Windows Games that work with Parallels Thread

[Dirtyharry50]

I thought it would be helpful to those of us using Parallels to share experiences with what runs well in Parallels in one thread here. It would probably be good to state Parallels version as well as Windows version for each game. Personally, I have virtual machines set up for both Windows XP and Windows 7. I'm not sure I can remember everything off the top of my head so far but these are some I've tried out that ran fine:

Parallels 8 with Windows XP.
The VM is allocated 2 CPU cores, 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig Video RAM.

Max Payne 2 (Steam)
Final Fantasy VII (Steam)
Command and Conquer (Origin)
Red Alert (Origin)
Age of Empires & Rise of Rome (DVD install)
Age of Mythology & The Titans (DVD install)
Rise of Nations & Thrones and Patriots (DVD install)
Age of Empires II HD Edition (Steam)
No One Lives Forever (CD Install)
No One Lives Forever 2 (CD Install)
Freelancer (CD Install)
Heroes of Might and Magic (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic II (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic III (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic III GOG install with HD mod (NOT the new HD release)
Terraria (Steam)
Patrician III (GOG)
Port Royale 2 (GOG)
Wing Commander Prophecy (GOG)
Privateer 2 (GOG)
Driftmoon (GOG)
Chessmaster 9000 (GOG)
Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun (Origin)
Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures (GOG)
Sam and Max Season One (Steam)
Pain Killer Black Edition (Steam)
Serious Sam II (Steam)
Serious Sam Second Encounter HD (Steam)
Serious Sam Double D (Steam)
Breath of Death VII (Steam)

Parallels 8 with Windows 7.
The VM is allocated 2 CPU cores, 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig Video RAM.

Risen (Steam)
Divinity II Developer's Cut (Steam)
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Steam)
KRATER (Steam) - must have DX10 support enabled in Parallels.
Medal of Honor: Airborne (Steam)

From this thread ( https://forum.parallels.com/threads...8-with-directx-10-and-directx-9-games.269338/ ) the following are reported to work with Parallels 8:

Anno 2070
Assassin Creed III
Battlefield 3
Bioshock 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Civilization V
Dirt Showdown
F1 Race Stars
Formula 1 2012
Hitman: Absolution
Need For Speed: The Run
Sleeping Dogs
Snipper Elite V2

* The above were tested by Parallels staff. The below are reports from users:

Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2 (some artifacting)
Mass Effect 3 (see note below)
Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (see note below)
Skyrim
SHIFT 1 and 2
Alan Wake
F.E.A.R. 2 and 3
Command and Conquer 3
FarCry 3
Dragon Age Origins
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 3 (I question this one due to likelihood of Origin lic. file issue)
Dishonored
Medal of Honor
Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine
Unreal Tournament III
Dead Island Riptide
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Bulletstorm (don't know if I'd count on this with obsolescence of GFWL)

Note: Origin runs fine in Parallels but some later titles have issues because of their DRM including ME3. This can be worked around by grabbing the license file needed for the game to start but requires you to have a bootcamp partition to install it to to get this file to then copy into a Parallels install of the game. So the reports go at least. Later in the thread, ME3 is reported to work once this is done along with placing a certain downloaded DLL file in the game's folder as well. See here for details: ( http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=260537&page=2 ) I believe this applies to Kingdoms of Amalur from Origin as well but is not an issue with the Steam version.

Your turn! Fill us in on the game's you've tried with Parallels please.

I'll post feedback from you folks here for easy reference:

Parallels 9 - Windows 7

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Wolfenstein
Windstar

Parallels 11 - Windows ???

Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed Revelation

 

[Washac]

Superb

You can add Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Wolfenstein to the Parallels 9 Win 7 list.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Superb

You can add Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Wolfenstein to the Parallels 9 Win 7 list.

Done! Thanks.

 

[malvicus]

Several months ago, I did a video on Wildstar using Parallels 9 on Windows 7.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Several months ago, I did a video on Wildstar using Parallels 9 on Windows 7.

I enjoyed watching that. Nice job. I wondered as I watched if the initial choppiness that then settles out wasn't related to disk access. Maybe the game is loading a ton of assets initially and that was affecting performance until the base stuff was in memory. I might be wrong but it is interesting that it is only problematic at first and then soon after is not anymore.

Anyway, that's an easy one to live with in my opinion. Good time to grab a drink or something while it loads up.

 

[Washac]

This may help some people, a vid on how to optimize your Mac for Parallels with a little tip on how to quit Finder, it adds a Quit Finder in the drop down down Finder Menu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv5fnoCZbps

 

[Dirtyharry50]

This may help some people, a vid on how to optimize your Mac for Parallels with a little tip on how to quit Finder, it adds a Quit Finder in the drop down down Finder Menu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv5fnoCZbps

Looks like some good ideas to tweak performance there, particularly for lower spec systems I would think. For me the best one is to remember to shut off Time Machine while I game in Parallels or otherwise. It does put a hurt on performance here too when backing up, especially with Parallels.

