Mac Games Vs Bootcamp Games

Hello everyone,
I have been playing some OSX-friendly games on my Macbook Pro 2.66 GHz unibody 09 version. But the problem is that when i try and play games such as: Starcraft 2 Beta, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2, the performance doesn't seem very good and these games are made for Macs. But when I look videos on YouTube I see people playing Crysis and much more modern games very well on their laptops, so what the heck is wrong with mine? Most of the people playing all these modern games on their laptops are playing it on windows via Bootcamp, so this leads me to my main question... If I were to play, lets say...Starcraft 2 on my Mac and I have bad performance would I get a increase in performance if i played it on windows using bootcamp? If its a HUGE increase in performance then i'll buy a copy of windows, if not then I'm good with my Mac compatible games.
Thanks so much.

Usually the games are not technically "made" for both. They're made for PC and then ported to OSX. Sometimes this causes the performance to suffer horribly.
One in specific is Doom 3. Ran great on a PC in it's time, but 2 years later even really powerful mac pros couldn't get frame rates all that high. Make sense to you? Me neither.
If you see people running these games fine on Youtube, then I think it's safe to say the OSX ports just aren't up to par.

Similar Messages

Why do Mac games have higher system preferences compared to Windows games?

Hello,
I am wondering why Mac games have higher system preferences compared to Windows games?
For example "The Movies" game on Mac requires:
Mac: OSX 10.4 Tiger or later,
PPC G4 1.67 GHz,
512MB RAM,
64MB video card,
DVD drive (minimum)
Whilst on Windows:
PC: Windows 98SE or later
800 MHz CPU
256MB RAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound and video card.
Now anyone can see the amount Windows needs compaired to Mac but why such a huge leap.
And this isn't only on "The Movies" it's the same with "Sims 2" and "Age of Empires"
If you know why could you please respond.
Thanks,
James

Hi there vickivoo,
You may find the troubleshooting steps in the article below helpful.
Troubleshooting wireless mouse and keyboard issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3048
-Griff W.

Systems Preferences on Mac games compared to Windows

Hello,
I am wondering why Mac games have higher system preferences compared to Windows games.
For example "The Movies" game on Mac requires:
Mac: OSX 10.4 Tiger or later,
PPC G4 1.67 GHz,
512MB RAM,
64MB video card,
DVD drive (minimum)
Whilst on Windows:
PC: Windows 98SE or later
800 MHz CPU
256MB RAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound and video card.
Now anyone can see the amount Windows needs compaired to Mac but why such a huge leap.
And this isn't only on "The Movies" it's the same with "Sims 2" and "Age of Empires"
If you know why could you please respond.
Thanks,
James

And to do with the OS under which they are released.
For "The Movies",
an 800MHz CPU under Win98 is pretty **** fast, but load 2000 Pro, XP or Vista on an 800MHz and you're toast, even before you try to run the game.
On the Mac, "The Movies", released 5-6 years after the windows version, has either been written to take advantage of OSX 10.4, or maybe just tested under OSX 10.4, but in any case, because of the modern OS, it needs a lot more CPU.
It's also entirely likely, that because of the years waiting, the Mac version is better than the Windows version released all those years ago. This was true for all the SimCity versions up to SimCity 4 (SimCity 3 was awful on both plaforms) and the Civilization games. It may also be true for some of the Aspyr original games, rather than the vast number of ports they've written, ie. The Movies.

"Rise of Atlantis" Mac game created "out of range" message through switch

I've got a mac-mini. I've been running the mac game download from apple "Rise of Atlantis" for a while now. I have an older SONY SDM-HS95P DVI/SVGA monitor (capable of 1280 x 1024 resolution) connected to the mac via DVI to SVGA adapter out of the mac mini, and SVGA into the Monitor. No problems when launching or playing the game.
However, I just added an SVGA Distribution Amp to the chain (capable of 1600 x 1280). So now it's DVI to SVGA adapter out of the mac min, SVGA into the SVGA Distribution Amp, and one SVGA output of the DA goes to the SONY computer monitor, and the other SVGA output of the Distribution Amp goes to my SONY HDTV via it's PC/SVGA input. I did this so I could stream videos off the computer to the TV. This all works well. I change my screen resolution from 800 x 600 (when sitting in front of the computer so all text is very big because of bad eyes) to 1260 x 768 when streaming to the HDTV so the picture fills the screen.
However, I just introduced a problem with the game "Rise to Atlantis" that I didn't have before I added the distribution amp. When launching the game now, the screen flashes to black and I get an
"out of range" message. The message stays there, and from the mac mini, I can't even get it back to the normal screen without rebooting the mac mini.
However, if I remote into the Mac Mini via remote desktop connection from my 27" imac quad core, I can see the game and control the computer. But this isn't a viable solution.
I have tried setting the mac mini display resolutions to lower, middle and higher resolution settings before actually launching the program, but nothing helps. I also disconnected the SVGA output of the SVGA distribution amp. going to the HDTV to see if that would help, but it does not.
So it appears that the SVGA Distribution amp. is causing some sort of a hiccup that throws the SONY computer display to black and that "out of range" message.
Can anyone suggest anything that might allow me to keep things hooked up as they are and still be able to play the game? 'Rise of Atlantis" is a mac game, downloadable from apple, ....but it's the type of game that seems to take over the entire screen....so you can't see FINDER or your desktop when playing it...it's definetly throwing the SONY display into some sort of "take over" mode.
Any input would be appreciated.

