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Old 01-03-2009, 01:36 PM   #1
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Default Games on Mac OS X

I'd like to start a thread (without the usual "Mac versus PC" arguments) where Mac OS X users can share their advice (similar to the Games on Vista thread).

It's possible to install Windows XP or Vista on Intel-based Macs -- with Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion -- so a comparison of these options might be of interest. But I don't want to install Windows on my computer, so I've been exploring other options.

The Macintosh adventures article recommends several freeware games, but the latest Macs don't include a Classic environment.

ScummVM is compatible with lots of classic adventures. I've completed Beneath a Steel Sky (freeware), Broken Sword 1 & 2, Day of the Tentacle, Flight of the Amazon Queen (freeware), Sam & Max Hit the Road, The Secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge and The Curse of Monkey Island.

DOSBox is available for non-ScummVM games (I've used it with Little Big Adventure 1 & 2). The DOSBox website also mentions GOG.com, which might be a good place to buy The Feeble Files and Simon the Sorcerer 1 & 2.

CrossOver Games requires an Intel-based Mac, and officially supports only certain MMORPG and FPS games, but I've used it to play Syberia 1 & 2. Not all games will work, so I recommend first trying a demo (e.g. the Psychonauts and Runaway 2 demos were playable, but A Vampyre Story wouldn't install). I already own several PC games, so I've tested them with CrossOver Games 7.1.1 and Mac OS X 10.5.6 on a MacBook Pro computer.
  • Blade Runner (DVD-ROM edition): Installs but doesn't launch (and then the computer hangs).
  • Discworld Noir (3 x CD-ROM edition): Installs but doesn't launch.
  • Escape from Monkey Island (2 x CD-ROM edition): Unable to eject Disc 1 halfway through the installation.
  • Gabriel Knight 3 (3 x CD-ROM edition): Appears to work correctly, if launched with the "Trouble Shooting > GK3 software" shortcut (which uses a software renderer).
  • Grim Fandango (2 x CD-ROM edition): There are audio problems (either it goes silent, or it gets stuck and keeps looping) and the game occasionally hangs.
  • The Longest Journey (4 x CD-ROM edition): Installs but doesn't launch. The DVD-ROM edition with the latest patch might work better.
  • Syberia Pack (from the Adventure Shop): Installs but doesn't launch (possibly due to the copy protection).
  • Syberia 1 (2 x CD-ROM edition): There are some minor audio and video glitches, but I was able to complete the game.
  • Syberia 1 & 2 (DVD-ROM collector's edition): I didn't fully test this edition of Syberia 1, but I was able to complete Syberia 2. If Syberia 1 doesn't work in full-screen mode, try restoring the display (Command-Option-R), minimizing the window (Command-M) and restoring the window (by clicking its dock icon). If Syberia 2 hangs, try changing the Detail Level to Low or Medium (in the main options screen).

I've also tested a few Underground adventures with CrossOver Games.

I haven't purchased any native Mac OS X games yet. There are a few recommendations in the Best Mac Adventures thread, but it doesn't seem possible to search the Reviews database by platform.
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Old 01-06-2009, 09:53 AM   #2
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Hi from a fellow Mac user

As an avid adventure game fan, I have decided from day one I had to install Windows on my mac to get the best possible playing experience and be able to play all the new and old games. I have had Windows XP (I would not dare install Win Vista and I really don´t need it) on my macbook pro for years now with great results. I have been able to play almost all the games I bought and they run as they would on a pc, if not better. Sometimes I had graphic problems but it turned out that it was because I did not update my graphic card driver, which by the way you can do by just updating your bootcamp software, and other problems I encountered were solved with game patches, so windows xp on a mac does work very nicely. I do not know of alternative solutions to installing windows, other than virtual OS but they would almost certainly impair your ability to run games.
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Old 01-08-2009, 03:16 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by valypan View Post
As an avid adventure game fan, I have decided from day one I had to install Windows on my mac to get the best possible playing experience and be able to play all the new and old games.
For dedicated adventure gamers, dual booting Mac OS X and Windows XP does seem to be the best option. I've got a Windows XP disc, but it's the original 2001 release, which isn't supported by Boot Camp. I would only consider buying another copy of Windows XP if a low-cost gaming edition was released, but that's very unlikely.