I wonder if turning off Aero in Win7 would produce any noteworthy performance increase or not on a recent Mac system. I guess it depends on the Mac but I'm not sure how demanding Aero is overall.

I notice he had 1 core allocated to his virtual machine. This made me wonder if that system was dual core. I forget what Mac he said he had (year I mean) or if he did. I allocate 2 cores to both XP and Win7 normally. I think there are still a couple old games where being able to run XP with one core would make them run properly. I've wondered if bumping up to 3 cores (I have an Core i5 3.4 CPU in my iMac) would be a good thing or not. I don't know if the host needs 2 cores minimum for Yosemite and to run Parallels itself properly. I also don't know to what extent a third core would be used by games in Win7. I have no idea how the programming for that works when 3 but not 4 is available.

 

[HonorToServe]

I thought it would be helpful to those of us using Parallels to share experiences with what runs well in Parallels in one thread here. It would probably be good to state Parallels version as well as Windows version for each game. Personally, I have virtual machines set up for both Windows XP and Windows 7. I'm not sure I can remember everything off the top of my head so far but these are some I've tried out that ran fine:

Parallels 8 with Windows XP.
The VM is allocated 2 CPU cores, 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig Video RAM.

Max Payne 2 (Steam)
Final Fantasy VII (Steam)
Command and Conquer (Origin)
Red Alert (Origin)
Age of Empires & Rise of Rome (DVD install)
Age of Mythology & The Titans (DVD install)
Rise of Nations & Thrones and Patriots (DVD install)
Age of Empires II HD Edition (Steam)
No One Lives Forever (CD Install)
No One Lives Forever 2 (CD Install)
Freelancer (CD Install)
Heroes of Might and Magic (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic II (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic III (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic III GOG install with HD mod (NOT the new HD release)
Terraria (Steam)
Patrician III (GOG)
Port Royale 2 (GOG)
Wing Commander Prophecy (GOG)
Privateer 2 (GOG)
Driftmoon (GOG)
Chessmaster 9000 (GOG)
Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun (Origin)
Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures (GOG)
Sam and Max Season One (Steam)
Pain Killer Black Edition (Steam)
Serious Sam II (Steam)
Serious Sam Second Encounter HD (Steam)
Serious Sam Double D (Steam)
Breath of Death VII (Steam)

Parallels 8 with Windows 7.
The VM is allocated 2 CPU cores, 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig Video RAM.

Risen (Steam)
Divinity II Developer's Cut (Steam)
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Steam)
KRATER (Steam) - must have DX10 support enabled in Parallels.
Medal of Honor: Airborne (Steam)

From this thread ( https://forum.parallels.com/threads...8-with-directx-10-and-directx-9-games.269338/ ) the following are reported to work with Parallels 8:

Anno 2070
Assassin Creed III
Battlefield 3
Bioshock 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Civilization V
Dirt Showdown
F1 Race Stars
Formula 1 2012
Hitman: Absolution
Need For Speed: The Run
Sleeping Dogs
Snipper Elite V2

* The above were tested by Parallels staff. The below are reports from users:

Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2 (some artifacting)
Mass Effect 3 (see note below)
Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (see note below)
Skyrim
SHIFT 1 and 2
Alan Wake
F.E.A.R. 2 and 3
Command and Conquer 3
FarCry 3
Dragon Age Origins
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 3 (I question this one due to likelihood of Origin lic. file issue)
Dishonored
Medal of Honor
Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine
Unreal Tournament III
Dead Island Riptide
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Bulletstorm (don't know if I'd count on this with obsolescence of GFWL)

Note: Origin runs fine in Parallels but some later titles have issues because of their DRM including ME3. This can be worked around by grabbing the license file needed for the game to start but requires you to have a bootcamp partition to install it to to get this file to then copy into a Parallels install of the game. So the reports go at least. Later in the thread, ME3 is reported to work once this is done along with placing a certain downloaded DLL file in the game's folder as well. See here for details: ( http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=260537&page=2 ) I believe this applies to Kingdoms of Amalur from Origin as well but is not an issue with the Steam version.

Your turn! Fill us in on the game's you've tried with Parallels please.

I'll post feedback from you folks here for easy reference:

Parallels 9 - Windows 7

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Wolfenstein
Wildstar

Is there any way someone can walk me through what Parallels settings and Windows 7 configuration they had to get Fallout: New Vegas to successfully run in Parallels? The game keeps crashing after the introduction video completes and the game begins to load.

