X3: Terran Conflict for Mac

by Alex McLarty

Virtual Programming has announced X3: Terran Conflict for Mac, available today:

The X Universe story embarks on a thrilling final chapter with Virtual Programming, Ltd.’s release of X3: Terran Conflict for Mac OS X. A new standalone game that’s more expansive and open-ended than previous entries in the series, X3: Terran Conflict features stunning graphics and spine-tingling audio that make players feel as if they’re really exploring deep space. They’ll undertake dangerous missions, become economic powerhouses, and engage in conflicts ranging from dogfights between small spacecraft to massive battles involving fleets of ships.
X3: Terran Conflict continues the X Universe’s story of human, alien, and machine races vying for power — players choose between several different characters, with their selection slightly altering the plot. The X Universe has made contact with the Solar System, but Earth is a much different place than it was centuries ago, when a calamity cut the planet off from a small group of humans.
Interestingly, X3: Terran Conflict isn’t using Transgaming’s Cider technology and instead has gone for the fruit juice option – a straight port! Mark Hinton, Virtual Programming’s CEO:

Cider was used in X3, unfortunately it didn’t deliver the performance Virtual Programming and its customers required.

I’ve had issue with Cider since BF2142 for Mac, what with performance being on par with a one-legged racing dog that’s fallen down a well and has spontaneously caught on fire.
It looks like Luis will be braving the dark skies of X3: Terran Conflict, hopefully finishing before the one-legged, burned demon dog of Cider turns up on his doorstep demanding a reinstall.

About Alex McLarty

Alex McLarty was the Editor of The Mac Gamer from it's launch until June 2011. His favourite videogames are Fallout, Deus Ex and most of Valve's catalogue. He has a cat named Cash.

6 Responses

  1. Sean says:
    October 12, 2009 at 19:51

    Bought it a couple of days ago and running it on a new MBP. Unfortunately the performance is appaling and I would advise anyone else to avoid. I’m going to try and get myself a refund.

  2. Alex McLarty says:
    October 12, 2009 at 20:47

    Have you contacted VP to see if they know of any issues?

  3. Mark Richard Mandel says:
    November 15, 2009 at 22:57

    I can chime in with some useful info here. I purchased the game for Mac, being a huge fan of the series. At present, the game is unplayable due to constant graphical glitches. It can happen at least five times a minute – the game will freeze for up to 10 seconds and quickly display swatches of interface elements – then the foreign elements disappear and the game goes back to normal. It does this on any graphics settings, and it is a real bummer, because it’s an amazing game.

    I am not the only person with this issue, as I have seen similar postings elsewhere which describe the same thing. I am on a unibody Macbook Pro 15″ with a SSD. I know it can handle the game on the highest settings.

    I have contacted Virtual Programming and I am awaiting a response.

  4. Alex McLarty says:
    November 16, 2009 at 00:19

    Sorry to hear that.

    Luis is busy reviewing the game, so I’ll let him know about this.

    I’ll also try and get word from VP about these issues.

  5. Alex McLarty says:
    November 18, 2009 at 16:11

    Hey guys,

    My contact at VP said please raise a support ticket here:

    http://www.vpltd.com/supportdesk/

    Let me know if you get this resolved.

    Alex.

  6. Mark Richard Mandel says:
    November 20, 2009 at 02:34

    Update: Drastically lowering the quality helps somewhat, but the interface elements still appear.