No, I did not try swapping the outputs as neither is marked primary or secondary, indicating that they were in any way different. However, I did resolve the issue. I didn't realize that in "Rise Of Atlantis" it was automatically set to display FULL SCREEN and that I could set it to NOT do that. I made that change and now I can see FINDER/DESKTOP behind the game while it still pretty much fills the screen and this has eliminated the problem I posted about. However, thank you very much for your input. I appreciate it.

Old Mac games on Leopard?

Just a quick question. I wanted to know if it would be possible to play an old Mac game on a newer OS. Found a game on Amazon that I want to buy, but it was released in 2002. I'm not gonna shell out if I can't play it on Leopard...
I know that on Windows it is possible to play old games, but I just wanted to know if it's possible on Mac too? Any advice would be appreciated...thanks in advance!

If it's a game that runs under Mac OS X, maybe. Intel Macs can run most programs written for PowerPC Mac OS X using the built-in Rosetta translator, but they all don't work. If it's a 3D-type game that accesses the graphics hardware directly, there's a good chance it will not work.
If it's a game that runs under Mac OS 9 (which is possible for 2002 game), it won't work.
What's the game? If I have it, I may be able to tell you specifically.

Old Mac games not working

I've just found a box with some of my favourite old Mac games in that I used with my old Lime iMac. Titles such as FA/18 Hornet, Command and Conquer and Railroad Tycoon amongst others. I also have some education disks that are invaluable resources. I've tried loading them onto my MacBook Pro and it says each title cannot be loaded as it's not supported on this computer. How can this be? Surely these titles are back compatible? Is there anything I can do to load them on and use them or are they now useless? Thanks in advance!

Rosetta is the built-in translator for OS X PPC apps. It works with many, but not all, apps:
http://www.macintouch.com/imacintel/rosettacompat.html
However, it does not work with OS 9 apps (which PPC Macs running OS X could run in the Classic environment). To run those on an Intel Mac, you can try SheepSaver:
http://gwenole.beauchesne.info/projects/sheepshaver/
That's a bit involved, as it requires you to have OS 9.0.4 or earlier install discs, and you need to have access to a PowerPC Mac to extract the bootROM from it.
Frankly, you are probably better off 1) finding new games to play and contacting the vendor(s) of the educational/medical materials to see if they have an updated version or 2) getting an old Mac to run those on.
~I've got a PowerMac 6500/225 sitting in my basement, 2 GB HDD, built in Zip drive (remember those?), still runs great!~
Hope this helps...

Hi i am a pc turned mac gamer now i just want my games on my mac but my mac pro 13 cant support windows applications what should i do

hi i am a pc turned mac gamer now i just want my games on my mac but my mac pro 13 cant support windows applications what should i do

Install Windows, in Boot Camp.

Just recently installed parallels and it's made my mac games unplayable.

Is there anyway of rolling back to the original video driver on snow leopard for macbook pro?
also i have the original backup discs
is there any way of installing snow leopard on top of the osx that I have now without losing any of my data? Thanks for the help in advance.

are you trying to run parallels and mac games simultaneously?
(and)
have you installed the latest update to parallels?
As you are likely aware, you can set parallels CPU usage, ram usage, and video card memory usage. set any of those too high, and the OSX side of your machine will perform poorly.
If you are leaving parallels open when you try to play a Mac game, (as indicated in the thread title), then it is quite possible the Mac game no longer has enough resources to run efficiently.
Does the Mac game in question function well when parallels is closed and not running?
Message was edited by: AJ

Older Mac games on a an Intel-based iMac

Does anyone know if it is possible to play older (1995 and up) Mac games on a new, Intel-based iMac?

