Batting next...
With Knights of the Old Republic approved and prepping to ship out (if it hasn't already), you might be wondering what I've been working on the past few weeks. Wonder no more.
* A Knights of the Old Republic patch. ;-) Turns out that the eMac uses super-high frequency monitor settings and has only one setting for each resolution, 112Hz for 800x600 as an example. As it happens, the PC version of KOTOR disallows frequencies > 85Hz unless you do some crazy .ini file tweaking. We didn't have any eMacs to test against in the lab, and none of the external testers had one either, so this issue went completely unnoticed until a few weeks ago. Rest easy though, eMac owners - the patch should be released the same day it starts hitting shelves (it's already been tested and conditionally approved).
* Patches for Medal of Honor and Spearhead. These roll in a few fixes I made while working on Breakthrough, and in general clean up the apps to be better OSX citizens. Most notably, the patches include a new version of the Miles sound library which once and for all eliminates the random crashes that happen on dual-processor Macs.
* Command-line dedicated servers for MOHAA, Spearhead and Breakthrough. You'll be able to run your own dedicated server from the OSX command-line. I've been working with Martin van Spanje of Configulator fame to make these apps the best in their class, and I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out. I don't know yet when we'll be releasing these, but it shouldn't be too much longer. They're undergoing QA now, along with the other MOHAA patches.
* A patch for Jedi Academy. The "dynamic glow" feature wasn't very dynamic in the initial release, so I've fixed this. I've also fixed the "MAX_PATCH_PLANES" error that some people were getting with very large third-party multiplayer maps. Finally, I've cleaned up support for 3rd party code mods so you don't have to do the "DLL shuffle" to get them to load like you must right now. As well, a new version of the dedicated server app is coming that cleans up a few minor issues that Martin uncovered while writing his Jedi Academy Configulator.
* MacMAME. I nearly had a 0.82 port ready, then KOTOR hit beta and I was out of time. But I've revisited it, and it should be ready to go within a few days. I've spent quite some time rewriting it to be a better OSX app and removed a lot of old file-handling and joystick code that'd been living in there since the 90's. I'm very pleased with the results so far.
* A mystery project. If I were to give it a codename, I'd probably call it "Unimaginable Revisited", but it's not really worthy of a codename because it's not a big or flashy project. It's more of an escape for me than a curse. I've had a ton of fun working on it, and I'm anxious for it to see the light of day. It's broken into my top 5 list of favorite Mac ports I've ever worked on.
One of the other noteworthy things recently is Aspyr's joystick support in our porting library. John Butler was tasked with fixing some of the reported issues with Battlefield 1942, and as part of this mystery project, I also had to add joystick support. It turns out that we were able to simplify and expand our support fairly easily, so I think users of both games will be happy with the end result.
Comments
"A mystery project. If I were to give it a codename, I'd probably call it 'Unimaginable Revisited', but it's not really worthy of a codename because it's not a big or flashy project. It's more of an escape for me than a curse. I've had a ton of fun working on it, and I'm anxious for it to see the light of day. It's broken into my top 5 list of favorite Mac ports I've ever worked on."
I hope to God it's Deus Ex (the first one, which was good; not the second one, which was crappy).
Posted by: Eric Jury | September 10, 2004 08:24 PM
I would have guessed/hoped for DX too, but joystick support? Doesn't quite fit...
Posted by: Henry | September 11, 2004 01:01 AM
glad to hear that you've been busy! always interested in what boliver is working on!
best luck with your next projects
Posted by: rpg | September 11, 2004 06:29 AM
Mystery project? Oh my Buddha! Heretic 1 and Hexen 1 for OS X! Thanks, Brad! ;)
Posted by: Arthur Langereis | September 11, 2004 09:57 AM
A mouth-watering line-up.
Posted by: John Hood | September 11, 2004 01:29 PM
"It's more of an escape for me than a curse."
hmm sounds like Monkey Island terminology...
OMG a carbon version of monkey island 4 YES!!!
Posted by: rpg | September 11, 2004 04:33 PM
Interesting deduction there...but I sure hope you're right. I love that game.
Posted by: Richard Bannister | September 12, 2004 01:33 AM
And... guess what project unimaginable was?
http://www.insidemacgames.com/previews/view.php?ID=21
Posted by: Richard Bannister | September 12, 2004 01:34 AM
Monkey Island would be sweet and neatly tie-in with the general LucasArts theme! Brad, how about Ballblazer OS X style? ;)
Posted by: John Hood | September 12, 2004 02:20 AM
I'm really happy to hear about MacMAME 0.82!
Posted by: chenry | September 12, 2004 10:11 AM
b-dog it totally is monkey island 4 isnt it
but it cant be because that was waaaay to easy.
Posted by: rpg | September 12, 2004 06:34 PM
"Unimaginable Revisited" - That must be "The Sims 2". "Unimaginable" because the success of Sims1 was unimaginable before they started selling it. Or it may also be "Doom3" because of the unimaginable horrors?
