george richardson
asked this on June 27, 2011 12:28
What are your plans for Lion compatibility for Hearts, Spades, Bridge??
Comments
Lori Sheppard
I just checked my computer for software that is compatible with Mac OS Lion and discovered that two of my favorite Freeverse games are not compatible. Any news on whether these will be updated? My favs are 3D Hearts Deluxe and Burning Monkey Solitare!
July 05, 2011 18:35
Atoric
I am afraid we will be losing 3D Hearts and Burning Monkey - if you move forward with LION. When I wrote support regarding this in the past, the response was far from optimistic. I believe Freeverse has moved on, and these original games are finally being put out to pasture. I could be wrong, and hope I am, but I think you need to look for newer alternatives. The last time I logged onto to Gamesmith, it had a message saying that "with heavy hearts", that Gamsmith was going to be taken off the grid this summer.
July 05, 2011 19:01
Lori Sheppard
I was afraid that might be the case. Anyone have any suggestions for replacements for these two programs? I'm sure many will not be able to replace Burning Monkey's.
July 05, 2011 19:06
Atoric
I have been looking for a good replacement for 3D Hearts (I have not played Burning Monkey, so not sure about that one), and have not found any with an online play option that is even close to what Freeverse offered (and honestly, that experience has not been updated for years already too). I recently tried 2 apps for the iPad, and while both work "ok", the online experience is just pathetic. Really sad after all these years that the community of Hearts players will go the way of the dodo! ANYBODY... if you find a GOOD replacement, let us know! (I use a Mac)
July 05, 2011 19:11
2old4fun
Burning Monkey Solitaire works on my iMac under Lion but fails on my wife's Macbook Pro under Lion.
July 20, 2011 20:23
Will McDonald
My wife is upset that Burning Monkey Solitaire does not work on our computer now that I updated to Lion.
She had no warning and now I'm in big trouble.
Help me Freeverse!
July 21, 2011 15:16
David
Honestly, Freeverse, what would it take to make Burning Monkey Solitaire (plus Hearts, and Spades) to work with Lion!? Family members will be devastated if they can't use they programs with Lion (and that includes myself). I love BMS, and really would like it updated. Heck, I'll even pay for an update, even if it is mostly for Lion compatibility!!! I'd even re-buy it if it was made Lion compatible. So PLEASE Freeverse, update BMS (and a few other great games), as many folks don't want to see these great game die!
July 21, 2011 15:40
David
Seriously too. I play BMS a lot. I don't want to give it up!
July 21, 2011 15:41
David
"It's Been a Swell Party"
That is the response - got my money - too bad now. Hate saying this Freeverse, but don't expect me to buy another product from you folks again. I loved most of the games you are dropping, especially BMS. Don't see why you can't update it? Don't like this at all.
July 21, 2011 22:34
Matt Diamond
I suppose Freeverse should be commended for making games with such staying power that people are still playing them 3-10 years later.
I understand the necessity of this move in general. But the one that surprised me the most was Burning Monkey Solitaire. Version 4 had a Universal build already (though I see someone has reported a problem under Lion.) I was prepared to upgrade v3 to v4 just to keep it around, but it was removed along with the rest of them. Please reconsider supporting that one.
July 22, 2011 07:02
2old4fun
An update. BMS works fine on my iMac and on my Macbook Air. Fails to run on older Macbook Pro that my wife uses. I have looked at many replacements for BMS and wife says no to all. "They just don't play right."
I sent a copy of the error trace to Support but have not heard from them.
July 22, 2011 07:35
Aaron Fothergill
Freeverse Support
Answer
One option might be to set up a Snow Leopard boot disk on an external drive (possibly even on a largeish memory stick) to run any legacy apps. You could do it on a separate partition on the internal drive too, but that would require partitioning and formatting the drive if it's not already partitioned.
July 22, 2011 11:41
Marco
Update BMS please. It's the only best solitaire for mac. It's soo stupid to keep it discontinued.....
July 22, 2011 13:16
Marco
Little update: if you start the game and press enter for skip the initial movie, BMS working good!
