C&C Red Alert 3 System Requirements: GMA X3100 supported?

[Let's Sekuhara!]

So here are the sys reqs for RA3:

Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later, Intel Core Duo Processor, 1024MB RAM, ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300GT or better 3D card, and 10GB hard disk space.

My question is about the graphics card requirements specifically.
I have the black MacBook that uses the Intel GMA X3100 chipset...is it supported?

I ask because the GMA is notorious for shoddy OpenGL support and has given me problems with other 3D apps in the past (big problems with Blender, minor issues with Doom 3).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Miharu]

Nope, it will not work on the GMA X3100.

 

[Jellix]

I could play it on my GMA x3100, but that was under windows in boot camp.
Game played perfect. Don't know or the same applies for the mac version though.

 

[masterofbuckets]

It will start and you will be able to play on the lowest settings possible.

But you might get some graphics issues as GMA stands for 'Graphics Maybe Atrocious'

Worth a shot imo.

 

[Stijlloos]

Official specs say it will not work, however, a friend of mine plays it on his MacBook (old) and it works smoothly on the lowest settings under boot camp.

I, myself (mbp unibody with 256mb nvidia), have the PC and MAC version and the PC version works excellent on max, while the mac version only plays smooth on medium (because cider amkes the requirements of ra3 heavier)..

This logic would mean that it would work on pc with your card, but not the ra3 mac version (because of the increased workload).

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

Good to hear your takes on it.

I bet the reason it works under Boot Camp and not Leopard is that the GMA's problems are actually Leopard problems. There's nothing inherently wrong with the GMA chipsets, it's just that Leopard wasn't written to fully support OpenGL for that hardware... which is dumb to say the least.

I can run Blender via a Linux VM but not via Leopard. This is probably the same type of situation.

 

[Stijlloos]

I can run Blender via a Linux VM but not via Leopard. This is probably the same type of situation.

This is indeed most probably the case with RA3 windows/leopard!

You can download the RA3 DEMO for windows and check it out for yourself if you run boot camp, before purchasing it. I would not try the MAC version with your MacBook GMX card, because considering our statements it will most probably not work or at most very poorly.

If it runs via Boot camp, you will enjoy it, because the missions are nice to play and the cinematics are good and a nice cast. Multiplayer also rocks, to kick some PC players' ass, always feels good

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

Just as I was giving up hope, I found this.

The thread basically says that for people who have the X3100 they can compensate for not having a graphics card by having more RAM and a faster processor. I have 4GB of RAM and a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
Please read and let me know what you think.

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

I decided to just give in and buy it.
I've been a RA fan since the first one and I couldn't bare to not at least try.

Good news:
It totally works with the GMA X3100!

The only catch is that you need to play on the lowest graphics settings.
(So the graphics will look more like RA2 than what is shown on the box)

I've been playing for a couple of days now and it is absolutely playable. When the screen gets really busy with action it slows down noticeably but not unplayably. Also, I did experience two crashes - both on the same map, after playing the mission for a very long time (luckily I save frequently). I'll try to remember to do a follow-up post after playing for a few weeks to let you know if this persisted or was a unique fluke.

Again, my machine is 2.4GHz with 4GB of RAM, so who knows what the performance would be like on less powerful GMA MacBooks.
I'm quite happy though since I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to play it. On the box it says only NVidia and ATI are officially supported.

 

[iloverclie]

Red Alert 3 Work on X3100

I have Red Alert 3 on my Macbook 2.2ghz x3100 installed. Works perfectly on 800*600 and everything on low. The maxium resolution that works is 1024*768. Works very smooth, some time lags.

 

[blindman96]

Red alert 3 does work on GMA x3100 and it works in my Mac Air!!

I am Running the latest version of everything 10.5.8 leopard I think, I have a mac air with the GMA x3100 and it does work!!!!

Dispite what everyone says I have a mac air I am running it and it works fine. you can have everyhting maxed out if you want it's just really really slow (graphics wise) so I'd leave everything at optimal system settings (default game settings)

I play this all the time and it works good.