 

[Washac]

Is there any way someone can walk me through what Parallels settings and Windows 7 configuration they had to get Fallout: New Vegas to successfully run in Parallels? The game keeps crashing after the introduction video completes and the game begins to load.

It may help you getting a reply if you let the forum know your machine and specs, how much memory, video card info etc etc.

 

[HonorToServe]

It may help you getting a reply if you let the forum know your machine and specs, how much memory, video card info etc etc.

I'm using a MacBook Pro with the following specs:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro12,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB

System Version: OS X 10.11.2 (15C50)
Kernel Version: Darwin 15.2.0

Parallels 11.1.2

Windows 7 Installed within Parallels, with 1 2.7GHz processor assigned and 4GB of RAM allocated. I also added 4GB of Virtual Disk Memory to the VM, just in case the crashing was caused by memory issues. I have 200GB of disk space available on the VM.

The VM is using the Parallels Display Adapter (WDDM), with 512MB of video memory allocated.

The MacBook has the Intel Iris Graphics 6100 card installed:

Chipset Model: Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Type: GPU
Bus: Built-In
VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB

 

[Washac]

I'm using a MacBook Pro with the following specs:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro12,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB

System Version: OS X 10.11.2 (15C50)
Kernel Version: Darwin 15.2.0

Parallels 11.1.2

I assume that you have watched and tweaked your system as is described in the Youtube
link above -

That will give you the best Parallels and Windows options.

Also to get New Vegas to run under Parallels you will have to lower all the in game video options.

This maybe worth a watch also -

 

[HonorToServe]

I assume that you have watched and tweaked your system as is described in the Youtube
link above -

That will give you the best Parallels and Windows options.

Also to get New Vegas to run under Parallels you will have to lower all the in game video options.

This maybe worth a watch also -

Thank you! I did just as he instructed in the first video. However, when I booted up my Windows 7 VM, I noticed something odd. Out of the 8GB of RAM I allocated to the VM, it say that only 2.75GB is useable? That was the same amount usable when I have 4GB of RAM allocated as well.

 

[Washac]

Thank you! I did just as he instructed in the first video. However, when I booted up my Windows 7 VM, I noticed something odd. Out of the 8GB of RAM I allocated to the VM, it say that only 2.75GB is useable? That was the same amount usable when I have 4GB of RAM allocated as well.

You cannot allocate all your 8GB of RAM to the VM, in the settings it shows you how much of your memory that you can allocate to the VM, this because when you run Windows under Parallels your Mac needs its share of the memory to function also.

 

[HonorToServe]

You cannot allocate all your 8GB of RAM to the VM, in the settings it shows you how much of your memory that you can allocate to the VM, this because when you run Windows under Parallels your Mac needs its share of the memory to function also.

I actually only allocated 7GB of RAM, and then 800MB of video RAM. For some reason, Windows saw that as 8GB of RAM... I may just punt and do a Boot Camp install.

 

[Washac]

I actually only allocated 7GB of RAM, and then 800MB of video RAM. For some reason, Windows saw that as 8GB of RAM... I may just punt and do a Boot Camp install.

You cannot and should not allocate 7GB of the 8GB to Parallels, in the settings it recommends what you should use.

Yup in the end Bootcamp is the best option, providing you have a HD you can partition with enough space.

 

[HonorToServe]

Yes, and the recommended settings within Parallels of 4GB RAM, 512MB of video RAM, and one processor is enough resources to run the game. But, that is where my dilemma began in the first place. I'm researching the error code of the crash, and will let you know what I find.

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: FalloutNV.exe
Application Version: 1.4.0.525
Application Timestamp: 4e0d50ed
Fault Module Name: FalloutNV.exe
Fault Module Version: 1.4.0.525
Fault Module Timestamp: 4e0d50ed
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00632aa1
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

 

[Washac]

Is your copy of New Vegas Genuine because you do need to install it under Steam for it to run.

 

[HonorToServe]

Yes, I purchased the game and installed it via Steam. I have tried Compatibility troubleshooting for the executable, altering resources for the VM, and running the executable as Administrator - all to no avail!

I found an article which talks about configuring Wine and running it from the Mac OS that way... Have you had experience with that?

 

[Washac]

Yes, I purchased the game and installed it via Steam. I have tried Compatibility troubleshooting for the executable, altering resources for the VM, and running the executable as Administrator - all to no avail!

I found an article which talks about configuring Wine and running it from the Mac OS that way... Have you had experience with that?

I think your problem lies in the fact that you are trying to run the game via steam in Parallels, that's asking a lot on
your machine.