July 22, 2011 15:07
2old4fun
Your update is spot on! I suspected that the problem lay in the startup animation as I have disabled it in preferences on my computers but my wife did not on hers. But I could not find a way to fix it as I could not get the game started. Now I have disabled the "Play opening movie" and it works fine. Thanks for the update.
July 22, 2011 15:31
David
So BMS works without the opening movie! Fantastic! Thanks Marco for finding that. I honestly can say that dropping BMS would just feel wrong. It is the best casual solitaire game out there, bar-none. I've never seen anything like it before or yet. That is the one reason I wish Freeverse would at least update BMS - as was pointed out here, it is Universal. I'm betting it wouldn't take too much to update it.
For now though, if it'll work without the intro movie - great! :D
July 22, 2011 15:38
David
Almost forgot - as for Aaron's thoughts, I still plan on setting up a SL partition for my mom, as she loves all the older freeverse games that worked with SL. Dual boot is better than totally loosing those games.
July 22, 2011 15:40
Geoghegan1
I hope you will reconsider Burning Monkey Mahjong. I just upgraded to Lion and I'm upset because this game won't run anymore. Please fix it so it will run with Lion and I'll pay.
July 22, 2011 21:30
Matt Diamond
Great tips on getting BMS running, people! I just put my money where my mouth is and bought a new (NOT used) copy of Burning Monkey Solitaire 4. (I'd have bought it directly from Freeverse if they hadn't removed it from their store. Amazon had just 2 left last I checked, though they seem to think they'll be getting more of them.)
Yes, planning to have a separate partition so I can boot back to Snow Leopard when I get desperate, but I wouldn't be likely to do that to play a quick game of solitaire, and the rest of my family probably won't do it for any reason.
July 22, 2011 22:08
Matt Diamond
Say, Aaron: don't mean to put you on the spot, but any chance of an Intel build of Airburst Extreme? When I asked my son which 3 PowerPC games I should investigate first to get running on Lion, that was one of them. He's got the music on his iPod, even.
July 22, 2011 22:11
Tphuey
Okay, it appears that you guys ignored my help request for BM Mahjong 2 registration problems until it was Overcome By Events. I updated to Lion, and most of my Apps that I purchased from you have been abandoned. Only, I don't find out that your stuff won't work until it is too late. Ever since you guys were purchased by ngcomo, you have lost touch with your customers, and your focus towards keeping customers happy has really dropped. I am very disappointed in you guys, but since you lost touch with your customers, I imagine that your don't give a crap about what I think anymore.
I spent several hundred dollars supporting you guys, cause I really liked your software and your sense of humor. I pushed BM Solitaire to every customer that wanted solitaire for the Mac for over 6 1/2 years while I worked part time at the Apple Store. I was probably your greatest advocate.
Now my favorite Mac SW games are all gone. Now I have been abandoned. Sorry for the rant.
July 22, 2011 23:01
Aaron Fothergill
Freeverse Support
Matt: we're playing with various Airbursty options, the most probable of which is that we'll do a new one from scratch as there's a lot of new bits from the shelved XBox version that would be great fun on the Mac and iPhone.
July 23, 2011 05:22
Matt Diamond
Aaron: cool! Good luck!
Tphuey: Fair enough, but save some of your ire for Apple. Most computer games are actively supported by their publisher/developer for at most a couple years, but with luck the software will continue to run for much longer than that. But Apple has made a habit of introducing "discontinuities" that force companies to make a hard decision, whether to put more money into games that no longer sell, or to pull the plug. Of course there are benefits (PPC -> Intel for example) but the costs of these moves fall heavily on software developers.
July 23, 2011 18:31
Lori Sheppard
Well I am one of the disappointed BMS fans that will most likely loose one of my favorite games when I upgrade to Lion. (though I will try several of the tips given on this list.. THANK YOU) BMS is probably my favorite, but I am also a fan of BIG BANG board games and Hearts. I am sad they will no longer be available. I am not really a "gamer" and so most, if not all of the games that Freeverse has decided to convert are not ones that appeal to me. I understand that Freeverse has to put its time and efforts into the games that are the best money makers (that's just common sense). Still, because they must move away from games that I enjoy, it will also mean that I will no longer be a faithful customer.