Portal is perhaps the only "adventure" game officially supported by CrossOver Games, but I'm optimistic that most games will eventually work. The initial release was in March 2008 (and Wine reached version 1.0 in June 2008) so the technology needs time to develop.

I'm also hopeful that more adventure games will be released for Mac OS X.
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Old 01-08-2009, 03:36 PM   #4
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Quote:
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I'm also hopeful that more adventure games will be released for Mac OS X.
I am glad you are so optimistic, but I have kept an eye on the mac adventure games market for many years and very few have been ported I am afraid. That´s what made me go with windows xp on my macbook pro and only then I could actually play the adventure games I wanted. May I suggest you could pick up a copy of windows XP SP2 in an auction or used somewhere for a cheap price? It is a pretty old OS now so it should be possible? I hope you figure out a way that allows you to play all the new exciting adventure games that are out now. It is a good time to be an adventure game player
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Old 01-08-2009, 04:39 PM   #5
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O.k. I'm not a Mac users, but a Linux users so anything I post here is only a suggestion. First off I'm a straight Linux guy, I own a copy of Windows 98 but haven't got it installed and have no intentions of doing so just to play games.

Anyway I play all games through Wine which what Crossover was (is?) original based on so hopefully games that work via Wine on Linux should work equally well on Crossover on Mac.

As I said, I play solely through Wine on Linux and have had a pretty decent success rate at getting games to work. For example, I've just finished The Lost Crown which is not only an awesome game but works flawlessly in Wine. Before that I've played through and completed without problems, both Syberia games as mentioned above, Post Mortem, Still Life, The Moment of Silence, Secret Files: Tunguska, Barrow Hill, Rhiannon, Fahrenheit, FBI: The Art of Muder, the first 2 Agatha Christie games (had problems with Evil Under the Sun) and loads of others I'm probably forgetting.

It's helpful if you have a good idea which engine a game uses as well, developers seem to reuse them on their titles. The Lost Crown uses the wintermute engine, as does several other games I've tried such as Barrow Hill. This engine seems to work really well under Wine and as such I've managed to play Barrow Hill without problems (but haven't completed yet). So if I know that a new games uses an engine I've not had problems with before I'm pretty confident about buying it and getting it to work without many problems.

It's worth mentioning copy protection, as you've done with the adventure shop. You're right that this is a problem for Wine/Crossover, a lot of copy protection doesn't work, which is a great shame (and one that might not be solved anytime soon for various maybe obvious technically reasons). Sometimes it worth trying to googling a game and find out before hand what copy protection it use and make sure it's one Wine/Crossover can copy with. Wine has a list of the current status of which copy protection works and which does here, but I believe Crossover has slightly better support for this, but not by much.
I mentioned googling a game to find the copy protection because it's important to realise it almost always the publishers that decide on which copy protection to use (if at all) not the developers. Which leads to some strange situations. I said previously that I've played and completed The Moment of Silence, but here's the thing. I first brought EU DVD version of the game which just wouldn't work, due solely to the copy protection. It wasn't until after I googled around I found that the US 4 CD version of the game doesn't use any copy protection. A quick shop at Amazon.com and a few weeks later I was playing the game with out any problems.

Oh I mentioned engines before, which reminds me the first two Discworld games both use the Tinsel engine (Discworld Noir uses a 3D version of tinsel). There's work going on by the scummvm people to get that engine working within ScummVM, see here for a little bit of info, I've heard reports that it's working well so I might grab a development version and give it a try.

Oh yes you've mentioned ScummVM, but no love for Serria games? MacFreesci and of course Freesci.

Finally don't forget there are the occasional Mac and Linux native versions of games, the Penumbra series spring to mind, but personally I'm not a fan (FPS action/adventure).

