58 replies to this topic

[mattw]

Hi Ryan - thanks for taking the time to post in the forums.

Whilst I appreciate porting Mac games is a difficult business to make a living in and lines have to be drawn somewhere I have to say as a longtime customer it's disappointing that the new Aspyr seems less friendly to your existing old customer base. I remember in the past getting regular patches and updates to support new operating systems and even talk of making universal binaries available after the Intel transition. At some point this changed and some of the titles I purchased that didn't sell well broke within months as a new OS X release arrived and were never fixed or mentioned again. After that we had the rental model DRM for online purchases (at least DVDs are still an option for now). The AppStore is much more customer friendly so I'm pleased you are going on there although the inability to change the install location is a problem if you have a small boot drive and store you games elsewhere (this is also an issue with recent Aspyr installers on the DVDs in recent times).

My point is I guess that you only have to look at your competitors to see it done right - Intel updates for old titles, customer friendly DRM and the experience that keeps you coming back. I know the prices of Mac games are dictated by the licensing and time required for each project but as a customer I find it easier to ignore the bargain bin price of the PC release if I know I'm going to get a quality product that is supported. If it's going to be a case of "sold as seen" then I might as well get that cheap PC version and try running it in WINE.

Hopefully you can understand where I am coming from. I really do appreciate the hard work folks do to give the Mac the titles we have today but the Mac need a good library of quality titles that are looked after.

[Mister Mumbles]

Seems like the App Store version has quite a few issues, according to a big pile of negative reviews. Obviously there's something going on there.

As for my experience with 1.03e I only noticed a few hours in that the context-sensitive in-game cursor was not showing up. Instead I'm seeing the generic OS X one. Also had to use 1.03d to get past the end of the initial swoop race. For whatever reason 1.03e locked up the game every time the emcee announced me the winner - fortunately, it was easy enough to force quit. Other than that and some minor audio oddities the game is running fairly well for me.

It certainly isn't bad enough to think about repurchasing the game (Windows/Steam version). The Mac port always seems to have had its share of problems. =/

[Jonathan Bloom]

I just ran into the sound effect issue.

Oh well, still a great game. I hope Aspyr fixes this.

[Miharu]

Also had to use 1.03d to get past the end of the initial swoop race. For whatever reason 1.03e locked up the game every time the emcee announced me the winner - fortunately, it was easy enough to force quit. Other than that and some minor audio oddities the game is running fairly well for me.
[/quote]

I ran into the same issue! I wouldn't have even thought about going back to the older version, but I guess the only way to finish the game is to swap between patches... Here's hoping to Aspyr releasing the patch for the rest of us.

[AspyrRyan]

Hi, Matt.  Sorry it took so long to get back to you!  It's been a busy few weeks for me.
I'm not sure where you're drawing the line between "old" and "new" Aspyr, but as it stands now, our resources are limited to do things like upkeep patches.  In the past, one of the main factors in deciding to do patches was the number of support issues a problem generated. Naturally, the more popular games would generate more issues.
Nowadays, we have additional channels to help with those decisions.  Part of those are the Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and the Non-Blog on the GameAgent page.  My lurking around various Mac forums is another.  One of the nice benefits of our Mac App Store releases is that the customer comments provides a common location for feedback on each game. If you have some specific games in mind that you think need updates, send me a message and I can poke around a bit.

So far, I have no new updates about patches for the disc versions of KOTOR.

As for the Mac App version, we have an update being submitted for KOTOR that will greatly improve performance on some GPUs, as well as a fix for missing sound effects, thanks to some helpful information from Jonathan Bloom.

[Janichsan]

Taking advantage of the current Mac App Mondays sale, I bought KotOR last week from the App Store. Man, it really runs badly, especially considering it's more than six years old.

[the Battle Cat]

Janichsan, on 14 March 2011 - 03:55 AM, said:

Taking advantage of the current Mac App Mondays sale, I bought KotOR last week from the App Store. Man, it really runs badly, especially considering it's more than six years old.

I noticed Call of Duty 4 was also featured.  I'm interested in that, I enjoyed 1 and 2, didn't play 3 or 4.  Anybody play 4?  What did you think?  Good shooter?  Also, I don't want a digital download.  I don't mind sticking a disk in to play, better than always being beholding to gameagent or app store to let me play.  I couldn't tell from the app store if it was available on disk.