Thanks for all the years of enjoyment that you have brought me, I am sad that it has come to an end! Best of luck Freeverse!
July 23, 2011 21:15
Manley, Loring
I too have ended up in the soup with my wife for upgrading to Lion. Burning Monkey Solitaire is her favorite solitaire game. I'm going to try the trick mentioned above, but I really wish there was a long time future for the monkeys. I agree with the comment about saving some of my ire for Apple (I've expressed that on their site - Lion cost $30 from Apple $300 for upgrades from other SW vendors -). Sadly, Windows is a much more continuous upgrade environment. Microsoft doesn't really make an actual operating system but, at least, old software runs on it for a long time. As for "Moving on" it makes me think Apple see me as a vagrant just because I want to take my software with me.
August 08, 2011 11:03
Atoric
I think blaming Apple for the incompatibility is silly... I am NOT an "Apple Fanboy" - but I give creeds to Apple because they match forward... they are not stagnant, and they are willing to give up support for some things that could hold back the "future". I am very sad that I have already said farewell to Hearts 3D... I was one of the very first to buy and sign up to play that game. Gamesmith has not been supported with updates for years... just like Apple, Freeverse needs to move forward. Sure, I wish they would take time and spend the money to come out with new versions of these classic games that do support Lion. For now, you can dual boot your Mac, etc to still play. Still, really, both companies pursue what they feel is needed, and makes them money... it is business. I have searched for alternatives to Hearts 3D, and have found a couple that are not nearly as good an experience as the Freeverse model was... so it goes. Let's spend some time letting Freeverse know that they have a solid fan base for these games - that is the best way to use our energies to try to get updated games in the future.
August 08, 2011 11:42
Manley, Loring
Maybe you read me comment backwards? The first part of my comments was directed to Freeverse. I probably AM an Apple Fanboy (although a fairly long-in-the-tooth specimen of boy). I've been buying them, and using them since 1985 and I probably will continue to do so (two computers and three iPod touchs this year) Still, people should know that moving to Lion will sting a bit. Especially if they just made the move to Intel in the last few months, as I did.
By the way, I'm shocked that you would suggest that a "burning monkey solitaire fan" might act "silly". See if I ever ask you where my JuJu Bees are.
August 08, 2011 16:16
Atoric
Loring - you did make me laugh! Silly person :-)
Good luck with Burning Monkey... it seems many people have been upset by losing these games under Lion... alas, I guess "not enough" to make Freeverse do anything about it. I think now that Ngmoco
owns Freeverse, it is not really a "mom & pop" operation anymore... can't blame the "originals", think they sold it for $25,000,000 ....... for that much money, the heck with Burning Monkey and 3d Hearts!
August 08, 2011 16:23
Manley, Loring
You are quite right. One can buy a lot of Ju Ju Bees for $25,000,000. If the Monkeys are retiring, at least they are doing it in style.
August 08, 2011 17:35
Peter
For those updating their Macs to OS X 10.7 Lion:
Freeverse card games are PowerPC apps requiring the use of Apple's dynamic translator, Rosetta, to run on Intel Macs. Lion does not support Rosetta. The card games will not run in Lion. Here are some options:
Create two partitions on your hard drive using Disk Utility, then run Lion on one and Snow Leopard/Leopard on the other. At startup, hold down the Option key to choose between them.
Use two computers to run Lion on one and Snow Leopard/Leopard on the other.
As above in 2, but use Screen Sharing or a VNC client to to view and control one computer from the other in a window.
Run Lion on your computer and Snow Leopard/Leopard from a bootable external drive created using Disk Utility. Switch between them in System Preferences>Startup Disk.
Use virtualization software to create a virtual machine to run Snow Leopard/Leopard as a client OS with Lion as the host OS. Not all features are supported. Only OS X Server versions are officially supported to run as clients as per the EULA, although there are workarounds for non-server, i.e. regular desktop, versions involving creating an ISO/DMG image and using the sudo bash command in Terminal to adjust ServerVersion.plist.