Posted by: Gero | September 13, 2004 12:33 AM
Oh - I just noticed that there's Joystick support in the Mystery Project. So it can't bei either of both. But in "Far Cry" you can use gliders...
Posted by: Gero | September 13, 2004 02:23 AM
actually, you could put a joystick into escape from MI, as you move your character around, walk, and select stuff. its how they made it into a console version...
Posted by: guest | September 13, 2004 08:29 AM
Read the link Richard posted... Unimaginable Revisted is NOT Sims related.
Posted by: a2daj | September 13, 2004 08:40 AM
Folks, he said it's not a big flashy product, so forget about Far Cry, Sims2, etc. Carbonization of an older game sounds about right, although I'd hope for an official complete release of Brad's previous work on Alpha Centauri as opposed to DX or Monkey Island.
Posted by: Monkeypox | September 13, 2004 11:11 AM
Oh my God! I hope it will be DeuxEx, but... Brad said it's not a flashy product, so it realy is Unimaginable to Revisit the Mr. Oliver Game Bank with something never published that is coming at last to our OSX shore
Posted by: Rigel | September 13, 2004 11:50 AM
Hellcats, it has to be an OS X version of hellcats!
--mafoo
Posted by: Mafoo | September 13, 2004 12:12 PM
I suspect it's Monkey Island, but I know Brad's always wanted to do the "unimaginable" Mac port of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Posted by: Coleco | September 13, 2004 03:00 PM
Woo!
Monkey Island 4 is the only thing I have ever bought from a B&M Apple Store, and it is a rocking game!
I would gladly buy it again!
-Owl
Posted by: OwlBoy | September 13, 2004 06:13 PM
Oh boy! Look behind you a Three Headed Monkey :-)
It would be nice if Mystery project was Monkey Island 4 OSX :-)
Fantastic Game! I miss it on my new OS :-)
Posted by: Mark | September 14, 2004 11:19 AM
I'm very happy about NEW MacMame 0.82, thanks to hard work, great app!
Posted by: Giovanni | September 15, 2004 02:02 AM
Really looking forward to a MacMame update! Thanks for all your good work!
Posted by: Michael | September 16, 2004 06:38 AM
If it was hellcats and I'd kiss the floor. I love that game.
Posted by: Steven | September 16, 2004 12:01 PM
I'd love to see Hellcats updated for OS X, too. Great game.
Better still... Battle Girl.
Oh, and that Jedi Knight thing would be okay, too. ;)
Posted by: Nathan Strum | September 16, 2004 07:45 PM
Is the new version of Jedi Academy going to be CFM or Mach-O?
Posted by: a2daj | September 17, 2004 02:41 AM
The new version of JA is Mach-O for the mods, I think
Posted by: redsaurus | September 17, 2004 09:38 AM
There's already a carbon version of Monkey island 4 though isn't there?
wow! MAME 0.82 :) how long now?
Posted by: Jeb | September 17, 2004 03:53 PM
So, are we waiting for the MAME 0.87 core at this point?
Posted by: arekkusu | September 18, 2004 07:48 AM
Hey is it just me or is the movement dynamics different in JKA on the MAC when compared to the Windows version. Its seems different to me. I play way to much JKA and i really notice something different between the versions but yeah I'm total Jedi nerd..... :)
Myekie
Posted by: Myekie | September 18, 2004 10:10 AM
When can we look forward to this Jedi Academy patch?
Posted by: BRI | September 18, 2004 06:55 PM
"Is the new version of Jedi Academy going to be CFM or Mach-O?"
CFM, same as before.
"Hey is it just me or is the movement dynamics different in JKA on the MAC when compared to the Windows version."
I'm pretty sure it's you. ;-)
"When can we look forward to this Jedi Academy patch?"
Whenever it passes QA. I haven't sent it off to them for final testing yet, since they're busy with the MOHAA patches I just sent them.
"So, are we waiting for the MAME 0.87 core at this point?"
No, should we be?
Posted by: Brad Oliver | September 18, 2004 08:11 PM
Nope, 0.86 is fine by me. :)
Posted by: arekkusu | September 19, 2004 01:46 AM
MaMAME rules!
(just thought I'd throw that out there)
Posted by: Patrick | September 21, 2004 01:37 PM
Brad, I know you may not be able to give out details, but any info on when unimaginable revisited might be announced? Is this one of those projects where it can't be announced until it goes GM?
Posted by: rpg | September 21, 2004 03:46 PM
"Brad, I know you may not be able to give out details, but any info on when unimaginable revisited might be announced? Is this one of those projects where it can't be announced until it goes GM?"
I can't tell you much more, mainly because a lot of the details are non-technical and thus don't involve me.
Posted by: Brad Oliver | September 21, 2004 11:27 PM
Just curious about the status of the Jedi Academy Patch.
Posted by: BRI | October 9, 2004 07:01 PM
same here wondering when the patch wil lbe available ;)
Posted by: bob | October 16, 2004 09:41 AM
I don't have Jedi Academy, but I'm still wondering what Unimaginable Revisited is.
Posted by: Andrew "Oosha" Nagy | December 4, 2004 12:26 PM