Anyway here is a wine wrapper for New Vegas, any problems with that ask at the Porting Teams website.

http://portingteam.com/files/file/7054-fallout-new-vegas/

Or you could try here - https://www.playonmac.com/en they have a wrapper for it also.

I tried New Vegas every which way to run on my Mac but the best without doubt was Bootcamp.

Also do not forget that both Fallout 3 and New Vegas both had a habit of crashing even on PC.

 

[vkd]

iMac 27" mid-2011
2.7GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB
Mac OS 10.9.5

Some games working in Parallels Desktop 11:

Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed Revelation

 

[Washac]

iMac 27" mid-2011
2.7GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB
Mac OS 10.9.5

Some games working in Parallels Desktop 11:

Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed Revelation

What I do is throw the game at Parallels if it runs OK that is where I will play it, if it is a no go then it goes into Bootcamp

 

[csc9808]

I thought it would be helpful to those of us using Parallels to share experiences with what runs well in Parallels in one thread here. It would probably be good to state Parallels version as well as Windows version for each game. Personally, I have virtual machines set up for both Windows XP and Windows 7. I'm not sure I can remember everything off the top of my head so far but these are some I've tried out that ran fine:

Parallels 8 with Windows XP.
The VM is allocated 2 CPU cores, 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig Video RAM.

Max Payne 2 (Steam)
Final Fantasy VII (Steam)
Command and Conquer (Origin)
Red Alert (Origin)
Age of Empires & Rise of Rome (DVD install)
Age of Mythology & The Titans (DVD install)
Rise of Nations & Thrones and Patriots (DVD install)
Age of Empires II HD Edition (Steam)
No One Lives Forever (CD Install)
No One Lives Forever 2 (CD Install)
Freelancer (CD Install)
Heroes of Might and Magic (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic II (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic III (GOG)
Heroes of Might and Magic III GOG install with HD mod (NOT the new HD release)
Terraria (Steam)
Patrician III (GOG)
Port Royale 2 (GOG)
Wing Commander Prophecy (GOG)
Privateer 2 (GOG)
Driftmoon (GOG)
Chessmaster 9000 (GOG)
Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun (Origin)
Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures (GOG)
Sam and Max Season One (Steam)
Pain Killer Black Edition (Steam)
Serious Sam II (Steam)
Serious Sam Second Encounter HD (Steam)
Serious Sam Double D (Steam)
Breath of Death VII (Steam)

Parallels 8 with Windows 7.
The VM is allocated 2 CPU cores, 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig Video RAM.

Risen (Steam)
Divinity II Developer's Cut (Steam)
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Steam)
KRATER (Steam) - must have DX10 support enabled in Parallels.
Medal of Honor: Airborne (Steam)

From this thread ( https://forum.parallels.com/threads...8-with-directx-10-and-directx-9-games.269338/ ) the following are reported to work with Parallels 8:

Anno 2070
Assassin Creed III
Battlefield 3
Bioshock 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Civilization V
Dirt Showdown
F1 Race Stars
Formula 1 2012
Hitman: Absolution
Need For Speed: The Run
Sleeping Dogs
Snipper Elite V2

* The above were tested by Parallels staff. The below are reports from users:

Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2 (some artifacting)
Mass Effect 3 (see note below)
Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (see note below)
Skyrim
SHIFT 1 and 2
Alan Wake
F.E.A.R. 2 and 3
Command and Conquer 3
FarCry 3
Dragon Age Origins
Dead Space 2
Dead Space 3 (I question this one due to likelihood of Origin lic. file issue)
Dishonored
Medal of Honor
Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine
Unreal Tournament III
Dead Island Riptide
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Bulletstorm (don't know if I'd count on this with obsolescence of GFWL)

Note: Origin runs fine in Parallels but some later titles have issues because of their DRM including ME3. This can be worked around by grabbing the license file needed for the game to start but requires you to have a bootcamp partition to install it to to get this file to then copy into a Parallels install of the game. So the reports go at least. Later in the thread, ME3 is reported to work once this is done along with placing a certain downloaded DLL file in the game's folder as well. See here for details: ( http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=260537&page=2 ) I believe this applies to Kingdoms of Amalur from Origin as well but is not an issue with the Steam version.

Your turn! Fill us in on the game's you've tried with Parallels please.

I'll post feedback from you folks here for easy reference:

Parallels 9 - Windows 7

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Wolfenstein
Windstar

Parallels 11 - Windows ???

Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed Revelation

 

[MacBH928]

When you say the game works... do you mean it just works or it works satisfying manner? Because its not use if it works in 14fps in 400x600 resolution.

I am looking to play games mostly from 2005 and earlier and was wondering about the performance, I don't want to dual boot