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Diablo II Patch for Mac OS X Released
soquelraj writes "Blizzard has released the long awaited patch they promised three months ago at MacWorld SF 2002 to allow Diablo II and Diablo II LoD to run native on Mac OS X. This was the last reason I was booting into Mac OS 9 for any reason (I could never stand not having direct access to my video hardware running the game via Classic). The performance (at least on the first quick spin I took tonight after downloading) under OpenGL looks to be much smoother than anything previous -- but regardless, this makes my Mac OS X experience complete."
We Cannot Turn Away
By Jesse Helms
Sunday, March 24, 2002
This year more than half a million babies in the developing world will contract from their mothers the virus that causes AIDS, despite the fact that drugs and therapies exist that could virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of the killer disease.
It is my intent to offer an amendment with Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to the emergency supplemental appropriations bill to add $500 million -- contingent on dollar-for-dollar contributions from the private sector -- to the U.S. Agency for International Development's programs to fight the HIV-AIDS pandemic. The goal of this new money will be to make treatment available for every HIV-positive pregnant woman. As President Bush would say, we will leave no child behind.
There is no reason why we cannot eliminate, or nearly eliminate, mother-to-child transmission of HIV-AIDS -- just as polio was virtually eliminated 40 years ago. Drugs and therapies are already provided to many in Africa and other afflicted areas. Only more resources are needed to expand this most humanitarian of projects.
The stakes could not be higher. Already in many African nations, an entire generation has been lost to AIDS. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV could eliminate another. Although reliable numbers are hard to come by, experts believe that more than 2 million pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa have HIV. Of these, nearly one-third will pass the virus on to their babies through labor, childbirth or breast feeding, making mother-to-child transmission of AIDS the No. 1 killer of children under 10 in the world.
There will be obstacles to achieving universal availability of drugs and therapies. Many African nations lack the infrastructure and trained personnel to deliver health care on this scale. Some governments may not be cooperative. My amendment will provide the administration with the flexibility to deliver the necessary assistance while addressing these obstacles. For instance, if the new Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is deemed the most efficient way to deliver assistance, then the president can transfer money there.
The United Nations has already set an ambitious goal of reducing the portion of infants infected with HIV by 20 percent by 2005 and by 50 percent by 2010. We can accelerate these efforts, saving hundreds of thousands of lives, with a larger investment of public and private funds now. Private contributions, either financial or in kind -- such as the donations of the drug nevirapine by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim -- are an essential part of a successful anti-AIDS strategy.
In addition, national commitment is absolutely essential. The government of Uganda can serve as an example. Through the leadership of Uganda's first lady, Janet Museveni, that country has cut in half its HIV infection rate.
In February I said publicly that I was ashamed that I had not done more concerning the world's AIDS pandemic. I told this to a conference organized by Samaritan's Purse, the finest humanitarian organization I know of. Indeed, it is their example of hope and caring for the world's most unfortunate that has inspired action by so many. Samaritan's Purse is led by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham -- both of whom I count as dearest friends -- but the organization was founded by the late Bob Pierce. Dr. Pierce's mission was to "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." I know of no more heartbreaking tragedy in the world today than the loss of so many young people to a virus that could be stopped if we simply provided more resources.
Some may say that, despite the urgent humanitarian nature of the AIDS pandemic, this initiative is not consistent with some of my earlier positions. Indeed, I have always been an advocate of a very limited government, particularly as it concerns overseas commitments. Thomas Jefferson once wrote eloquently of a belief to which I still subscribe today: that "our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be."
The United States has become, economically and militarily, the world's greatest power. I hope that we have also become the world's wisest power, and that our wisdom will show us how to use that power in the most judicious manner possible, as we have a responsibility to those on this earth to exercise great restraint.
But not all laws are of this earth. We also have a higher calling, and in the end our conscience is answerable to God. Perhaps, in my 81st year, I am too mindful of soon meeting Him, but I know that, like the Samaritan traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, we cannot turn away when we see our fellow man in need.
The goatse guy for president. Win one for the gaper!
Let's take a purely mathematical approach. Entropy S = k ln W where W is the mulitplicity of the configuration: W = N!/nl!nr!. Now, if we let N be the number of MacOS machines in existence with nl = number that have been cracked and nr the number that haven't been (yet!), we can plug in some numbers and find that the likelihood of break-in is roughly 87.3%.
YMMV, obviously, but even in the case of simple home usage I don't like to risk my data to such an insecure OS. That's why I stick to Windows95 which, despite what some MS-bashers like to say, hasn't had a single break-in attributable to design error ever.
That said, I suppose I could write more than one template for the case where we get two MacOS (or whatever) stories back to back like this.