Virtualization Software:
Oracle's open source VirtualBox. Not recommended. Sluggish and missing features. Especially annoying is an issue with the power management kernel, related to processor frequency, whereby the CPU runs at 100% even when the virtual machine is idle.
VMware Fusion 3. Recommended. Runs at near native speed.
Parallels Desktop 6. I haven't tried this, reputably faster than Fusion.
August 17, 2011 18:13
george richardson
Thanks, Peter. How would you use Fusion or Parallels? Can they run OS 10.6 and earlier? Or are you suggesting that we use the Windows versions of these games? If so, is Freeverse willing to give codes to those who only own the Mac version and don’t already have the Windows version?
August 17, 2011 20:38
2old4fun
For a replacement we have been using Moonlight Mahjong from the App Store. It is free and quite fun.
August 17, 2011 21:27
Peter
George, Apple's EULA only allows for OS X 10.5 Leopard Server, OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server and now both the client version of Lion and Lion Server to run as guest OSs in virtualization. Any other versions won't install in Fusion or Parallels without hacking. As for host OS versions, check vendor websites for system requirements and compatibility. As for running Lion as a client and keeping Leopard or Snow Leopard as the host, it'll be some time before all the features of Lion are usable in either Fusion or Parallels.
The simplest method to maintain the usability of legacy apps is to not upgrade to Lion. Leopard and Snow Leopard are just as serviceable the day after Lion was released as the day before. Unless you have a compelling need for the features available in Lion, all the software you currently use work just fine without Lion. I would resist the software industry's penchant, if understandable from a commercial perspective, toward "upgraditis" by using your familiar tools until they become a functional liability. Not only will you be more productive with familiar tools, but such a strategy is more cost effective. Not that games are all that productive… Of course, eventually you will be forced to abandon and find replacements for software no longer under development nor supported, or because of a change in system architecture.
I'm not suggesting you use the Windows versions of the games at all. For one thing, once Freeverse shuts down GameSmith Aug. 30th, only the Mac versions will allow you to play with others over the internet using the local hosting option. As far as receiving a free code for the Windows version of the Mac games you already own, you'll have to contact Freeverse.
August 18, 2011 17:40
Peter
Click to see a screenshot.
In the screenshot you'll see three copies of 3D Spades Deluxe running at the same time on a laptop: natively on a MacBook Pro, in a Screen Sharing window connected to a Mac Mini and running in a OS X Server virtual environment using VMware.
August 19, 2011 16:35
rodimusprime
I am pretty said. I bought the Colin's Card Games back in 2003 I think.. I have had so much fun playing them over the years. I would definitely pay for an upgrade for Lion compatibility. There was a great community on GameSmith, yes, but I'd just like to be able to play the games... I haven't found any alternatives worthwhile.
Hearts
Pitch-Setback
Euchre
I miss you already! :)
August 26, 2011 17:00
rodimusprime
err. I meant "sad".. not "said"
August 26, 2011 17:01
Roote
As you are aware, if you played on GameSmith, Freeverse closed down that game matching service on August 30th. You may not know, however, that most of the discontinued games have a local host option that allow players with Macs to play games with one another over the internet. I, and other players, have created a chat room that functions as a game lobby and allows us to meet one another to arrange local games. If you are interested, contact me at chatzyfvgames@gmail.com.
September 11, 2011 15:26
Roote
Use this mail link if you don't use Gmail:
September 11, 2011 15:59
Mnilan
Well, I guess I'm done with Freeverse. I bought Burning Monkey Solitaire less a year ago. If this is how customers are treated, I will find somewhere else to spend my money.
September 12, 2011 15:01
Roote
Technologies march ahead, often at a furious pace, and given the profit motive at the foundation of all business, companies are always going to implement strategies they feel will best leverage their investment of time, labour, creativity, and risk to best position themselves for sales, growth, and success. For companies like Freeverse, that may necessitate evolving with changing platforms, pruning lagging or unprofitable products, or analyzing the market and changing focus when new opportunities arise. Creative ambitions need to be tempered by pragmatic realities, never more so than with companies that are so dependent upon a consumer market of discretionary incomes.
