keith@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Vampires R Us) (11/03/90)
Anybody else experience 02 bombs during experimental mode? The first time occured when a friend played Modern Day Earth and decided to trash the world with meteors. The second time was during a fairly normal session from the Aquarium start to just right after my avians gained intelligence. I've not encountered any bombs during game play in easy mode (didn't try the harder levels yet). This is the b&w program running off an SE/30 w/1Mb RAM, so I should be within the specs of the hardware requirements... -- Keith Kinoshita; UH-KapCC, OCS, Cmptr, Lecturer INTERNET: keith@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU ARPA: uhccux!keith@nosc.MIL "All the world's a simulation And all the Sims and SimEarthlings merely players..." -William Simspeare
arw@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Paul Hanson) (11/06/90)
In article <10136@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>, keith@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Vampires R Us) writes: > This is the b&w program running off an SE/30 w/1Mb RAM, > so I should be within the specs of the hardware requirements... > --
billlund@hpindwa.cup.hp.com (Bill Lund) (11/07/90)
What are the hardware requirements for SimEarth? Will it run on a Mac+ with 2.5Mbyte? Bill Lund HP Cupertino
keith@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Vampires R Us) (11/07/90)
In article <4904@sage.cc.purdue.edu> arw@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Paul Hanson) writes:
[wants to know hardware requirements]
I'll add more info first. I've played quite a few games in normal and
easy mode and haven't encountered any bombs so far. so i'm sure there's
something screwy about experimental mode.
hardware requirements are mac plus, se, se/30, lc, II, IIcx, IIci, IIx, IIfx.
1M RAM for b&w version, and 2M RAM (recommended) for the color version.
800 disk drive (hard disk recommended).
software requirements: system 6.0.2 software.
interesting how they mention the lc huh?
I've wiped it off the se/30 and am now playing it on a 4 meg plus
with a 40 meg ext drive. it's slower, but not intolerable.
one of the cute things was when a friend accelerated the science
of his sentient reptiles a little too fast. they entered the atomic age, and
in a few minutes they were nuking each other into a cold winter...
--
Keith Kinoshita; UH-KapCC, OCS, Cmptr, Lecturer
INTERNET: keith@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU ARPA: uhccux!keith@nosc.MIL
"All the world's a simulation And all the Sims and SimEarthlings merely
players..." -William Simspeareyossie@fnal.fnal.gov (Yossie Silverman) (11/08/90)
Where does one GET SimEarth? I have called lots of mail-order placed and they don't even have it on their list of software yet! Does Maxis sell it? Thanks in advance - Yossie --- yossie@fnal.fnal.gov; yossie@fnccf.bitnet What did the Caspian Sea? - Saki
kreme@isis.cs.du.edu (Fred Q Zeats IV) (11/09/90)
In article <57050003@hpindwa.cup.hp.com> billlund@hpindwa.cup.hp.com (Bill Lund) writes: >What are the hardware requirements for SimEarth? Will it run on a Mac+ >with 2.5Mbyte? Yes. SimEarth only requires 1 Meg of memory (according to the box). You also get the color adn the B&W versions of the game. -- | kreme@nyx.cs.du.edu |Growing up leads to growing old, and then to dying, and| |---------------------|dying to me don't sound like all that much fun. | | The voice of the majority is no proof of justice. Johann Schiller |
kreme@isis.cs.du.edu (Fred Q Zeats IV) (11/09/90)
In article <5192@lanl.gov> yossie@fnal.fnal.gov (Yossie Silverman) writes: >Where does one GET SimEarth? I have called lots of mail-order placed and >they don't even have it on their list of software yet! Does Maxis sell >it? Thanks in advance - Yossie Well, I picked it up today at the local Software Etc (nee B. Dalton's). The game looks A LOT more complex than SimCity. I'm not sure if I like it or not. Also, it plods along rather slowly on our pathetic little SE. It looks intruiging though. A lot of variables to be playing with, and a manual that could choke your average behemoth. -- | kreme@nyx.cs.du.edu |Growing up leads to growing old, and then to dying, and| |---------------------|dying to me don't sound like all that much fun. | | The voice of the majority is no proof of justice. Johann Schiller |
hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai) (11/10/90)