As was pointed out on another website, MacOS X hadn't even shipped in public beta form when Diablo II was released. While I'm sure that the OSX updates for WarCraft II, StarCraft, and Diablo II are mostly applications of things Blizzard developers have learned as part of the WarCraft III development cycle, it's still very good of Blizzard to release those efforts to the Mac gaming public.
Then again, I'd also wager that Diablo II (and LOD) has sold enough copies to recoup Blizzard's investment at this point - and the goodwill they're generating amongst the OSX-using community will just translate into additional sales for WarCraft III when it hits the bricks. Not much, granted (I'm realistic about MacOS market share), but every bit helps, neh?
-- Niherlas
You got a little crazy there at the end, but you started off right on the money. MacOS, being a kludged together piece of homo-plagarism is unoriginal itself. By definition, then, any story about it is the same.
Now if I only had a time machine that could take me back a year and a half, to when I was actually playing that game...
--saint
One vendor releases a patch, and it's news? You going to start carrying news about patches for all the other OS X games?
Blizzard being one of the more influncial game compaines out there porting/patching thier application to OS X may give other smaller companies reasons to port to OS X.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
...and already released for OS X. And if memory serves me correctly, Unreal Tournament, a non-Blizzard product, is also older than Diablo II.
Two cock in my pussy! It feel so good!
Why are all Macintosh users homosexual? Interesting question, not one of them is smart enough to install Linux on an intel box, much less a gay PPC gumdrop.
so when will they jump on the band wagon and make a n executable for linux?
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
I dont know about you, but for me, diablo 2 is unplayable on a mac..
at least with a geforce 2mx graphics card....
I think it has something to do with Nvidia horrible macos drivers..
but a underpowered (even a celeron 300) PC can play diablo2 much better then my 733 G4 can...
quake3, on the other hand, runs like a charm... so its not a matter of hardware...
please NVIDIA. fix MacOS drivers (both X an 9)
please BLIZZZZZARD. make Nvidia fix those drivers!
I have tryed servel times, and I am not able to get this sucker to work.... :(
I hope others have more luck than I.
"You win again Gravity!" -Futurama (Zapp)
Maybe its just me, but my Mac OSX experience won't be complete until I have two things 1) OSX Native Matlab and 2) Counter-Strike. Purely my opinion..
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
Yeah, but Diablo II needs no floppies.
Why does anybody need a 1.44 mb floppy anymore on a computer? They are totally obsolete! When was the last time I used a 1.44 mb floppy? Oh....let's see...2 and a half freakin years ago!!
Get rid of the stinkin' floppies!! We don't need no stinkin' flops!
Be a man, and get a cd-r!
Blizzard is one of those great software companies that, literally, help keep Macintosh gaming legitimate. For them to create an update for D2 for Mac OS X is such a sign.
Other companies, from Freeverse and Ambrosia (hail Andrew Welch, god of Code), to Aspyr Media (bless them for Tomb Raider, Sims, and Deus Ex ports, et al.) all show that the good games do come to the Macintosh, and the future for games look good.
However, Apple needs to work on a better HID software solution. We went from InputSprockets (a nice and highly flexible solution) to nothing in OS X. If complex games such as Descent are to be ported, joysticks and other devices must be fully supported.
I'll repeat what others have noted about the update: OS X has good OpenGL, but those with nVidia video may suffer performance problems or even (gasp!) kernel panics. Software rendering works great, and is actually faster than OpenGL with less overhead.
Like other OS before it, try to avoid running a gazzillon apps while D2 is running. It still needs a respectable RAM amount, even though the OS allocates it now. And, keep Classic off--its a resource hog.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
OS X version runs great for me -- I bought and set aside LOD just for this very day. Now I ripped that biatch open and it's like having D2 brand new all over again. OS X is such a wicked game platform... Props to Blizzard on Starcraft too... now if Aspyr could get their lame ass act together and get RTCW out the door. I guess Harry Potter was more important. Any die hard Mac gamers out their playing Harry Potter? I didn't think so,....
I wanted to buy an Ibook for the productivity I would get from not having incredibly addictive games available... oh whoa's me. whoa's me. the end is near.
stupid ad, stupid.
As if I didn't already have enough distractions. I spent 6 hours playing this today. Thanks a lot Blizzard, I'm supposed to be job hunting.
If I keep this up I'll go blind.
...but regardless, this makes my Mac OS X experience complete.
Wow, Diablo II on a Mac. You are a tool.
Let me summarize your life for you:
1. Pound big, fat mouse button.
2. Wait for super armor/tower shield/perfect diamond.
3. Pound button some more.
Most people use all ten of their fingers. Congratulations, you've learned how to use one. Upgrade to Windows, maybe you can exercise a second one. But first make sure to get that tower shield.