For the consumer, that may result in seeing favourite software no longer being developed, supported, or sold, essentially becoming 'abandonware'. The best hope for the consumer is that companies will distribute free license codes, make available abandoned products as freeware, or release the product's source code to the open source community for further development, improvement, and distribution. Doing so, however, may be problematic to a reluctant company for a number of reasons. A company may not want to be associated with a product they no longer have control over, or the product may contain strong branding elements in use with current releases or tied to their corporate identity, or the company may have plans to include elements from the abandoned software into a future release. Copyright holders and content creators rightly want to protect their investment and their reputation.
The best response is to get creative. After all, the same software you've become attached to still functions as it ever has, though certain features may have diminished, as is the case with networked games in which the game-matching service has been shutdown. Yes, there may be the odd annoyance in design or function that was never addressed, and now you have to accept that those flaws will always remain, either to be ignored or forever requiring workarounds. Don't hate the company that created or published the software you fell in love with, adapt to the new situation and see it as an opportunity to work with others to prolong its usefulness and enjoyment. For example, you can still run classic MacOS apps in windowed or full-screen versions of OS 7.5.2 through OS 9.0.4 using the SheepShaver run-time environment with built-in PowerPC emulator under a Snow Leopard host on an Intel Mac. Other run-time environments like Basilisk II and Mini vMac run even earlier versions of the MacOS.
In this screenshot you see Freeverse Hearts Deluxe 4.2 (1995) and Classic Gin Rummy 3.0 (1999) running in Snow Leopard on a recent Intel Mac.
With the same setup, in this screenshot you see Enigma 1.3 (1996), X-Words 1.2 (1997), CrossCards 1.0 (1997), Burning Monkey Solitaire (1998), Reversi: The Eclipse 1.2 (1997), and Spades Deluxe 2.0 (1999).
Is there an update available for purchase of Bridge Deluxe for Lion?
January 09, 2012 12:43
David
As for BMS, noticed that the 'burningmonkey.com site has been down for weeks now, which means no more player rankings!? I'm guessing this is down for good, but really don't know? I hope not, as that was one part of the fun of BMS, and I still play the game. Any response from Freeverse on this would be nice. Player rankings gone or not?
April 04, 2012 18:39
Jshakam
I purchased a new Mac back in January 2012 and I tried to run Wingnuts on this machine. My OS is Lion and this software 2.04 will not run.
Comments
I just checked my computer for software that is compatible with Mac OS Lion and discovered that two of my favorite Freeverse games are not compatible. Any news on whether these will be updated? My favs are 3D Hearts Deluxe and Burning Monkey Solitare!
I am afraid we will be losing 3D Hearts and Burning Monkey - if you move forward with LION. When I wrote support regarding this in the past, the response was far from optimistic. I believe Freeverse has moved on, and these original games are finally being put out to pasture. I could be wrong, and hope I am, but I think you need to look for newer alternatives. The last time I logged onto to Gamesmith, it had a message saying that "with heavy hearts", that Gamsmith was going to be taken off the grid this summer.
I was afraid that might be the case. Anyone have any suggestions for replacements for these two programs? I'm sure many will not be able to replace Burning Monkey's.
I have been looking for a good replacement for 3D Hearts (I have not played Burning Monkey, so not sure about that one), and have not found any with an online play option that is even close to what Freeverse offered (and honestly, that experience has not been updated for years already too). I recently tried 2 apps for the iPad, and while both work "ok", the online experience is just pathetic. Really sad after all these years that the community of Hearts players will go the way of the dodo! ANYBODY... if you find a GOOD replacement, let us know! (I use a Mac)
Burning Monkey Solitaire works on my iMac under Lion but fails on my wife's Macbook Pro under Lion.
My wife is upset that Burning Monkey Solitaire does not work on our computer now that I updated to Lion.