[Janichsan]

the Battle Cat, on 14 March 2011 - 08:55 AM, said:

I noticed Call of Duty 4 was also featured.  I'm interested in that, I enjoyed 1 and 2, didn't play 3 or 4.  Anybody play 4?  What did you think?  Good shooter?

It's acclaimed as the best CoD by most, though I personally didn't like it – I never was a too big fan of the CoD series, though.

Quote

Also, I don't want a digital download.  I don't mind sticking a disk in to play, better than always being beholding to gameagent or app store to let me play.  I couldn't tell from the app store if it was available on disk.

Sure it is.

[Mister Mumbles]

Janichsan, on 14 March 2011 - 03:55 AM, said:

Man, it really runs badly, especially considering it's more than six years old.

I kind of stopped my recent replay a third way in. All its issues just put me off. Reminds me of how crummy Aspyr's RCT3 port was with all its graphical glitching (i.e. night scenes are impossible to play due to complete blackness) that were never fixed - in comparison the RCT3 demo I ran in Parallels had none of these issues. It seems like any of their games that are not FPSs are fairly hit and miss as far as the quality of the ports are concerned. Unfortunately, too many misses in my case. One reason I don't have much trust in them anymore.

[the Battle Cat]

Janichsan, on 14 March 2011 - 09:13 AM, said:

It's acclaimed as the best CoD by most, though I personally didn't like it – I never was a too big fan of the CoD series, though.


Sure it is.

Awesome, 4 cents cheaper too.  Thanks!  I'm sorry for all those rotten lies I told about you behind your back.  I'm playing Avadon right now, I'll get this and by the time I'm done with that Borderlands will be marked down.  I figure Avadon will take another year and a half to do with all the side quests.

[Sneaky Snake]

Has anyone tried KOTOR on a 320M. They say its not supported, but im wondering if it'll still run it at all?

[Janichsan]

Sneaky Snake, on 14 March 2011 - 02:55 PM, said:

Has anyone tried KOTOR on a 320M. They say its not supported, but im wondering if it'll still run it at all?

Quote

NOTICE: Integrated video chipsets are not supported (THIS INCLUDES 2010 MACBOOK PRO(low end models); 2010 MACBOOK AIRS AND 2010 MAC MINIS.)

Odd. I didn't see that until now.

Anyway, I found that the game runs with this quick fix pretty good on my 9400M equipped 13" MBP. That fix even enables a couple of graphical effects that I was missing, like soft shadows and bump mapping.

[mattw]

AspyrRyan, on 04 March 2011 - 03:19 PM, said:

Hi, Matt.  Sorry it took so long to get back to you!  It's been a busy few weeks for me.
I'm not sure where you're drawing the line between "old" and "new" Aspyr, but as it stands now, our resources are limited to do things like upkeep patches.  In the past, one of the main factors in deciding to do patches was the number of support issues a problem generated. Naturally, the more popular games would generate more issues.
Nowadays, we have additional channels to help with those decisions.  Part of those are the Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and the Non-Blog on the GameAgent page.  My lurking around various Mac forums is another.  One of the nice benefits of our Mac App Store releases is that the customer comments provides a common location for feedback on each game. If you have some specific games in mind that you think need updates, send me a message and I can poke around a bit.

So far, I have no new updates about patches for the disc versions of KOTOR.

As for the Mac App version, we have an update being submitted for KOTOR that will greatly improve performance on some GPUs, as well as a fix for missing sound effects, thanks to some helpful information from Jonathan Bloom.

Thanks for replying Ryan. Well supported games include things like Doom 3, Quake 4, ETQW, Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Academy, all the Call of Duty games etc. Examples of ones I consider poorly supported are Indiana Jones & the Emperors Tomb, 007 NightFire, Return of the King, Blood Rayne, Spy Hunter, Tomb Raider AOD, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force etc.

I realise that in most if not all of these cases the ports were contracted out and Apple happened to realise a major Mac OS X update shortly after release that caused problems. I also imagine (educated guess) that these titles didn't sell as well but hopefully you can see that as a customer it is very frustration to find the games you purchased break within months.

