::: THE FOG OF MAC :::

[H.W. Guderian]

Dear OS X "army",

Now that CM:SF is "open for business", but apparently without a transparent OS X policy or roadmap, there are significant issues to consider.

I have done some basic recon to try to clear the fog surrounding the future of native OS X CM:SF and indeed all CMX2 titles.

Thanks to BF for their efforts on CM:SF and swift reply to my email.

Intel follows:

----- Original Message -----

From: Thomas

To: sales@battlefront.com

Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 5:31 PM

Subject: CM:SF

G'day B.F.,

Congrats on the soon to be reached milestone.

Now that CM:SF is open for business . . .

Is it possible to get some final clarity on the availability (or not) of a native Mac OS X version and the time-frame so Mac Intel based customers can make informed purchase decisions?

Apologies in advance if I've somehow missed something in your pre-order announcement in regards to a Mac OS X road-map.

Cheers . . .

--------------------------------

On 04/07/2007, at 8:59 AM, Madmatt wrote:

This is something which we still do not know yet. Sorry, but for now, we are still focussed on the Windows version.

Matt

***************************************************

www.battlefront.com

Battlefront.com, Inc.

Home of Superior War and Strategy Games

--------------------------------------

From: thomas

Subject: Re: CM:SF

Date: 4 July 2007 9:45:28 AM

To: matt@battlefront.com

Cc: sales@battlefront.com

Matt,

Thanks for your swift reply. You guys must be flat out!

I understand your focus and likely your fatigue - your desire to simply get this product over the line.

Hopefully you understand that, now that you have CM:SF "XP" on sale, Mac Intel users are well and truly stuck - unless of course they are happy to risk spending nearly double the price of all other users (~$115).

Additionally the Catch-22 appears to be that, for customers who wish to play "CMX2" titles natively on OS X, if we are forced into "XP" versions now due to a lack of a transparent BF policy, that very action may harm chances of future "CMX2" native OS X versions?

I appreciate the efforts of the BF team as well the limitations and business realities you work under. BF creates the only kind of "games" that I'll spend my valued time and funds to "play". However, for Mac Intel based customers the current situation - being left in the dark - is more than mildly frustrating and unsavory.

Now that CM:SF is open for business I hope BF will clarify the OS X policy for their customers as soon as is practical.

Cheers for all your efforts,

[tiny_tanker]

Originally posted by H.W. Guderian:

On 04/07/2007, at 8:59 AM, Madmatt wrote:

This is something which we still do not know yet. Sorry, but for now, we are still focussed on the Windows version.

Matt

Awwwwww.... This makes me sad All these years of great Mac war gaming may be coming to an end. Where's the love??

[BeauCoupDinkyDau]

Bill Gates is EVIL!

[YankeeDog]

Thanks for posting that.

My next computer (purchasing before the end of the year) may very well be a Mac, so I am also very interested to hear whether there will be a native OSX version.

Assuming I do go back to Mac, I would gladly pay extra for a native OSX version of SM:SF. I actually have a licensed copy of Win XP I can install on a Mac via Boot Camp, so I don't have that cost to consider. But I can't imagine I'd use the Windows partition of much of anything, other than playing CM:SF. So I'd gladly pay at least an extra $20, for the convenience of not needing to reboot into Windows every time I wanted to play the game.

I have no idea how much it costs to to port a game like CM:SF over to Mac, though, so I don't know where the "break even" point in a native Mac version would be for CM:SF. Hopefully, porting games over to Mac is getting cheaper, now that the hardware is more similar, and more companies are doing it.

Time will tell, I guess. If BFC does come out with a native OSX verion, this could well decide the Mac vs. PC issue for me. I'm already leaning towards Mac, and this would pretty much cinch it. I only really have time for one computer game in my life, so whether other games are available on Mac or not, really isn't an issue for me.

Here's hoping,

YD

[LGMB]

I relaly hope there's a native OSX version.

[Fly Pusher]

Far be it from me to speak for Battlefront. But this is my understanding from previous Mac CM:SF threads:

Charles is always flat out for the first weeks immediately before and after a release.

