My mom has been complaining for a while about the Windows laptops my dad gets her -- he likes bargains, he likes to fiddle, so they end upend up with Windows laptops that fail or just slow way the hell down, and then he has to fiddle with it. (And he's slowing down too.)

She just wanted her old iMac back but it's long gone, when they downsized they thought a laptop would fit better.

So a month ago I lent her my old work MacBook Pro (Intel, Retina, 2018-ish) expecting she could happily use it for years to come. She loved it, but two days ago the entire screen lost its green channel. :-(

At least that's it sounds like from the info I've heard so far. I'm still gathering symptoms and the exact model number. But it sounds like hardware, and expensive to fix. The part alone (used) is probably $200. I've fixed a few iPhones in my day so maybe I can save money and  try to fix it myself... Oops, now I sound like my dad. :-)

Strongly tempted also to lend her my Intel Mac Mini, and buy myself a Mac Studio M2. (If only Apple hadn't just showed off the M3 chip with h/w raytracing!) 

I feel like a Macbook Air (with Applecare) might be the best fit for her, but its a tough sell, my parents are pinching pennies at the moment.


Comments and commiserations welcome.

https://www.mimimi.games/our-final-game/

Really bummed about this. Shadow Tactics was one of my favorite games in recent memory. Still need to play Desperados 3, and I had no idea about their new game that just came out, Shadow Gambit.

I have so wanted to get into ELDEN RING, and Sifu (few others, Skekiro etc), but when I had tried I was met with 'combo mashing' that 9 out of 10 times would fail for me every time and I would die pretty much endlessly. These games (and others like it) just seem to assume the player understands the string of icons it shows for a 'combo' and go from there ... but apparently I missed the memo about the 'trick'.

Lets take an example of me trying Sifu.

I get to a point where it puts the game in pause, target dummy mode, to tell me about a combo to do, to avoid this bigass boss guys attack. It is "Up, Down + Y" ... looks simple enough to me.

15 minutes later, mashing those every which way I can think, it finally says "SUCCESS!" and unpauses and throws me into combat with the big guy. Who then attacks, I try the combo, failing miserably, and getting knocked on my ass, and then smashed dead before I could stand.

*sigh*

I really wish I knew what I'm missing here. How can pushing up, then down and mashing Y at the exact millisecond be so difficult? I mean, my controller might have some 10ms lag between pushing a button, and trying to land a stick motion of 'down' quickly after having slammed it 'up', and then pushing 'Y' the instant that 'down' registers... I dunno.
Seems like I'm missing something here.

I'm not entirely lethargic either. I absolutely enjoy shooters (ones without rng bullet spread nonsense) where I can flick and aim pixel perfect and nail enemies in the head with hair trigger clicks. So, I know my reflexes and speed are up. I'm also pretty good at reacting and pushing buttons fast. But a combo??? arg.

After much time away, the Inside Mac Games Historical Archive is back in action. Well, sort of!

Because of the age of the prior code and website, it had to be shut down for security's sake. I won't go into the gory details of just how dangerous its old php code was, but lets just say .... things were simpler back in the 90s.

So our very own Matt Diamond took up a monumental project of pouring through the old site and turning it into a nice and clean self-linked html collection. Every page, and view, and article was turned into a standard html file, eliminating all PHP and database ties!

It can now stand the test of time, since there is no underlying tech to worry about... html is as html does.

Now, there are a few things in the archive which will end up on a 404 (page not found). Unavoidable on some things, and with others it was just a loss of data (like the "User Comments" on articles, which all went to a long dead forum code). Don't worry though, all the actual good guts are still there (who cares about comments ?! ... wait, I'm commenting right now! ARGH).

So, head on over, and enjoy a trip down memory lane... its amazing what things we all got excited about back then!

So, with the new forum system, there isn't really a quick "Give Beans" button anymore. There is now a "Reputation +" where you can give a person some + + numbers.

This can be disabled entirely. I'm not sure it can be rewritten to be a simpler beans system like we used to have.

