Gaming Mac compatible game?

[SavageWaffle]

Thanks guys, can the Mac handle Battlefield 2142? Or do i have to go with the 1942?

 

[ZeWarrior]

Because of your choice to get the MacBook (eew... GMA950 video card, don't worry I have one too)... you are really limited in gaming. and you have more options then I've seen mentioned. On my macbook if I play games, it's either on console emulators, DOS emulator or a OS X native game (there are more then you think). I hate using bootcamp, as I don't like rebooting every time... and again because you don't have a macbook pro (which has a good 3d video card, geforce 8600 currently), fully booting in to windows isn't really worth the time. Here is my list of gaming options on Mac.

1) Mac OS X Native games... just go through the category search on pirate bay or mininova, you'll find more then you think. (including lots of unofficial ports using Cider; http://www.transgaming.com/products/cider/)
2) Playing Windows games via Virtual Machine or WINE... via parallels or vmware is ok, if not's not too graphically intense (but can't really be graphically intense due to your macbook's video card)... or there is now crossover games (http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/group/?app_parent=4100) that could do this too.
3) Playing DOS games... this one is my personal favorite... love the retro DOS games (easy to find abandonware downloads for these games), and DOSbox is awesome for this. (http://www.dosbox.com/)
4) Old console emulators... there are very good emulators of Genesis and SNES available on Mac... another great way to get your gaming fix on the Mac.

One of the things I did before going to Mac... understanding that my "real" gaming on a PC is over with... but that's 100% fine with me since I have my 360, Wii & DS to play games on... but when my MacBook is the only option with me, then at least I do have a few options more then Solitaire (i do love my solitaire widget though).

New macbooks have the X3100 not the 950.

 

[DjFIL]

Thanks guys, can the Mac handle Battlefield 2142? Or do i have to go with the 1942?

The MacBook probably wouldn't handle either of those games. A MacBook Pro would have no problems at all. Again it's not the computer it self... it's the video card that's with in it that won't really handle any intense 3d gaming. So, if you really must have full 3d gaming on a laptop, and don't want to pay the MacBook Pro prices... don't get a Mac.

 

[GodMedia]

The next possiblity is to run Windows inside of the OSX like an emulator. Programs like VMWare Fusion and Parallels will allow you to set up a virtual PC on your Mac, then you can install Windows on that virtual PC.

Using Parallels or VMware Fusion is not emulation, it's virtualization utilizing Intel VT.

Ahem... ...I said LIKE an emulator.

My point is that running virtual machines is like running emulators in a way. I thought this would help someone who isn't as technically savvy as some other folks are to understand the concept better.

I'm sorry if I insulted anyone's proper nomenclature, I was trying to be helpful.

 

[Strokemouth]

In boot camp however, it is only running windows, which means it will eat up less, although still eat up more CPU power than windows machines, because it is sort of like emulation.
If you have a just a macbook, you should just use bootcamp. All you need is a copy of XP, and then download the bootcamp from apple.

No, that's not right at all. Boot Camp is not emulation at all. It is simply a set of tools that allows you to partition your disk easily and also bootstraps the Windows installer to allow it to run on an EFI based system, plus it includes a set of device drivers from Apple specific to your Mac. It uses no more CPU than Windows on any other PC as it IS running on the same architecture.

But as others have said, just use Boot Camp. I've found the 3D acceleration in both VMWare Fusion and Parallels to be lacking.

One other tip, if you are using Boot Camp on a Macbook, make sure you have an external mouse. The device drivers STILL don't allow you to set Ctrl-click to be left-click. I've tried out Input Remapper, but it doesn't seem to like the Penryn-based MBP.

 

[nando]

you can try crossover, then you don't need windows at all.

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/

 

[nando]

double post, sorry.