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Looking for Retro RPGs and their ilk

AppleInLVX

AppleInLVX

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 12, 2010
1,259
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Hey there. Seems the AD&D-like games for mac distill down to WoW these days.

A long time ago, I used to like playing RPGs like Eye Of The Beholder and Ultima. I wonder, are there any games like this that run native on a Mac? I don't need to play with a million other people online. I'd just like a medieval-like world to disappear into for a few hours every now and again.

I fear though that since I've gone entirely Apple, I've sorta bought myself out of that genre.

Suggestions welcome...
 
AppleInLVX said:
Hey there. Seems the AD&D-like games for mac distill down to WoW these days.

A long time ago, I used to like playing RPGs like Eye Of The Beholder and Ultima. I wonder, are there any games like this that run native on a Mac? I don't need to play with a million other people online. I'd just like a medieval-like world to disappear into for a few hours every now and again.

I fear though that since I've gone entirely Apple, I've sorta bought myself out of that genre.

Suggestions welcome...
Click to expand...

Have you played the Elder Scrolls games? Oblivion or even Morrowind would be a great place to start if you haven't.
 
GrantMeThePower said:
Have you played the Elder Scrolls games? Oblivion or even Morrowind would be a great place to start if you haven't.
Click to expand...

I haven't. I'll do some research. Thank you very much for your suggestion!

(EDIT) However, it seems these don't run on a Mac. I guess I was hoping more to avoid buying a dedicated console, much as these Elder Scrolls games look phenomenal.
 
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AppleInLVX said:
I haven't. I'll do some research. Thank you very much for your suggestion!

(EDIT) However, it seems these don't run on a Mac. I guess I was hoping more to avoid buying a dedicated console, much as these Elder Scrolls games look phenomenal.
Click to expand...

You can run them on your Mac if you do bootcamp. They are excellent PC games.

As far as OSX RPGs...I'm afraid someone else will have to answer that for you. I don't really know what will run natively
 
I've barely played them, yet, but the Eschalon series has been touted as a throwback to the days of Ultima and some RPG fans I know say they're pretty good.

Book I & II are also available on Steam, if that's your thing.
 
All right. Thank you all for the suggestion. I'm sold on the scrolls, although I will check out Eschalon, seeing as how they have a demo. :) I have never run boot camp before, but I'll see if I can figure it out. I assume I'll need to buy an OEM copy of Windows to get it all to go. Still cheaper than buying a game console, I imagine.

Again, thank you all!
 
Eschalon is available on Mac. But yeah, for Bootcamp you'll be installing Windows on a partition, so you'd need to own a copy.

I don't know the requirements, but I think the newer 2011 Macs will need Windows 7, maybe Vista? But I think I remember reading somewhere that XP wont work on them.

One last thing... OEM copy may be cheaper, but it you plan on selling your mac to trade in for a new model, that OEM copy of Windows is legally supposed to remain with the machine it's been installed on, non-transferable.
 
I have all the old Might and Magics (not Heroes of stuff), and the Eye of the Beholder trilogy (single app), Ultima Underworld, Dungeon Hack.... and such.... all up over at portingteam.com you can grab...

as for Elder Scrolls, those are good, and you can get wrappers at portingteam.com for those too... you can play all of those without needing Windows.
 
Not exactly sure what you are looking for, but...

If you are looking to play the old, old games on your new(er) Mac, then the DosBox emulator Boxer is just the ticket...that, and a search of abandonware sites, and/or the Good Old Games website at www.gog.com.

If you enjoyed RPG's, and want to re-immerse yourself in a newer experience, then you will likely have to get a copy of Windows and run Bootcamp on your Mac. I am finicky about my RPG's, but I absolutely *love* Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III). I had enjoyed Baldur's Gate on my Classic Mac's, and I tried to get into Neverwinter Nights, but it just didn't grab me. YMMV.

Keep us posted as to what you find...
 
@Wrathh - OMG, it's pretty rare I get *exactly* what I was thinking of. Thank you for this! This is awesome! Well, there goes my weekend. :)

If I can play Elder Scrolls without bootcamp, I'd prefer it. Now that I know it's possible, I will explore it to see. Having found both Eschalon and now the whole EOB trilogy, I'll be busy a while. I'd forgotten how fun these games can be. It's been years.

Cheers!
 
AppleInLVX said:
@Wrathh - OMG, it's pretty rare I get *exactly* what I was thinking of. Thank you for this! This is awesome! Well, there goes my weekend. :)

If I can play Elder Scrolls without bootcamp, I'd prefer it. Now that I know it's possible, I will explore it to see. Having found both Eschalon and now the whole EOB trilogy, I'll be busy a while. I'd forgotten how fun these games can be. It's been years.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Take a look on Google for a Cider wrapper for Elder Scrolls. You may have to download it from somewhere shady via BitTorrent or something, because a lot of times the wrapper will have a pirated version of the game inside, but I think if you own a copy of the PC game before you make the download, both legally and morally you're covered.
 
Thanks so much for all of your suggestions, folks. Great forum, full of awesome people. Cheers to you all!
 
AppleInLVX said:
Having found both Eschalon and now the whole EOB trilogy, I'll be busy a while. I'd forgotten how fun these games can be. It's been years.
Click to expand...

