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There are three different ways to play Windows games on a Mac, I've posted this discussion so many times before, just assume that I don't give a ♥♥♥♥ about you and am reposting this (again... and again... and again... and again... and again...):
Parllels is a side along program on your Mac which emmulates (and is so called an emmulator and/or Virtual machine) Windows onto your Mac. HOWEVER! You still need to buy a Windows key etcetera, etcetera, otherwise it becomes illegal. The thing is though, is that even then, there can still be some problems. For example, suddenly having to download anti-virus software, installation times for games.
PRO'S OF PARALLELS:
Can run Windows at the same time as Apple's OSX.
Is modern and so runs efficiently as well as including updates.
CON'S OF PARALLELS:
Requires a payment to run.
Also requires to buy Windows.
Can require hours of installation of programs (anti-virus, Sound engine etcetera)
Bootcamp is the opposite of Parallels, it's free and made (I believe) by Apple, however in order to run, it must restart your computer every time you wish to switch between running Windows and running Apple's OSX.
PRO'S OF BOOTCAMP:
Free to use.
Doesn't lagg as Parallels may at times
CON'S OF BOOTCAMP:
Requires many restarts.
Isn't updated as often.
Wine
Wine works by simulating a windows enviroment without actually running windows. You can get free or paid versions; however, the free versions may require you to configure things yourself. If you're willing to pay a little bit, a good example of a Wine program for Mac is Crossover, although this does require purchase.
PROS OF WINE/CROSSOVER:
Doesn't require buying a copy of Windows.
Runs without needing to restart your system
CONS OF WINE/CROSSOVER:
Not everything will run.
Free versions may require some tech-savy skills to configure.
Fun fact: Quite a few mac ports (especially of older games) are actually just the windows versions in a wine wrapper set up by the devs.
I've also taken a previous post of mine explaining why many games aren't available on Apple OS.
Alright, here I go again...
I made a post explaining about this already a while ago for a similar topic on Planetside 2, GTAV and FNAF and also applied to TES (and also don't confuse me with hating or anything. I want to play Windows games on Apple as well) where I wrote:
"People don't understand that a game that size (triple A) and made with a unique game engine (being the "Rockstar Advanced Game Engine") which is almost completely non-compatible with Apple's softwares not counting the single exclusion (that I can think of; being Max Payne 3). It literally would cost millions of dollars and even then, it would take at least (if the entire development team worked overtime) a year to make. By then the hype for the game would be drastically lowered and by then... How many people would actually buy it just because it's then available on Mac. It would be the biggest loss that Rockstar would ever do.
And believe it or not but the Five Nights at Freddy's series are actually all indie made (at least the first one was), so they the designers [Scott Cawthon]. Don't get me wrong, I'd love these games to be available on Mac. But seriously, just think about how difficult it would be to change all these existing games (Red Guerilla is a good example). The only way to change this is for us (the fan-base and/or audience) is to repeatedly ask developers if they would design the game to be multi-platform and OS compatible before initial development starts. "
Thanks for reading my rant/explanation/geek-leak etcetera, etcetera...
And have fun!
So repost over, (assuming you read all of that of course) but Steam has a very nice way of finding out if a Game is available on Mac. On the Steam Store page, the item will always show an image logo of Windows, Mac, Linux or SteamOS. Whichever of these icons are displayed represent that the game is compatible with that Operating System.
And well done for reading all of that...
I know one of you people in the future didn't read all of that... So thanks... Thanks a lot for making my efforts wasted...
Not entirely true there fella.
1: Parallels is not an emulator. It is a hardware assisted virtualisation. An emulator is an entirely different thing.
Also "It's modern and so runs efficiently as well as including updates." It really doesn't, and it's update cycle only ever seems to cater to the current OS X. New OS X? New version of Parallels has to be bought. It's always behind Virtualbox and VMWare with patches, two other options you could have mentioned.
VMWare Fusion is what I use, just because I use VMWare at work and get to use it at home for free. If I didn't, I would avoid parallels and go straight to Virtualbox.
Virtualbox is free under the GNU GPLv2 (and the proprietry drivers are free to use commercially or non commercially under the PUEL licence). It will hapilly run all the source games on medium settings on any post core2 mac, and Fallout 3 and NV work great too.