As I said, this is all Linux based, but given Mac's unix history combined with Crossovers Wine history hopefully it should means your experience should be pretty similar when it comes to emulating Windows games.
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Old 01-08-2009, 05:36 PM   #6
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I'd like to add to this thread that games like Baldur's Gate II and Planescape Torment (games using the Infinity Engine) are more or less playable on the Mac with the GemRB engine. Even though there are no binary releases, it is possible to compile it on the Mac with few code changes.
Admittedly, Planescape Torment which I was interested in didn't run too smooth, and Baldur's Gate is available for the Mac anyway.

I love the project though, stuff like that is pretty hard to reverse engineer, kudos to the devs.
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Old 03-22-2009, 08:18 PM   #7
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I would like to apologize for updating a thread which is, now, a decent two months old, however I had a number of additions to make. To begin with a fairly new Mac porting house, Coladia Games, has recently released native ports of Kheops Studio's Secret of the Lost Cavern and Destination: Treasure Island, and are at work porting a third title, Cleopatra: A Queen's Destiny. I was rather surprised to find that these weren't simply Cider ports, and so run even on G5s.

The third Journeyman Project title, Legacy of Time, is also being ported to OS X, which is particularly fortuitous as it seems that they're porting the enhanced DVD version, which while common on the PC had a fairly limited Mac release. A patch was released several years ago allowing the PC version to be played natively , but it was, not surprisingly, Classic only.

As for somewhat more contemporary games, Virtual Programming has just released a port of A Vampyre Story, which runs on anything as low as a G4, and Deck 13's titles, such as Jack Keane, tend to be compatible.

Tale of Tales is apparently working on a Cider port of The Path, but I can't say I know much about this beyond it's tentative existence.
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Old 03-26-2009, 03:00 PM   #8
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Thanks for mentioning the ports by Coladia and Virtual Programming, Agent5. That's good to hear.

It would be great to have a list somewhere of what's compatible with what for running PC games on a Mac. I've just started playing with VMWare Fusion, and found that the DVD version of "Ceville" works under that (avoiding full-screen is a good idea though.)
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Old 03-29-2009, 06:28 AM   #9
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Hello

I have quite the opposite dilemma. I would like to play a game that was only released for the Mac, The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime. Is it possible to run Mac on an Windows XP computer? Is there some type of Mac Emulator out there or is the only way for me to play it is to find a used Mac computer?

Minimum System Requirements for Pegasus Prime
Power Macintosh® CD-ROM
PowerPC processor required
System 7.5; System 7.5.3 or higher recommended
(will run under Mac OS X Classic environment)
16 MB RAM; 8 MB free
5 MB of free hard disk space
4x CD-ROM drive or faster
640x480 color monitor, thousands of colors
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Old 03-29-2009, 07:49 AM   #10
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Another fellow Mac user here, running Mac OS X Leopard on both an iMac 24" and a MacBook Air.

I don't have any Windows version installed, because most adventures run pretty well in Crossover Games, or are available as a native port.

Maybe a list is a good idea.

Adventures on Mac:

OS X native

Recent games:

1. Ankh – Special Edition
2. Ankh II – Heart of Osiris
3. Ankh III – Battle of Gods
4. Jack Keane
5. A Vampyre Story
6. The Abbey
7. Edna & Harvey – The Breakout
8. Emerald City Confidential
9. CSI: Hard Evidence
10. Bone – Out from Boneville
11. Penumbra: Overture
12. Penumbra: Black Plague
13. Scratches – Director's Cut
14. Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1 & 2
15. The Path

Crossover Games
Link: http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/

1. Syberia I
2. Syberia II
3. Paradise
4. Still Life – Special Edition
5. Secret Files: Tunguska
6. Broken Sword 2.5
7. Sam & Max Season 1
8. Nikopol
9. Nibiru

I've tested all of the above games (excluding the not-yet released Ankh III and The Abbey) on my Macs and they all run pretty well. In case of COG you sometimes need to handle copy-protection issues (often, game-magazine DVDs don't have any cd-checks, a good, legal way to play some of the classics).
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