EOB was always one of my favorites... if you haven't found it over at portingteam.com forums yet, I put together a custom built app for these, with manuals and cluebooks and everything with a launcher menu...
http://forum.portingteam.com/viewtopic.php?f=150&t=1008
or here is a direct download link...
http://www.mediafire.com/?ijgkgzydg21
just unzip it and play! :)
 
I'll second the recommendation of the Baldur's Gate series, if you haven't played any of those games, especially if you want something AD&D-like. It's based on AD&D, so you can expect to see all the familiar classes and spells and lore and such (at least based on the rules of the time when the game was made). The Elder Scrolls games are great open world RPGs, and definitely worth a look if you can play them, but Baldur's Gate has a more satisfying story and character development from my perspective. They were released in Mac versions, but I'm not sure how easy they are to find now, or whether they agree with Intel-based Macs.

BioWare (developer of the Baldur's Gate games) has more recently done the Dragon Age games, which were billed as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and in my view they're great modern updates of that type of old school computer RPG, particularly Dragon Age: Origins. These are available for Mac as well. BioWare's Neverwinter Nights and Obsidian's sequel to that game may also have some appeal if you're interested in D&D-type games, though I prefer Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age.
 
Pugnax said:
I'll second the recommendation of the Baldur's Gate series, if you haven't played any of those games, especially if you want something AD&D-like.
Click to expand...

You know, back in the day when I was playing these games, I recall hearing about Baldur's Gate, but I never got around to playing it, probably because no one ever had a copy I could use, and by that time, I wasn't playing as much as I used to. I'll see if I can check it out sometime when I'm through with what I've found as a result of this thread. Although, I think that'll probably be around 2013 given the time it'll take to work through all of these now that I have other responsibilities. :rolleyes:

AS I recall, it took us a few weeks of solid gaming to get through the EOB trilogy (at the time, my friend and I took turns with one playing and the other mapping on grid paper). I imagine getting though EOB will take a few months now, even with all the maps and clues at my disposal.

Yay for cheap entertainment. :)
 
I have to echo the endorsement of Dragon Age Origins. I've been a fan of computer-based RPGs since the early, early days, and in my opinion DAO is one of the few modern games that really captures what I am looking for - rich storyline with interesting characters, and interesting worlds with non-linear plots.

I found Oblivion and Fallout 3 less satisfying because I felt that the FPS aspect detracted from the straight up RPG parts of the game (to me, they seemed almost closer to Half-Life than Baldur's Gate), and were less fun to play than the predecessors in the series (Morrowind, Daggerfall, and especially Fallout 2).

If you are able to run Windows games, I can strongly recommend Vampire: Bloodlines, if you can find a copy and track down the patches.
 
doh123 said:
EOB was always one of my favorites... if you haven't found it over at portingteam.com forums yet, I put together a custom built app for these, with manuals and cluebooks and everything with a launcher menu...
http://forum.portingteam.com/viewtopic.php?f=150&t=1008
or here is a direct download link...
http://www.mediafire.com/?ijgkgzydg21
just unzip it and play! :)
Click to expand...

Hi

Well what can I say, this is one of the best links posted in an age, all three EOBs in one App, thank you very much :)

Guess what I will be doing today.

Downloading all the RPGs & Adventure games :)
 
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Dragon Age Origins, NeverWinter Nights2, Dungeon Siege, Fable, Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate II, Diablo, Neverwinter Nights, Summoner, Icewind Dale are all Mac compatible (I believe). The trick will be to find some of them, but I have seen the Diablo Battle Chests at Target which are dual platform Mac/PC.

Elderscrolls 2 Morrowind, and Elderscrolls3 Oblivion both need Windows which can be run in bootcamp.

Of the games I mentioned, Oblivion as an open world RPG is the best. The others have the typical restricted world alleys and invisible walls which I have never liked.
 
HilbertSpace said:
I have to echo the endorsement of Dragon Age Origins. I've been a fan of computer-based RPGs since the early, early days, and in my opinion DAO is one of the few modern games that really captures what I am looking for - rich storyline with interesting characters, and interesting worlds with non-linear plots.
Click to expand...

+1

It doesn't get much better than DAO in terms of storyline, characters, and decision-making that in some cases can significantly affect the outcome of the story.

Be prepared to invest ALOT of time though. :)

-PN
 
I am amazed the eye of the beholder and ultimate series have not been dug out and released on the iPad, iPhone and mac app stores

Also , ultima underworld ..
 
Nightarchaon said:
I am amazed the eye of the beholder and ultimate series have not been dug out and released on the iPad, iPhone and mac app stores

Also , ultima underworld ..
Click to expand...

while that would be awesome, it would have to be a total remake, as source code isn't available.... it wouldn't be easy. They would be great though.

There is 1 RPG for iOS I saw that the interface was very much like EoB called Undercroft.


Washac said:
Hi

Well what can I say, this is one of the best links posted in an age, all three EOBs in one App, thank you very much :)

Guess what I will be doing today.

Downloading all the RPGs & Adventure games :)
Click to expand...

I love old RPGs.

I also have Might and Magic 1 - 5 all in a single app
Ultima Underworld 1 and 2 in a single
Lands of Lore I
Betrayal at Krondor
Wizardry: Crusaders of the Dark Savant
Daggerfall
Dungeon Hack

I have all these up in the DOS section at Portingteam.com forums for anyone who wants to download them and play... they are ready to just download and double click in Finder and play them :)
 
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