Bootcamp:
You don't need Bootcamp to install Windows natively on a mac, all it does is repartition your drive and prepare the EFI partition to act as an MBR on older installs, or update the EFI to boot windows without breaking your original OS X EFI. You don't even need Bootcamp to install Windows Natively, It just stops idiots from breaking their OS X install by overwriting the EFI partition. It doesn't need updates? It just works lol. Drivers are another issue but you can just download updated graphics from either Nvidia or ATI, rest works.
This cracks me up too:
"People don't understand that a game that size (triple A) and made with a unique game engine (being the "Rockstar Advanced Game Engine") which is almost completely non-compatible with Apple's softwares not counting the single exclusion (that I can think of; being Max Payne 3)."
Is this why there wasn't a GTA4 too? It was developed for PS3 and 360 on Apple G5's lol.
GTA V was developed for PPC too. It was harder for them to move it to x86 than it would have been to port GTA IV to mac lol. It's not because of it being "almost completely non-compatible with Apple's softwares", It's because Rockstar only care about console gamers. Even GTA 5 is a botch on PC, only way they got away with it this time is they had to optimise their code for the PS4 and XB1 which is ♥♥♥♥♥ (compared to most rigs) X86 this time, so it was easier to transfer over than the terrible PowerPC>OpenGL>x86>DirectX botch they did before with GTA IV.
Even an Indie gamer can do cross platform now with the minimum of work. Source, Unity, Unreal, and CryENGINE (if you pay the insane licence fees to develop for OS X) are trivial to convert good code to. Issue is all the old games which were built with w98 or XP single Core and terrible developers and terrible companies that have bought the rights to old games on Steam. Even half of the DOSBOX games don't work on OS X, purely because no-one cares. I have to do my own wrappers for so many of the DOSBOX games I've bought. games lol.
According to Steam, DOOM doesn't work on OS X. Is that almost completely non-compatible with Apple's softwares ??
Thanks for the info. Looks like I've really got to update this essay for a comment. You see I started posting variatons or certain paragraphs of this regularly 'bout... God knows when actually. The only reason that I really did keep reposting this was because I was so fed up of people on the Steam-Apple forums/communities going:
"Can I play game X on Apple."
"Why doesn't the developers allow the game on Apple."
I'd be happy to revise these statements with a bit of help. Just this IS the Internet, and we all know how that is. Anyway, thanks for enlightening me. (I knew that I shouldn't have started reposting this with Modern games involved, I should've stuck with games from an Eternity ago).
P.S:
Bet you weren't expecting a civil reply.
Thanks for the reply."I'd be happy to revise these statements with a bit of help. Just this IS the Internet, and we all know how that is."
Yeah, I agree, I would like to help you with a sticky if you interseted for all the new mac gamers.
It would be nice to leave all the mac vs pc arguments to rest or just head people over to a thread that explains that it's not about the hardware, it's about OpenGL vs DirectX and all the other hacks that were involved in older games on Windows. GOG used to offer Fallout 1,2 and Tactics as cross platform, but now they don't because of complaints from a quite a few mac users that it didn't just work (which is fair enough if you are selling them as mac compatible). I still play them all the time but I use pirated versions via WINE to play on OS X, even though I own them on Steam.
Imagine owning an old game that was Windows only but doesn't work on anything post XP?
That's Steam. At least there is more than likely a workaround as long as the game isn't server based and closed down. That's what we do as PC gamers. It's wrong but the support forums here are the best support you will ever get. (Fallout 3 on anything running more than a Single core XP install needs a lot of love for example)
This doesn't excuse the terrible DosBox ports either that should be cross platform, but it would be good to start a discussion with other mac users, and PC users too, about the state of some of the older games that haven't even been wrapped in DOSBOX OS X, Some of the games, I have to run pirated in Windows too, and I OWN THEM lol. Because it's a crapshoot.
"P.S:
Bet you weren't expecting a civil reply."
I would have been weirded out if it wasnt civil and would have blocked you because I was just replying to you lol.
edit: Also DOOM on OS X? Not on Steam lol.
Mod as Troll