Rome II Emperor Edition starts with audio only and no video

[rdefranz]

When launching Rome 2 the game starts and I am able to hear the audio, but the gam window never successfully appears.
Running on a new 2021 macbook pro

[Trench Rat]

same issue. on an older macbook.

[Welsh Dragon]

The issue is unfortunately that you're playing on Mac. A few months back Apple stopped supporting non-64bit software on their systems. As Rome 2 is 32bit it (and most other 32bit software) no longer work properly (or often at all) on many Mac systems.

You might be able to find a work around, but most likely you'll no longer be able to play Rome 2 on your Mac because of Apple's actions. Sorry.

All the Best,

Welsh Dragon.

[Trench Rat]

A cursory google told me that this is a Big Sur issue. Shame, wanted to play away from my PC

[Welsh Dragon]

Originally posted by Trench Rat:

A cursory google told me that this is a Big Sur issue. Shame, wanted to play away from my PC

On the plus side, at least you have the option to play on PC. I've seen quite a few people who only have Macs, so the Big Sur update has really screwed them over.

All the Best,

Welsh Dragon.

[Trench Rat]

Originally posted by Welsh Dragon:

Originally posted by Trench Rat:

A cursory google told me that this is a Big Sur issue. Shame, wanted to play away from my PC

On the plus side, at least you have the option to play on PC. I've seen quite a few people who only have Macs, so the Big Sur update has really screwed them over.

All the Best,

Welsh Dragon.

For sure. My mac was initially my sound tech and my only computer. Put together a gaming PC a couple years ago. Glad i did. Unlucky for some sadly.

[Pixel Hunter]

Same issue with a new 2021 macbook pro too.

[jim]

There is a way to play the Window version of Rome 2 on your Mac, without Bootcamp, along with hundreds of other PC games. It's called Porting Kit. Go to portingkit.com and download it.

There isn't a pre-made port for Rome 2, so you'll need to download the "Steam 1" port -- sorry, I am away from my primary machine, so I may have the name slightly wrong. Essentially, it gives you the 32-bit version of PC Steam on your Mac. Once you have that up and running, just download Rome 2 within that environment and run it.

It's been awhile since I've set it up, but I think you will need to go into Rome 2's graphic settings and choose an earlier version of the shader, otherwise the FPS will be less than 10 fps. (In other words, if the default shader is, say, 5.1 or whatever, you will need to choose shader 4 or some such). With the correct shader, I get anywhere from 40-60 fps. Again, this is all from memory, so a thousand apologies if I am misremembering.

As a bonus, Porting Kit will allow you to run other amazing games, like Skyrim, Witcher 3 (using the Steam 64-bit port), and many others, especially older classic games.

And it's totally free.

[Trench Rat]

Originally posted by jim:

There is a way to play the Window version of Rome 2 on your Mac, without Bootcamp, along with hundreds of other PC games. It's called Porting Kit. Go to portingkit.com and download it.

There isn't a pre-made port for Rome 2, so you'll need to download the "Steam 1" port -- sorry, I am away from my primary machine, so I may have the name slightly wrong. Essentially, it gives you the 32-bit version of PC Steam on your Mac. Once you have that up and running, just download Rome 2 within that environment and run it.

It's been awhile since I've set it up, but I think you will need to go into Rome 2's graphic settings and choose an earlier version of the shader, otherwise the FPS will be less than 10 fps. (In other words, if the default shader is, say, 5.1 or whatever, you will need to choose shader 4 or some such). With the correct shader, I get anywhere from 40-60 fps. Again, this is all from memory, so a thousand apologies if I am misremembering.

As a bonus, Porting Kit will allow you to run other amazing games, like Skyrim, Witcher 3 (using the Steam 64-bit port), and many others, especially older classic games.

And it's totally free.

++ for portingkit. I've been using it for years with things like AOE 1/2/3 and, operation flashpoint and fallout.

[Rodor]

Trench Bat, Welsh Dragon, Jim, Pixel Hunter
Thank you all for your help and input.
Guess I'll have to save for a decent enough gaming rig.
Best of luck!

[nhop]

I'm making this reply after trying the Porting Kit method myself. Total War: Rome II is able to be played on macOS Monterrey 12.4 (that's what I'm playing it on right now) with Porting Kit.

Use Porting Kit to download 64bit Steam, then download Total War: Rome 2 within the new Steam on your Mac. Go through the usual download and install.

[sharagov.d]

Found solution on Reddit. Run game with beta patch 16. Game should work but without sound.