This also means all prior beans given on individual posts/replies are gone. OH NOES!! Anyways...

This discussion here is if you guys are really upset over it. Can live with the new system. Don't want any system in place. Or maybe want me to try and find some plugin which someone else wrote that comes close to the old beans system (might exist, dunno).

Discuss!!!

Over at MacGameStore:

https://www.macgamestore.com/

Thousands of games on sale. Thousands??? THOUSANDS!!! ... I think. But yeah, more than 1000. Maybe something in there worth grabbing!

So its finally come down to the time where I need to move the IMG forums around. We are shifting servers, and in the process the new server won't run old code. IPB v3 is old code... so old it will break on the newer PHP/MySQL backends.

I have dwindled down the change to going with either MyBB or phpBB.

MyBB seems to have a more clear cut conversion system supporting IPB v3 to their latest MyBB version 1.8. It is also visually more modern out of the gate with many themes to pick from without having to make our own (maybe).

phpBB has some hackish hackjob where you have to convert to something older, then convert again to something newer. Also its default themes look like something people of IMG would come to expect from the 90s. So thats maybe a plus? LOL.

Technically they seem about the same... phpBB has more support for more plugins and extensions (but honestly, I don't see a need for 99% of them).

I'm leaning toward MyBB, though through discussion, you all may make a compelling argument to go with whichever.

The "dead" thread was getting too depressing so it's time for a reborn. Mac gaming is dead, Long live Mac gaming! Those who still want to "mourn" and offer their condolences to their once beloved gaming platform can visit the memorial. Everyone else is welcome to post game related news about Mac and released or upcoming titles. WWDC is just around corner and the games just keep coming.

(You can remove my old posts in other threads about the subject if you want. I'm going to list them here.)

- Aspyr is updating their previous games for Apple Silicon. Two games with native ARM support now are RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and SimCity 4 Deluxe.

- Gas Station Sim is now released for Mac with native support for Apple Silicon. Also Juno: New Origins is released and Disney Dreamlight Valley is out on Mac App Store only for M1. It has an empty Steam depot.

- Baldur’s Gate 3 releases on August 31, 2023 for Mac with native support for Apple Silicon. Baldur’s Gate 3 will also support cross-save progression between PC, Mac and PS5, allowing you to transfer your saves between platforms and continue your adventure wherever you purchase the game.

- The Forgotten City, the Skyrim mod turned to a standalone game, is out on Mac App Store.

- Patch 2.4 is out now for Total War: WARHAMMER III on macOS! With this update, the immense Immortal Empires campaign is out of Beta and available to all owners of WARHAMMER III.

- Black Desert Mobile now works on Macs with Apple Silicon. "Free" to play but be aware it's not for everyone with its expensive in-game purchases. Read the Steam reviews.

- Uncrashed: FPV Drone Simulator got a "major update" and now works on all AS Macs and some Intel Macs.

- Valve seems to be working on Counter-Stirke 2 for Mac.

- Firmament by Cyan was released on Mac and PC on Steam May 18.

- EA has updated The Sims 4 for Apple Silicon and Cliff Empire is now released for Apple Silicon on MAS.

- MotorCubs RC, another Kickstarter project with apparently native Apple Silicon support, using Metal 3 and requiring Ventura. They recommend M1 Pro 14c.

- Easy Red 2 and DLC Stalingrad is now available for Mac with very positive reviews

- Snowrunner is coming to Mac this year. "SnowRunner, the blockbuster open-world off-roading game from Saber Interactive, is revving up to reach new heights with the game’s debut on the Mac App Store, Mac via Steam, and the Epic Games Store later this year. It features MetalFX Upscaling for accelerated performance and high-quality visuals, along with full crossplay with consoles and PC plus controller support. Players can jump into the driver’s seat of some of the world’s powerful vehicles and prepare to conquer extreme environments with the most advanced terrain simulation experience. SnowRunner is coming to the Apple silicon Mac lineup, and will be available for $29.99 on the Mac App Store, Mac via Steam, and the Epic Games Store. All previously released DLC, as well as the Premium Edition and Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 Passes, will be available for purchase separately."