Seconded. Emulation is the only way to run Classic games on Intel Macs. Rosetta is the framework that allows Intel Macs to run PPC Mac programs (for OS X). Before the Intel switch, Mac's also used something called the "classic environment." This allowed OS X users to run OS 9-compatible applications in OS X, but this is impossible under OS X.
I don't have any experience with SheepShaver. I believe Q (which is Mac port of a emulator called QEMU) can emulate PPC environments (I know QEMU can; so I can only presume Q can). But as the previous poster mentioned, the only legal way to get the ROM images you need is by actually owning a PPC Mac.

Disk drive does not read mac game disk

Hi everyone,
Been having this problem for over a year now - but it's becoming an absolute nuisance and can't find the solution anywhere!
My disk drive works fine for music CDs and burnt CDs, but now for some reason it doesn't want to mount/load a mac game of Roller Coaster Tycoon (bought from the apple store too!). It just spins and doesn't show up in finder or loads and then literally a few minutes of spinning later (in which time pressing eject does nothing) a message comes up saying "you just inserted a blank CD"
Is there a solution to this? Please!
I'm using 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Due MBP bought in 2008.
Thanks!

Try making any change in System Preferences +CDs & DVDs+ pane. For example, if you have a music CD handy, change +When you insert a music CD+ to something else, such as Ignore. Insert the music CD and see if it is accepted and mounted.
If that works, change it back to the way it was set before, and see if that works now. Then see if other types of discs now work.
If it's a hardware problem, doing the above will not help. But it sometimes does work if the problems is with software or corrupted preferences.

Looking for old Mac game -- War game like EMPIRE DELUXE

In 1984 or so, I played a Mac war game that was very much like Empire Deluxe for the PC. It had units that you would move on a grid-like map. You captured cities and used them to make more units. One of the units was a nuclear bomber. You would click where you wanted to detonate the bomb on the map and the program would ding twice and blot out a space the size of a dime. Later in the game, the size increased to the size of a quarter. The game was played on a Mac +. Anyone know this game?
Darren

You need abandonware:
* http://mac.the-underdogs.info/
lots of old mac games. Copyright may or may not apply, although they have been around since the 90s without cease and desist. Check their LINKS page.
And if you understand French, then:
* http://www.abandonware-france.org/
has limited mac stuff (currently offline, btw, will be back) while:
* http://www.freeoldies.com/
may be of use.

About My 2009 24inch Apple Widescreen iMac Computer & the Future of Mac Games?

I see that there are Some Mac Games that do not meet My System Requirements for My iMac Computer, I Can name 2 that I Really like that i would love to play
Formula 1 2012
Batman Arkham City
& there is another Racing Car Game that is suppose to be out in Februrary of this year & it was suppose to late last year it was suppose to come out tt's Called
Real Racing 3
So i am hoping that game meets My System Requirements but maybe it won't? but it looks like it will but i don't know for sure? & i wanted to know if anyone knows all about the Future of Mac Games, are they taking Mac Games to a whole other level like to a point I Won't be able to play no more Mac Video Games on this iMac Computer? since there coming out with the New iMac Computers?
I Have Real Racing 2 for My iMac Computer & I Have Real Racing 2 for My Apple iPhone but in Real Racing 3 they took up more Graphic's it looks like, I Want to get Real Racing 3 for My Apple iPhone
& also for My Apple iMac Computer if the Graphic's Card meet My System Requirements?
so does anyone have information on if there gonna be creating better games that don't meet My System Requirements? What's Weired if i can Play a YouTube Video then My iMac Computer should be able to play Mac Games but it not gonna work like that for some reason so what's next?
Maybe Apple wants us to go out & buy a New Apple iMac Computer every Year?
I Heard that Apple is coming up with a Game Console it's called Apple iPlay I Was Searching Google & found something, I Hope they come out with that cause i'll be buying it.

Hi, what requirements doesn't yours meet exactly?
So we know more about it...
At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 6 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.21f4

Would i be able to play most mac games on the macbook air? e.g portal 2 etc.

I am looking into buying a new laptop, which will mostly be used for work at school, e.g. word processing. photo editing. and possibly video editing. The macbook air seemed like the ideal choice for this as it is both small and powerful. however as this will be my only laptop i want to iknow if it will be able to run some of the native mac games like portal 2 and half life 2 etc. i know that the 2010 macbook air could play these games successfully, as it had a nvidia 320m graphics card in it, however the 2011 macbook air has intel 300hd graphics which are listed on the minimum specifications for portal 2, but are apparently not as good as the nvidia 320m chipset. i was wondering wether i should get a mba or save up for a macbook pro.