I am tempted to buy KOTOR again on the app store with the current March Mondays sale as I'm more likely to try playing it again without the CD (I did get Monkey Island last week). Unfortunately the app store like Aspyr's recent installers insists on sticking things in the applications folder on the boot drive and I don't want it taking 3GB there as it's a small SSD with limited space and I have a separate hard disk for my games.

[Jan]

mattw, on 14 March 2011 - 03:44 PM, said:

Thanks for replying Ryan. Well supported games include things like Doom 3, Quake 4, ETQW, Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Academy, all the Call of Duty games etc. Examples of ones I consider poorly supported are Indiana Jones & the Emperors Tomb, 007 NightFire, Return of the King, Blood Rayne, Spy Hunter, Tomb Raider AOD, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force etc.

I realise that in most if not all of these cases the ports were contracted out and Apple happened to realise a major Mac OS X update shortly after release that caused problems. I also imagine (educated guess) that these titles didn't sell as well but hopefully you can see that as a customer it is very frustration to find the games you purchased break within months.

I am tempted to buy KOTOR again on the app store with the current March Mondays sale as I'm more likely to try playing it again without the CD (I did get Monkey Island last week). Unfortunately the app store like Aspyr's recent installers insists on sticking things in the applications folder on the boot drive and I don't want it taking 3GB there as it's a small SSD with limited space and I have a separate hard disk for my games.

You can move App Store games wherever you want. I download them at work using a high-speed cable connection, copy the App package on my external drive and play at home. No problem at all. You only need to activate copied apps once.

[Janichsan]

AspyrRyan, on 04 March 2011 - 03:19 PM, said:

As for the Mac App version, we have an update being submitted for KOTOR that will greatly improve performance on some GPUs, as well as a fix for missing sound effects, thanks to some helpful information from Jonathan Bloom.

Just noticed: that update is available now.

[AspyrRyan]

mattw, on 14 March 2011 - 03:44 PM, said:

Thanks for replying Ryan. Well supported games include things like Doom 3, Quake 4, ETQW, Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Academy, all the Call of Duty games etc. Examples of ones I consider poorly supported are Indiana Jones & the Emperors Tomb, 007 NightFire, Return of the King, Blood Rayne, Spy Hunter, Tomb Raider AOD, Star Trek Voyager Elite Force etc.

Ok, so every game before I started here was poorly supported.  
I understand your frustration, but realistically  those games are unlikely to be updated in the future.  However, these days with the digital distribution channels such as Mac App and Steam, it's easier for us to update games as well as gather feedback.  I'd expect a different amount of support than our older titles get.

I'll add a check on making sure installers give you an option where to install on future installers.

And I was just coming here to let y'all know the update for KOTOR was out.  Let me know if you have any issues with it.

[Mister Mumbles]

AspyrRyan, on 16 March 2011 - 09:27 AM, said:

However, these days with the digital distribution channels such as Mac App and Steam, it's easier for us much more likely to receive a speedy public backlash due to a faulty game so we have to update games as well as gather feedback or else people won't buy any more of our other titles.  I'd expect a different amount of support than our older titles get.

Fixed.

[Brad Oliver]

AspyrRyan, on 16 March 2011 - 09:27 AM, said:

And I was just coming here to let y'all know the update for KOTOR was out.  Let me know if you have any issues with it.

Am I to assume this patch is only for the Mac App store - retail copies are still out of luck?

[clocknova]

How about patching it to support widescreen resolutions?  It's not like it would be that hard.  The PC version can be hacked to do it.

[mattw]

clocknova, on 28 March 2011 - 06:18 AM, said:

How about patching it to support widescreen resolutions?  It's not like it would be that hard.  The PC version can be hacked to do it.

Well I succumbed to the March sale and bought it again (despite feeling a bit of a sucker). It does run better than the CD version but there is no true widescreen - just stretched which looks a little blurry on my 20" Cinema display so I'm stuck with 1280x960 with black borders. Editing the ini file to 1680x1050 didn't work.

One plus is not having to have the disk in the drive. It would be nice if publishers could find a way to convert our CD licences to electronic ones now we have a few DRM schemes that are not so customer unfriendly (AppStore, Feral, Steam etc.) as I do find I'm much more likely to just jump into a game for a while if I don't have to grab a DVD first.