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running Steam on my Mac

C

cfgs

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 6, 2009
11
0
so, I would really like to be able to play Half-Life and The Orange Box on my mac.



I do not really want to install Windows on my Mac via Bootcamp or Parallel Desktop or something... I've heard that you can play in Steam buying an application that's calledCrossOver Mac.

I would like to know if it runs very well, if you can play Half-Life or Portal perfectly on high detail with no inconveniences... Also I want to know how well it runs in online games, say CS Source or Team Fortress.



thanks.
 
I try it every so often and I'm never impressed with emulation. Some old games will be okay, Half Life for example. But newer games on Steam have texture issues, video overlay issues and of course the slowdown associated with emulation.
 
but aside of emulation no one has tried Crossover?
 
You can get a trial version of Crossover and try it out yourself. The Valve games are supposed to work pretty well. Beyond that it is hit or miss for other games.
 
Crossover is not "emulation". It is an API translator. Basically, it takes the API (Application Programming Interface) for Windows, and maps its code calls to the equivalents for OS X. This has the benefit that programs are directly translated, with very little speed degredation.

And their "Games" version is specifically optimized for games, among them Valve's "Source" based games. So Steam should run with no problem at all on Crossover.
 
I've used CrossOver Games to play Half Life, Half Life 2 (+ episodes), Portal, Civilization 4 (+ expansions), and a couple of other Steam games on my C2D iMac. All ran fine.
 
Crossover games is exactly what you want. They're focused on Steam - HL2, CSS, TF2 all worked wonderfully on my MB. I still prefer bootcamp but this is great alternative for those not wanting windows or deal w/ dual booting.
 
I tried Counter Strike: Source on Crossover. On Windows I max everything except AA/AF, and the resolution is maxed (although not as high as my monitor can go), and the FPS test says around 60 fps I think. I had a lower resolution, and I think the graphics were on medium, maybe low, and got around 27 fps in Crossover in the fps test.
 
aznguyen316 said:
Crossover games is exactly what you want. They're focused on Steam - HL2, CSS, TF2 all worked wonderfully on my MB. I still prefer bootcamp but this is great alternative for those not wanting windows or deal w/ dual booting.
Click to expand...

I used to use crossover games to run TF2, but an update to TF2 and Steam created a conflict with Crossover Games. It was well-documented on their web forum, with most users being unable to play.

The folks at Crossover Games were working to fix it last time I checked, but I have since switched to Bootcamp and am much happier. FYI.
 
cfgs said:
so, I would really like to be able to play Half-Life and The Orange Box on my mac.

I do not really want to install Windows on my Mac via Bootcamp
Click to expand...

Well, get over it: If you don't want to buy an Xbox 360, then installing Windows via Boot Camp is the only option for you. Virtualization is NOT for games - period.

The Orange Box runs great on 64-Bit Vista on my Mac Pro. And it also runs great on my Xbox 360.
 
coldpower27 said:
Hmm so buying Crossover will allow me to play my Steam based games?
Click to expand...

It should be fine for the Valve games that are on Steam. Don't get confused though. When people say that Steam games will run fine, that does not mean any game you buy on Steam will run. Don't expect that Crysis Warhead, or Aion, or some other graphically intense game is going to play perfectly find just because it's available through Steam.

If all you care about is Portal, TF2, CS, etc you should be fine. Otherwise, just suck it up and use Bootcamp. The inconvenience of rebooting is nothing compared to the frustration of trying to make games work through Crossover just because you've decided to be anti-Microsoft.
 
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