was a dream come true for them. Not everybody will get into it like many don't uderstand RPG's and or first player shooters. But let's not beat our chest or friends in here just to prove a ......what was the topic in here again? Yes I'm goofing off in here but let's keep the peace. EA really should do some soul searching as to why things aren't clicking. All companies now a days should do that. Once they truly talk to us and or let us tell them what we really want, I think then more and more better games will come out. But that will mean few and far between. Thus why updates and such are taking longer than before. They are listening to us. Sometimes too much. I want to see more Dungeons & Dragons titles or like type games. A better Star Wars game would be great too. I'm sure we all can list a lot in here. But when we take it to EA and not each other on this board, I think we can at least point them in the right direction. My ramblings are now finished. You may remove your earplugs and eye masks now.

I was wondering after looking at the various game engines now a days used. What would be a good one for the Mac? I've already looked at what suggestions there were at the homepage of Apple but most of the demos were just video and not working types to test out. I would assume that most of you all here use Windows as your main OS so it must be a lot easier to answer such a question if I too were to use Windows. But I have heard of some Mac users, they haven't answer this question yet, using BBEdit and the scripting file of the Mac OS to edit things but since Aurora (spellling?) is used and another game engine that escapes my mind are used they seemed to be widly used on Win systems. Now of course the Mac has a Xcode to handle C and C++, I think, that such engines, in theory, should work? If you haven't guess by now, I know jack on game engines as well as game programming. The last timed I programmed something was in basic. Peek, poke, goto, and sound commands. But that was waaaaaaay long ago. So please do feel to drop what info and or opinions you have in here. Solo

I knew of Dragonshard but was put off because it was for the PC only but I never paid attention as to who (company) made it. I am even more surprised that this Liquid Ent. was the first to try. Another compnay I haven't heard of. Well I think this compnay here, Obsidian, is going to be singing soon. Their pet project should be taking flight very soon from it's nest. Back to topic at hand. I wonder what the beta or demo works of NWN2 from Liquid Ent. looked like?

Yep the demo is out so try it out. Pope, can you tell me in what way about implementing the dialogue skills are you looking for so I can possible spot and report about it? Or better yet. Please try the demo for your self. There are some haks that will be needed. 3 haks plus the game mod.

Ever since the end of 2nd addition I have been really sad as how the Ranger and Barbarian have been treated. I don't understand the logic in the game systems anymore. Everything has been dumbed down so much that I feel that instead of adding fun they have taken away the fun. But that's me. But I guess I should, the next time at the book store, reread the sections on my favorite classes.

So any hints on the topic at hand? Or has it been covered in area I haven't noticed yet?

To bad none of us could interview the staff and then put up as a podcast. Talk about being behind closed doors. Or could we actually do that? Reporting live from the lounge area of Obsidian building. Here we have some of the dazzling minds behind the name. Blah, blah, blah. Well, I can dream, right?

It also depends on the DM. So if the story line is solid along with the rules then any game and game setting should work and run smoothly, don't you think? But there are so many classic games and settings that if they could be brought to life would just be awsome to happen and play once again. So while we may have had some rough or bad plays before if we work together and explan what it is that we think would be an improvement just maybe then we could see it happen.

Solo here. Just tried out the NWN2 Baldur's Gate demo. Though it talks about Patch 1.21 ready it is running on my Mac under patch version 1.12. That's right. It runs on the on the Mac natively using NWN2 for the Mac. This is great news for those who want to replay BG under the NWN2 engine on the Mac again. I will continue testing it to see if any hic cups pop up. Now this also means that once the finish version comes out it should and I say should continue to run like the demo is without needing any expansions or higher patches. They are predecting this summer to finish. I hope this will come true.