She had no warning and now I'm in big trouble.
Help me Freeverse!
Honestly, Freeverse, what would it take to make Burning Monkey Solitaire (plus Hearts, and Spades) to work with Lion!? Family members will be devastated if they can't use they programs with Lion (and that includes myself). I love BMS, and really would like it updated. Heck, I'll even pay for an update, even if it is mostly for Lion compatibility!!! I'd even re-buy it if it was made Lion compatible. So PLEASE Freeverse, update BMS (and a few other great games), as many folks don't want to see these great game die!
Seriously too. I play BMS a lot. I don't want to give it up!
"It's Been a Swell Party"
That is the response - got my money - too bad now. Hate saying this Freeverse, but don't expect me to buy another product from you folks again. I loved most of the games you are dropping, especially BMS. Don't see why you can't update it? Don't like this at all.
I suppose Freeverse should be commended for making games with such staying power that people are still playing them 3-10 years later.
I understand the necessity of this move in general. But the one that surprised me the most was Burning Monkey Solitaire. Version 4 had a Universal build already (though I see someone has reported a problem under Lion.) I was prepared to upgrade v3 to v4 just to keep it around, but it was removed along with the rest of them. Please reconsider supporting that one.
An update. BMS works fine on my iMac and on my Macbook Air. Fails to run on older Macbook Pro that my wife uses. I have looked at many replacements for BMS and wife says no to all. "They just don't play right."
I sent a copy of the error trace to Support but have not heard from them.
One option might be to set up a Snow Leopard boot disk on an external drive (possibly even on a largeish memory stick) to run any legacy apps. You could do it on a separate partition on the internal drive too, but that would require partitioning and formatting the drive if it's not already partitioned.
Update BMS please. It's the only best solitaire for mac. It's soo stupid to keep it discontinued.....
Little update: if you start the game and press enter for skip the initial movie, BMS working good!
Your update is spot on! I suspected that the problem lay in the startup animation as I have disabled it in preferences on my computers but my wife did not on hers. But I could not find a way to fix it as I could not get the game started. Now I have disabled the "Play opening movie" and it works fine. Thanks for the update.
So BMS works without the opening movie! Fantastic! Thanks Marco for finding that. I honestly can say that dropping BMS would just feel wrong. It is the best casual solitaire game out there, bar-none. I've never seen anything like it before or yet. That is the one reason I wish Freeverse would at least update BMS - as was pointed out here, it is Universal. I'm betting it wouldn't take too much to update it.
For now though, if it'll work without the intro movie - great! :D
Almost forgot - as for Aaron's thoughts, I still plan on setting up a SL partition for my mom, as she loves all the older freeverse games that worked with SL. Dual boot is better than totally loosing those games.
I hope you will reconsider Burning Monkey Mahjong. I just upgraded to Lion and I'm upset because this game won't run anymore. Please fix it so it will run with Lion and I'll pay.
Great tips on getting BMS running, people! I just put my money where my mouth is and bought a new (NOT used) copy of Burning Monkey Solitaire 4. (I'd have bought it directly from Freeverse if they hadn't removed it from their store. Amazon had just 2 left last I checked, though they seem to think they'll be getting more of them.)
Yes, planning to have a separate partition so I can boot back to Snow Leopard when I get desperate, but I wouldn't be likely to do that to play a quick game of solitaire, and the rest of my family probably won't do it for any reason.
Say, Aaron: don't mean to put you on the spot, but any chance of an Intel build of Airburst Extreme? When I asked my son which 3 PowerPC games I should investigate first to get running on Lion, that was one of them. He's got the music on his iPod, even.
Okay, it appears that you guys ignored my help request for BM Mahjong 2 registration problems until it was Overcome By Events. I updated to Lion, and most of my Apps that I purchased from you have been abandoned. Only, I don't find out that your stuff won't work until it is too late. Ever since you guys were purchased by ngcomo, you have lost touch with your customers, and your focus towards keeping customers happy has really dropped. I am very disappointed in you guys, but since you lost touch with your customers, I imagine that your don't give a crap about what I think anymore.