- Fort Solis is coming to Mac soon. It seems to be more than just another shooter. It will focus more on the storytelling and narrative and is described as "Moon meets Dead Space". They also want to increase the immersion by having one continuous shot with no breaks or edits throughout the entire game, like in God of War. The game will also be fully open for the player to explore and the focus will be on exploration and solving problems rather than shooting and killing monsters. They want the player to feel like an engineer, not a super soldier. The game looks to be everything the pessimists say new Mac games and Mac gaming won't/can't be. It looks AAA, it will be native for AS, it's a UE5 game, it will have day-and-date release on Mac, it's from a new dev (Fallen Leaf) releasing their first Mac game along with other platforms and it doesn't appear to be financed by Apple (otherwise they would have announced it themselves). So much for Mac gaming is dead and devs not wanting to release quality AAA games for Mac unless they're paid by Apple.

- Another UE 5 game is coming June 15, actually the first UE 5 game on Mac. Layers of Fear, native for Apple Silicon will be released on MAS. "The game takes full advantage of the Metal framework". Appears to be Apple Silicon only and contains two games and all DLCs and a new chapter. "The collection includes full remakes of the original Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2, including DLC for both titles and an original chapter made just for this release. These remakes aren’t simple upscales, as each title was recreated in Unreal Engine 5 and include all manner of modern graphical touches, though it’s still unknown if the Mac version will handle advanced techniques like ray-tracing. Developer Bloober Team has stated that it made full use of Apple’s proprietary Metal 3 upscaling tech." “Apple silicon has transformed gaming on Mac — delivering incredible graphics performance, new capabilities, along with extraordinary battery life,” said Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno."

- Dragonheir: Silent Gods, a new open-world high-fantasy strategy RPG is coming to Mac. "It was also announced that on Apple silicon Mac lineup, Dragonheir: Silent Gods is native and takes full advantage of Metal resulting in smooth and responsive gameplay with high frame rates and stunning visuals. Leveraging technology, such as Metal FX Upscaling, Variable Refresh Rate, and Spatial Audio, players will experience enhanced graphics and a more immersive audio experience."

- Total War: Pharaoh is coming to Mac after the PC release in Oct.

- ELEX II comes to MAS next month. Very interesting press release! Sounds promising when some developers use Metal and its features to its fullest instead of complaining that no one uses Metal. So there you go, it only took about 8 months to port a DX12 open world game to Mac with all the bells and whistles and they worked together with Apple engineers, meaning if you approach Apple like this or like 4A and Larian Apple is happy to help you. So much for Apple not caring about gaming and making it difficult for devs. "Piranha Bytes always strives to deliver more complex and enhanced games, and bringing ELEX II to Mac was no exception. ELEX II takes advantage of the Metal shading language to tap into Apple silicon performance. With Metal's Indirect Command Buffer (ICB) approach on Mac, the game also fully embraces GPU driven pipelines. In a little over eight months, a team specializing in GPU and Metal ported the DX12 version of ELEX II to Mac. ELEX II worked closely with Metal engineers to take full advantage of the many powerful features and tools to deliver a truly wonderful game."

- No Man's Sky is released on Mac.

- More and more games are announced before WWDC on Monday. Stray is coming to Mac.

- Codeweavers announced DX12 support in Crossover 23, making it possible to play DX12 Windows games on Mac.

- Isonzo Mac Steam depot has been updated with 18 GB. They also updated their roadmap stating Mac support is coming this summer.

Announced a few minutes ago at Playstation Showcase 2023: https://www.marathonthegame.com/

Not directly related to the old Marathon games though, it's a purely PvP game.

Bloober Team announced a while back that 'The Medium' will come to the Mac App Store in Summer 2023.

They just also announced that their 'Layers of Fear' Reimagination, which is a remake of Layers of Fear 1 and 2 will come to the Mac App Store on June 15.

This will be one of the first Mac games using Unreal Engine 5.