Main Menu

Apple Laptops... are there any games?

Started by The Doctor Alt 8, 12 February, 2014, 05:18:40 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

ming

Heh, I've just got Quake 2 running on my new Macbook Pro...   :)

One of the crappy things about Mac games (aside from the general lack of them) is the lack of backwards compatibility; I used to love Diablo 2, Wolfenstein, etc. but these just don't run with modern kit.  Out of curiosity I did a quick search and someone's developed a new client that lets Quake 2 run, at least...  Happy days!  Will dig around and see what other golden oldies I can get running.  The only recent-ish games I've picked up have been Borderlands 2 and Bioshock Infinite, but then I don't have much time to play these days...

IndigoPrime

Generally, the best way to get old games running on OS X is through a DOSBox wrapper like Boxer or some kind of Windows emulator (VirtualBox, Fusion, Parallels Desktop, etc.). For Mac-specific stuff, there are also emulators, such as Mini vMac for Classic-era hardware and SheepShaver for OS 9.

The Mac's never been great at backwards compatibility, versus Windows and its attempts to get everything running from the dark ages onwards. Both approaches have their benefits and pitfalls, but the Mac's certainly weaker at playing old games. (Mac fans of old console games should check out http://openemu.org though—it's very promising.)

ming

Heh, I have spent many hours glued to various Macs, pretending they were 48k ZX Spectrums... :)

Spectra, whatever.

Good to know there are some other workarounds to investigate, IP - thanks for the tips.  Now, all I need is the spare time :(