Hi! My MBP pro is listed in signature as I notice other people do that I guess to save time typing it all out all the time. I am not a hardcore gamer, and anyway own an Xbox One and PS4 for gaming. But that covers new games, I get the urge to play old games I played growing up. Now I have a access to a cheap Windows laptop (not mine though) on which I can maybe play old Windows titles, and I don't have room for a desktop gaming rig, although am considering buying a gaming laptop to be sure of playing anything I want but that's not going to be for a while and not even my preferred solution. Ideally I would like just to run things on my Mac without rebooting or losing space on my SSD. Most newer games I want to play on computer are available for Mac, like Stellaris, Two Point Hospital, games like that. I don't want to turn 128gb of my SSD over to bootcamp, I only have 300gb left free as it is. Is a VM really as bad as people say? I am not looking for ultra settings AAA gaming, just running games like Black and White, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, titles I played growing up. Surely a VM would be fine for that? And if so, is there a single best VM for this purpose, or will I be fine with VMWare Fusion (my preference due to no subscription.) There's no free trial so I am asking before I shell out and find it doesn't work or is crazy slow or something. My alternative is just to accept that if I want to game, I move my MBP out the way and boot up the cheap ASUS which belongs to my Nan or buy my own gaming laptop. Now the only game I want to play on computer which is no longer available for Mac is Elite Dangerous, I guess I won't get this running on any VM? Any advice is appreciated. I'm not really sure how VMs work, but I have six cores and 16gb of RAM and am happy not running anything in MacOS that is resource intensive while I game.
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Running oldish Windows Games
- Thread starter Jacobis99
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I'd have to say that a VM, even for older games would not be ideal. I think playing even older games, you'd want to use Bootcamp and avoid virtualization.
It looks like Crossover Mac can run Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines:
Support for Black & White does not look as good though, but might work with limited functionality:
www.codeweavers.com
I have used Crossover back when I ran Linux primarily and it worked quite well if the game was supported. There is a 14 day trial so you could test it to see how it goes. Another option for Windows games is PlayOnMac, but it doesn't appear to support those titles.
Support for Black & White does not look as good though, but might work with limited functionality:
Black & White | Compatibility Database | CodeWeavers
In the game Black & White you are a god who rules villages through your "creature" who you can train to be either good or evil.
www.codeweavers.com
I have used Crossover back when I ran Linux primarily and it worked quite well if the game was supported. There is a 14 day trial so you could test it to see how it goes. Another option for Windows games is PlayOnMac, but it doesn't appear to support those titles.
I was in the exact same position as you. I play games mainly on my PS4 and Switch these days but still get the urge to dabble in the odd PC based game. I have an old gaming laptop from 2012 which runs ok but my late 2016 MacBook Pro actually performs better than that.
Rather than going down the VM or proper Bootcamp route, I ended up installing Windows on an external SSD to save on my internal SSD space. I bought a 1TB Samsung T7 for this and partitioned it 500GB for Windows and 500GB for backup storage. I used this guide here.
I've not yet tried any games on it but from what i've read it should work fine. I'm particularly looking forward to the Command & Conquer and Red Alert remasters which come out in June.
I installed Windows on a an external HD in a previous version of MacOS. I had problems with the video drivers though. I think maybe because my machine is a dual Intel and dedicated graphics? I’ll try booting from the external drive today.
It looks like Crossover Mac can run Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines:
Support for Black & White does not look as good though, but might work with limited functionality:
Black & White | Compatibility Database | CodeWeavers
In the game Black & White you are a god who rules villages through your "creature" who you can train to be either good or evil.
I have used Crossover back when I ran Linux primarily and it worked quite well if the game was supported. There is a 14 day trial so you could test it to see how it goes. Another option for Windows games is PlayOnMac, but it doesn't appear to support those titles.
I'll check out Crossover thanks!
Hi man, I tried following that guide, but when I get to running the Virtual Machine in VirtualBox, I get an error. It won't load the machine. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Hi again! I got it working! I couldn’t get it working on a drive partition, so now I have a 1tb SSD dedicated to Windows, but this solution is fantastic! Solved all my problems! Thanks man
Hi again! I got it working! I couldn’t get it working on a drive partition, so now I have a 1tb SSD dedicated to Windows, but this solution is fantastic! Solved all my problems! Thanks man
Fantastic! I am by no means an expert at this stuff and had to fudge my way through it a couple of times, but I got it working eventually. The only way I was able to partition the disk was to use the windows disk management tool by shrinking the Windows drive to 500GB and then formatting the new partition to exFAT so it can be used by both systems. I have an ongoing problem that I can't reboot to macOS from Windows, but it's not a big deal as I can just do it manually with a system reboot.
This weekend i'm planning on raiding steam for some old classics...I want to replay Quake 1 and 2, Monkey Island, and Dungeon Keeper (not sure if this is on steam or Origin).
Those are classics! I might join you in replaying Dungeon Keeper. I loved that game. Playing through Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines now though, check it out (I got it on GoG.) It’s a first person RPG which is one of the best written I have ever played. Only problem is melee forces you into third person view. Also No. 2 is coming out soon so I want to play through 1 before it does.