- Demo's and the inevitable distractions associated with addressing the multiple 'fix or do sumfink' threads that will doubtless appear.

However IIRC, Steve also mentioned that Charles wishes to return to working on a Mac. So its possible that any purely business considerations may also be tinged with a personal motivation to return to the fold. I think Steve may feel similarly drawn....

Either way, its going to take a month or two after the initial release before we can hope for any concrete go / no-go decision

So maybe in early September.

I know this isnt what we probably want to hear. But given the resources available and the comparatively small (but growing!) Mac community I think its fair and the best that we can reasonably expect.

Fingers crossed.....

[fabforrest]

for years i was told that this new engine was the key to Mac OS X games. the titles here are the ones i want. EA has seen the future and i may buy some of their newly mac games just as an expression of support...even though they don't have titles like these.

this is disappointing.

[jeffsmith]

Originally posted 5/31/07

Originally posted by H.W. Guderian:

As far as I understand we will NEVER get an OS X native CM and it seems that the commitments made to OS X CM2 have certainly "shifted" a bit, no? I doubt anyone keen on CM2 wants to wait longer for the OS X version? But maybe I've missed some last minute forum minutiae? Which I'm sure someone will point out as my failing if it is so.

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

The current plan is that after a few months post CM:SF release he'll start experimenting with movnig the code over to OSX. The post release demands on us are always huge, which means effectively nothing else gets done for a period of time (probably 1-2 months). He wants to program on the Mac as his primary machine, like the old days, so it's worth investigating at least. If it seems to be too much of a hassle, we'll probably try to find someone to do the port for us. That's an iffy thing for many reasons, but theoretically viable.

If everything goes right there should be a native MacOS X (universal binary) within 4 months of CM:SF's release. So for those of you who G5s or Intel Macs without Windows will likely (not assured) eventually have a universal binary CM:SF. Lower end machines, almost certainly G4s and absolutely G3s, are going to be out of luck no matter what.

That's the plan as we see it now!

Steve

from here

[H.W. Guderian]

Originally posted by jeffsmith:

Originally posted 5/31/07

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by H.W. Guderian:

As far as I understand we will NEVER get an OS X native CM and it seems that the commitments made to OS X CM2 have certainly "shifted" a bit, no? I doubt anyone keen on CM2 wants to wait longer for the OS X version? But maybe I've missed some last minute forum minutiae? Which I'm sure someone will point out as my failing if it is so.

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

The current plan is that after a few months post CM:SF release he'll start experimenting with movnig the code over to OSX. The post release demands on us are always huge, which means effectively nothing else gets done for a period of time (probably 1-2 months). He wants to program on the Mac as his primary machine, like the old days, so it's worth investigating at least. If it seems to be too much of a hassle, we'll probably try to find someone to do the port for us. That's an iffy thing for many reasons, but theoretically viable.

If everything goes right there should be a native MacOS X (universal binary) within 4 months of CM:SF's release. So for those of you who G5s or Intel Macs without Windows will likely (not assured) eventually have a universal binary CM:SF. Lower end machines, almost certainly G4s and absolutely G3s, are going to be out of luck no matter what.

That's the plan as we see it now!

Steve

from here </font>

[jeffsmith]

the reason I posted what I did

is that despite being an Ardent Mac Fan myself

I would imagine BFC gets a bit tired of the questioning

after awhile it gets to be like

mommy can I have an ice cream ?

you said i could have an ice cream

you promised i could have an ice cream

when are we going for my ice cream ?

BFC has made a statement about a potential Mac port

they do tend to keep us rather well informed

& if they change their minds I am sure they will tell us

asking them about a Mac port

and starting threads like these

just before a game release

has to be AT BEST

Distracting from the work at hand

the work on CMSF is not finished by a long shot

in fact the weeks just before and after a release

are some of the busiest

So rather than being part of a problem

lets just let them work on what they have to do now

THEN they will either begin the Mac port

or tell us why not

[ July 04, 2007, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: jeffsmith ]