kreme@isis.UUCP (Fred Q Zeats IV) writes: > yossie@fnal.fnal.gov (Yossie Silverman) writes: > >Where does one GET SimEarth? It seems like local software shops got hold of it before the big mail-order firms did. Is this a new policy on part of Broderbund to promote local software shops? In any case, the big mail-order firms said they'll be getting it around the 15th with a projected price of $40-$43 or somesuch. > The game looks A LOT more complex than SimCity. I'm not sure if I like it > or not. Actually, I think the complexity is not entirely out of the ballpark of SimCity's complexity. After playing with it the entire night, it seems like there aren't THAT many variables that interact with each other. Furthermore, many of the variables you stuff you don't want to fiddle with once they're at a nice equilibrium point. > Also, it plods along rather slowly on our pathetic little SE. > though. I agree. This is a sloooow game even in the "fast" mode. I spent an inordinate amount of time doing other stuff (like reading the manual) and checking mail when it was running. A game shouldn't do that. > A lot of variables to be playing with, and a manual that could > choke your average behemoth. Most of what the manual says is intuitive, though there are nice bits of essays at the end. I was frustrated by (perhaps deliberate) omission of a section explaining how each variable interacts with each other. There's a very simplified flowchart at the end of the manual but for some variables, it has so many inputs that it's pretty useless. For example, what affects the Plague level, and how? Plague is grouped with War, Atomic War, Pollution, and Radiation in one box and that box has Civlization, Food, Energy affecting it. Well! How much and in what way do these three variables affect the variables in the box? Do the factors in the box feedback to other variables? I found out that only a tiny change in Food has an incredibly drastic affect on Plague while the advancement of Civilzation doesn't seem to affect the swings of Plague either lower or higher. What about the effects of Medicine? Where's that on the flowchart? In the SimCity manual, it at least said "if you have pollution, then reduce pollution making stuff - and these are the units which increase the pollution level in a city and how." I see less of that in this manual. Maybe this is deliberate, though I question some of the assumptions they made. In any case, don't let me put you off by all these critiques. It's a good game and if you liked SimCity and don't mind plunging a LOT of time into the game, then by all means, order this one. The pluses I see are the experimental mode where you have as much leeway as you want in doing anything you want to your planet, all the scenarios, including Venus, Mars, old Earth and current Earth, etc., very nice graphics, some funky way of setting and showing you the variables, and other stuff. Make sure you order this the day before you have lots of free time though. -- Eiji Hirai @ Mathematics Dept., Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1397 hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu | hirai@swarthmr.bitnet | uunet!hirai%cs.swarthmore.edu Copyright 1990 by Eiji Hirai. All Rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce or quote explicitly denied except on Usenet. I don't speak for Swarthmore College.
hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai) (11/10/90)
One blatant bug in SimEarth: When you run out of fossil fuel or atomic fuel, the efficiency of using them should go to zero. However, they don't. So you can go on creating Energy from nonexistent fuel, ignoring messages about running out fuel when they appear on your screen. I've had the game crash on me several times, but I can't reproduce it. I'm running it on a Mac II with 6.0.5, no multifinder, lots of inits. It's hard to reproduce so I haven't bothered tracking it down. -- Eiji Hirai @ Mathematics Dept., Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1397 hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu | hirai@swarthmr.bitnet | uunet!hirai%cs.swarthmore.edu Copyright 1990 by Eiji Hirai. All Rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce or quote explicitly denied except on Usenet. I don't speak for Swarthmore College.
dwade@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Doug Wade) (11/10/90)
If you're having problems with the speed, I've noticed that globe mode sucks a LOT of processing power, and having the edit window updated is also pretty bad. If you're just sitting back and letting things develop, either close the edit window, or go to the map, report, or whatever else you're actually interested in and turn off update background windows. A great toy, by the way. It is more sublte than SimCity in a lot of ways. I do agree that the chart in the back is pretty useless, although if you carefully read the manual I think you'll find that everything's very well explained if you can find the right section...
nebel@wam.umd.edu (Chris D. Nebel) (11/12/90)
As of Saturday (the 10th), MacConnection claimed that SimEarth hadn't even been released yet and wouldn't be until about Christmas. BZZZT! Wrong answer! (Maybe the guy I talked to was just slow.) Most other places were out of stock -- MacWarehouse said they'd be getting a shipment in "sometime soon", but the guy didn't know when. MacZone said they'd be getting some Wednesday (the 14th). Dr. Mac actually had them in stock! I ordered a copy; it should be here tomorrow.... Chris Nebel nebel@wam.umd.edu