I spent several hundred dollars supporting you guys, cause I really liked your software and your sense of humor. I pushed BM Solitaire to every customer that wanted solitaire for the Mac for over 6 1/2 years while I worked part time at the Apple Store. I was probably your greatest advocate.
Now my favorite Mac SW games are all gone. Now I have been abandoned. Sorry for the rant.
Aaron: cool! Good luck!
Tphuey: Fair enough, but save some of your ire for Apple. Most computer games are actively supported by their publisher/developer for at most a couple years, but with luck the software will continue to run for much longer than that. But Apple has made a habit of introducing "discontinuities" that force companies to make a hard decision, whether to put more money into games that no longer sell, or to pull the plug. Of course there are benefits (PPC -> Intel for example) but the costs of these moves fall heavily on software developers.
Well I am one of the disappointed BMS fans that will most likely loose one of my favorite games when I upgrade to Lion. (though I will try several of the tips given on this list.. THANK YOU) BMS is probably my favorite, but I am also a fan of BIG BANG board games and Hearts. I am sad they will no longer be available. I am not really a "gamer" and so most, if not all of the games that Freeverse has decided to convert are not ones that appeal to me. I understand that Freeverse has to put its time and efforts into the games that are the best money makers (that's just common sense). Still, because they must move away from games that I enjoy, it will also mean that I will no longer be a faithful customer.
Thanks for all the years of enjoyment that you have brought me, I am sad that it has come to an end! Best of luck Freeverse!
I too have ended up in the soup with my wife for upgrading to Lion. Burning Monkey Solitaire is her favorite solitaire game. I'm going to try the trick mentioned above, but I really wish there was a long time future for the monkeys. I agree with the comment about saving some of my ire for Apple (I've expressed that on their site - Lion cost $30 from Apple $300 for upgrades from other SW vendors -). Sadly, Windows is a much more continuous upgrade environment. Microsoft doesn't really make an actual operating system but, at least, old software runs on it for a long time. As for "Moving on" it makes me think Apple see me as a vagrant just because I want to take my software with me.
I think blaming Apple for the incompatibility is silly... I am NOT an "Apple Fanboy" - but I give creeds to Apple because they match forward... they are not stagnant, and they are willing to give up support for some things that could hold back the "future". I am very sad that I have already said farewell to Hearts 3D... I was one of the very first to buy and sign up to play that game. Gamesmith has not been supported with updates for years... just like Apple, Freeverse needs to move forward. Sure, I wish they would take time and spend the money to come out with new versions of these classic games that do support Lion. For now, you can dual boot your Mac, etc to still play. Still, really, both companies pursue what they feel is needed, and makes them money... it is business. I have searched for alternatives to Hearts 3D, and have found a couple that are not nearly as good an experience as the Freeverse model was... so it goes. Let's spend some time letting Freeverse know that they have a solid fan base for these games - that is the best way to use our energies to try to get updated games in the future.
Maybe you read me comment backwards? The first part of my comments was directed to Freeverse. I probably AM an Apple Fanboy (although a fairly long-in-the-tooth specimen of boy). I've been buying them, and using them since 1985 and I probably will continue to do so (two computers and three iPod touchs this year) Still, people should know that moving to Lion will sting a bit. Especially if they just made the move to Intel in the last few months, as I did.
By the way, I'm shocked that you would suggest that a "burning monkey solitaire fan" might act "silly". See if I ever ask you where my JuJu Bees are.
Loring - you did make me laugh! Silly person :-)
Good luck with Burning Monkey... it seems many people have been upset by losing these games under Lion... alas, I guess "not enough" to make Freeverse do anything about it. I think now that Ngmoco
owns Freeverse, it is not really a "mom & pop" operation anymore... can't blame the "originals", think they sold it for $25,000,000 ....... for that much money, the heck with Burning Monkey and 3d Hearts!
You are quite right. One can buy a lot of Ju Ju Bees for $25,000,000. If the Monkeys are retiring, at least they are doing it in style.