Yes, third party optical drives do work with the Air, sometimes better than the Superdrive itself, oddly enough. I have an iOmega SuperSlim optical drive and it retains functionality even when plugged into a USB hub, unlike the SuperDrive, which must be plugged directly in to one of the USB slots on the Air itself.

Target Display Mode iMac 27 mid 2011 with Mac Mini 2011 bootcamp

Hello,
I can't seem to use Target Display Mode with Bootcamp.
My configuration:
Imac 27" mid 2011 with osx 10.8.4
Mac Mini Server 2011 with osx 10.8.4, bootcamp 5 and Windows7
Both are connected via Apple genuine Thunderbolt cable (2m).
When I boot the Mac Mini into OSX then Target Display Mode works perfectly and I can see the osx installed on the Mac Mini on the iMac display.
However, when I reboot the Mac Mini into Bootcamp (windows7 x64) I can't put the iMac in Targt Display Mode and get to see Windows 7 on my iMac screen.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3924#8
The following article says that this should work, however once I reboot osx on the Mac Mini the iMac leaves Target Display Mode immediatly and will not return to Target Display Mode.
Any advice? I contacted Apple Support and a Sr. Enginner said it should be supported and he's checking with a higher tier.
Thanks

Yes, it does.
(110549)

I have MacAir with OS 10.8.4, how can I cancel the automatic link of my USB flashdisk to Mac instead of BootCamp, since I have one time press the ALT key before choosing "MAC" or "BOOTCAMP". Thanks

I have MacAir with OS 10.8.4, how can I cancel the automatic link of my USB flashdisk to Mac instead of BootCamp, since I have one time press the ALT key before choosing "MAC" or "BOOTCAMP". Thanks

That only happens when you are running Windows in a Virtual Machine with OS X as the host. Shut down the VM and restart your Mac. Once the VM is running again and you insert a USB flash drive you should get that prompt again.

Random rebooting. Mac Pro. Bootcamp. Why?

Hi
I have an early 2008 Mac Pro running bootcamp and last night it started randomly rebooting. Sometimes it occurs a couple minutes after it has booted. Sometimes it takes longer.
As I am pretty Mac-illiterate I would greatly value any help in this matter because I do not know what to do.
Here is some background info:
Early 2008 Mac Pro. Dual quad core intel Xeon processors, 2.8 Ghz (8 cores total). 20GB RAM. Video card is Nvidia 2GB Quadro 4000.
It got a new main board installed under warranty in about 2009.
Less than a year ago it got new Hard Drives (4X SATA), OS, Graphics card, Matrox MX02 mini max card with external rack. It boots to Mac OS 10.7 Lion but I almost always boot it and use Windows 7 Pro 64 bit using bootcamp because most of my work is done with windows software.
Since the new drives, graphics card, Matrox Mini Max, Mac OS, Windows 7 SP1, and fresh install of all software and plugins it has worked excellent (until last night and today).
The newest system drive is divided between Windows 6 and Lion. 2 of the other drives are for windows media and the 4th is for Mac media.
The version of bootcamp is whatever came with Lion 10.7.
The computer was only connected to the internet when I did the os download, install and all the software activations. It has not been connected since then.
What seems to happen is approx 2 minutes after booting to windows it will just reboot and I hear the chime and it goes to a windows black error screen asking to start normally, etc.. It usually will then reboot another 1-3 times before it finally loads windows and then appears to work normally.
At that point it may work for several minutes or longer until it reboots again.
The rebooting occurs just sitting on the desktop and not running any particular program.
This morning after several reboots I held down "option" and instead booted to Mac OS to see if it would reboot. It sat on the desktop screen for several minutes with no problem. However then I had to shut it down and leave so I certainly cannot conclude whether or not the reboot problem occurs in both Windows and Mac OS or not....yet.
I don't know if it's a power supply (hardware), Operating system problem or what. I'm lost and I really need this computer to work.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I booted to Lion and let it sit on the desktop. Went to eat and came back in the room about 10 minutes or so later and the screen was black but the tower white light was on.
I pressed the "up arrow" key and it came alive, fans and all. The screen light to the mac desktop very briefly and then it rebooted and rebooted again before finally starting windows.
Btw, I have preferences set to start windows unless I hold down option on the Mac keyboard and select the Mac OS for boot.
So Mac OS is not spared from the problem. What is going on.
Now I've been working over half an hour in windows and it's working fine....for now. ?!

Mac Games Vs Bootcamp Games

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