Black & White 1.1.8 & Creature Isle 1.0.2

Release Notes

This release of Black & White fixes the following issues over previous releases:

• Fixed compatibility issue with QuickTime 6.1
• Fixed shared library error which ocurred on Macs running Mac OS X 10.1.x

This release of Creature Isle fixes the following issues over previous releases:

• Fixed compatibility issue with QuickTime 6.1
• Splash screen now displays correctly on Quartz Extreme systems.
• Vortex now casts glow and burning objects are tinted orange on Mac OS X 10.2 or later
• Fixed crash if an animated object loses its animation info.
• Fixed crash if corrupt object is read from vortex file.

Multiplayer Games

Setup

Multiplayer games can be located through the GameRanger game finding service, or by selecting "Join Online Game" from the game menu screen.

Note that Black & White does not support joining games that have already started - if you are using the in-game browser then the games listed in the main lobby are still at the preparation stage (where players can chat, set up teams, and select the map). Once the server computer starts the game, the game will be removed from the main lobby.

The multiplayer map pack is available from Feral's web site.

Registration

Before playing an Internet game of Black & White with the in-game browser, you must register for an online account. This can be done by visiting http://www.bwgame.com/ and selecting the "Register" link from the menu on the left.

Once you have registered, be sure to go back and enter your location details into your account. By entering your location, Black & White will be able to activate its "Internet Weather" feature.

Internet Weather

This feature requires that you fill in your location on the web site, and enter the online game lobby within the game at least once. After doing this, the next time you enter a single-player game your local weather forecast will be downloaded and used to modify the in-game weather (assuming you are connected to the internet).

Compatibility

Unfortunately due to the architecture of the networking code, Mac and PC versions of Black & White are not network compatible.

The game uses compiler-specific information as part of its networking protocol, and this prevents the Mac version from being able to mimic a PC on the network (this issue also affects the PC, where each release of the game is not compatible with any previous version by design).

Hosting

Black & White uses a peer-to-peer networking model, which means that there are no dedicated servers which host multiplayer games. Instead one player must decide that they will act as the host for the game, and other players connect directly to their machine.

Ideally, the player with both the fastest computer and the best network connection should act as the host for the game: a slower host will increase the chances that the game will go "out of sync' and may disconnect players.

If you are playing from behind a firewall, you must arrange for the following ports to be opened:

    tcp       2611
    tcp       2612
    tcp       2613
    tcp       2614
    tcp       6667

    udp       2613
    udp       2614
    udp       6500
    udp       13139
    udp       27900

If you are playing from behind a router, and wish to act as a host for a game, you must have a router capable of performing port-forwarding. To the rest of the internet, your router is the only visible point - and so to act as a host for a game, your router must be configured to forward incoming traffic on the above ports to the machine from which you wish to play the game.

In addition, Black & White must be told the public address of your router (the address visible to the outside world) so that it can tell other players where to connect. This can be done by creating a text file called "commandline", placing it in the application folder, and entering the following on its first line:

    -hostip=xxxx

The "xxxx" string should be replaced with the IP address (or DNS name, if any) of your router.

Black & White Links

Some useful links for Black & White are:

http://www.bwcenter.com/
http://www.bandwzone.com/
http://www.planetblackandwhite.com/
news://alt.games.black-white
news://comp.sys.mac.games.*

These sites include news about the game, new maps and tattoos to download, and discussion with other players.

Reporting Bugs

If you encounter a problem with Black & White, please send us a bug report at bwsupport@zonic.co.uk.

Please include an Apple System Profiler report for your machine, and a Crash Reporter log if applicable. Instructions on how to collect this information can be found on our Bug Reporting page.

If you are encountering a graphical or performance problem, please check that you have the latest video drivers for your card. Links to these can be found on our Video Drivers page.