For those updating their Macs to OS X 10.7 Lion:
Freeverse card games are PowerPC apps requiring the use of Apple's dynamic translator, Rosetta, to run on Intel Macs. Lion does not support Rosetta. The card games will not run in Lion. Here are some options:
Virtualization Software:
Thanks, Peter. How would you use Fusion or Parallels? Can they run OS 10.6 and earlier? Or are you suggesting that we use the Windows versions of these games? If so, is Freeverse willing to give codes to those who only own the Mac version and don’t already have the Windows version?
For a replacement we have been using Moonlight Mahjong from the App Store. It is free and quite fun.
George, Apple's EULA only allows for OS X 10.5 Leopard Server, OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server and now both the client version of Lion and Lion Server to run as guest OSs in virtualization. Any other versions won't install in Fusion or Parallels without hacking. As for host OS versions, check vendor websites for system requirements and compatibility. As for running Lion as a client and keeping Leopard or Snow Leopard as the host, it'll be some time before all the features of Lion are usable in either Fusion or Parallels.
The simplest method to maintain the usability of legacy apps is to not upgrade to Lion. Leopard and Snow Leopard are just as serviceable the day after Lion was released as the day before. Unless you have a compelling need for the features available in Lion, all the software you currently use work just fine without Lion. I would resist the software industry's penchant, if understandable from a commercial perspective, toward "upgraditis" by using your familiar tools until they become a functional liability. Not only will you be more productive with familiar tools, but such a strategy is more cost effective. Not that games are all that productive… Of course, eventually you will be forced to abandon and find replacements for software no longer under development nor supported, or because of a change in system architecture.
I'm not suggesting you use the Windows versions of the games at all. For one thing, once Freeverse shuts down GameSmith Aug. 30th, only the Mac versions will allow you to play with others over the internet using the local hosting option. As far as receiving a free code for the Windows version of the Mac games you already own, you'll have to contact Freeverse.
Click to see a screenshot.
In the screenshot you'll see three copies of 3D Spades Deluxe running at the same time on a laptop: natively on a MacBook Pro, in a Screen Sharing window connected to a Mac Mini and running in a OS X Server virtual environment using VMware.
I am pretty said. I bought the Colin's Card Games back in 2003 I think.. I have had so much fun playing them over the years. I would definitely pay for an upgrade for Lion compatibility. There was a great community on GameSmith, yes, but I'd just like to be able to play the games... I haven't found any alternatives worthwhile.
Hearts
Pitch-Setback
Euchre
I miss you already! :)
err. I meant "sad".. not "said"
As you are aware, if you played on GameSmith, Freeverse closed down that game matching service on August 30th. You may not know, however, that most of the discontinued games have a local host option that allow players with Macs to play games with one another over the internet. I, and other players, have created a chat room that functions as a game lobby and allows us to meet one another to arrange local games. If you are interested, contact me at chatzyfvgames@gmail.com.
Use this mail link if you don't use Gmail:
Well, I guess I'm done with Freeverse. I bought Burning Monkey Solitaire less a year ago. If this is how customers are treated, I will find somewhere else to spend my money.
Technologies march ahead, often at a furious pace, and given the profit motive at the foundation of all business, companies are always going to implement strategies they feel will best leverage their investment of time, labour, creativity, and risk to best position themselves for sales, growth, and success. For companies like Freeverse, that may necessitate evolving with changing platforms, pruning lagging or unprofitable products, or analyzing the market and changing focus when new opportunities arise. Creative ambitions need to be tempered by pragmatic realities, never more so than with companies that are so dependent upon a consumer market of discretionary incomes.
Is there an update available for purchase of Bridge Deluxe for Lion?
As for BMS, noticed that the 'burningmonkey.com site has been down for weeks now, which means no more player rankings!? I'm guessing this is down for good, but really don't know? I hope not, as that was one part of the fun of BMS, and I still play the game. Any response from Freeverse on this would be nice. Player rankings gone or not?
I purchased a new Mac back in January 2012 and I tried to run Wingnuts on this machine. My OS is Lion and this software 2.04 will not run.