The Parallels What Games Work Thread (**NOT DIRECT3D**)

[mrploddy]

Ok,

I've searched this forum and I can't really seem to find anything which resembles what I'm about to write. I thought we should have a thread about Games Support in Parallels.

First things first and I'll make this absolutely crystal clear

THIS IS NOT A THREAD FOR GAMES WHICH *REQUIRE* DIRECT3D. THESE ARE STILL UNSUPPORTED AND WILL NOT WORK. THIS IS ONLY FOR GAMES WHICH DO NOT REQUIRE DIRECT3D TO FUNCTION. If you want Direct 3D games then bootcamp is your only option

I literally tried this just as a punt to see whether it would work and it at least to me seems that if a game doesnt require Direct3D Parallels will run it silky smooth. If you have any pre 2002 games before the onset of Direct3D as a requirement not an optional extra try them out and see if they work!!!!

My setup ->
Macbook 2Ghz with 2GB of RAM
60GB hard drive
Parallels Windows 98 SE Machine with 4GB HDD and 512MB Ram
Windows 98 has been Windozed Updated to the hilt with every available update and DirectX 9

Games That I've personally Tested So Far - I'll try out more as I have time.

Deus Ex - Works a charm. Surprsingly it detects the Parallels Video Adapator as having Direct3D support . But anyhow it works a charm. You might want to resize your screen before launch if you want full screen play.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Dungeon Keeper - Opening Movie runs a bit choppy but in game play is silky smooth and fast
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Final Fantasy 7 - Squaresoft/Chocobo logo's are a bit choppy but the opening movie is fine. Game is playable bar some control issues.
STATUS : PLAYABLE
Final Fantasy 8 - Opening Movie runs silky smooth, in game play rocks, theres some control issues which I think can be resolved by reassigning the controls for the game
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Grim Fandango - Loads straight up, no graphical corruption, silky smooth
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Jedi Knight 2 - Silky smooth at 1024x768. Only minor graphical corruption on loading screens.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
MDK- Silky smooth and fully playable.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Monkey Island 4 - Escape from Monkey Island - Works silky smooth but you have to in the advanced config change to OpenGL and 32bit colour and before you launch the game switch to 640x480 to get it full screen.
STATUS: PLAYABLE WITH CONFIG ALTERATION
Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh - Works fine, you might wanna lower the vid res before launching tho if you want full screen fids.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Quake 2- Opening ID Logo a bit choppy and CD soundtrack doesnt play but exceptiong that silky smooth on software renderer at 1024x768
STATUS: PLAYABLE

Games that other people have tested
Baldurs Gate I - Minor user interface corruption and map doesnt autoscroll but perfectly playable.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Baldurs Game II - Map doesnt autoscroll but perfectly playable.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Civilization 3 - Game Installs but fails on copy protection
STATUS: NOT playable
CSi - Perfectly playable
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Quake 2 - Works fine at 800x600 on XP SP2
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 - Works
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 - Opening Movies dont work but in game is fine albeit perhaps slightly jittery
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Sim Tower - Speeded up play is too speedy but without that playable
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Windows Spider Solitaire - Works fine
STATUS: PLAYABLE

Regards


-mrploddy

 

[mcmadhatter]

Sim Tower - speeded up play is too speeded up! but take that option off and everything works great, incidentally this works under crossover as well

RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 - works

 

[speakerwizard]

i think this is a great thread, i hope more people submit, i personally only have more modern games, but it would be interesting to see what is available to me to play without rebooting.

 

[speakerwizard]

ok, so i got quake 2 free with quake 4 spec edition, just installed in paralles and all is good other than the mouse is very eratic, was running very well at 600x800 graphically though

 

[speakerwizard]

csi is good, works perfect (software rendered)

 

[sxl95]

Does anyone know if Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 works under Parallels?

I am also curious about support for legacy games, that are from the DOS and and Windows 3.1-9x era. I'm curious as I'd like to know if the hardware that is emulated would support some of these older games, some of which are DOS, and some Windows.

Those games include:
Command and Conquer: Red Alert
Simcity 3000
Simcity Classic (Windows 3.x version)
The Original Civilization (Windows 3.x version)
Arkanoid 2 (the DOS version)
Wolfenstien 3D (DOS)
Scortched Earth (DOS)

Also, does anyone know how I could get a license to run an older version of Windows on Parallels, since anything non-NT based is no longer supported? I like the idea of emulating my old systems on a new Mac, for fun and for the sentimental value it brings.

-Sam

 

[MRU]

Does anyone know if Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 works under Parallels?

Yes it does. It's a bit jittery, i didnt see the micropose logo or rollercoaster, but it did load to the title and then the game is perfectly playable, albeit at 1024x768

 

[mrploddy]

Add Jedi Knight 2 to the playable list. Runs skily smooth at 1024x768. Only some minor graphical hiccups on loading screens.

I'll try and keep the thread top updated as people post reports.

-mrploddy

 

[Nermal]

Final Fantasy 8 - Opening Movie runs silky smooth, in game play rocks, theres some control issues which I think can be resolved by reassigning the controls for the game
STATUS: PLAYABLE

Bombs under Vista RC2. I have yet to test under 98 or XP.

 

[mrploddy]

Bombs under Vista RC2. I have yet to test under 98 or XP.

Works fine in 98. (Thats why I installed 98 as I knew things would work better than on my parallels XP image)

The FF games were primarily Windows 9x series games and werent really designed for the NT platform.

-mrploddy

 

[Nermal]

Yeah, it's just that I already had Vista installed

Edit: Tested on a "real" Vista system (RTM) and it just gives a blank screen.

 

[Nermal]

Zork Nemesis
Vista RTM
No video during movies, but the sound still works. No mouse cursor. Basically unplayable.

Windows 98 SE
Movies drop frames, and panoramas rotate much too fast. Technically playable, but not enjoyable.

 

[speakerwizard]

I think a guide should be made for mac rumors about this sugject

 

[TDM21]

I can't test this in Parallels, but the original Half-Life should work. I remember it worked under VPC using the software renderer.

 

[thr33face]

Outcast: The Game.

MacBook. Parallels. Win2k

 

[sunfast]

Good thread - wish I'd found it earlier!

Sim City 2000 works really well

MacBook and XP

 

[YanMasaryk]

Hal-Life 1

I got Half-Life to play in crossover.
I had to download the last patch before steam, which was floating around the internet, mostly because I lost the original CD key but the had the original CD.

 

[TBi]

Also, does anyone know how I could get a license to run an older version of Windows on Parallels, since anything non-NT based is no longer supported? I like the idea of emulating my old systems on a new Mac, for fun and for the sentimental value it brings.

-Sam

Find an old computer which isn't working any more and take the Windows Sticker off it. You're sure to find an old Dell with a 95 or 98 sticker on it.

 

[Hugh]

Installing Win 98

Ok,

I've searched this forum and I can't really seem to find anything which resembles what I'm about to write. I thought we should have a thread about Games Support in Parallels.

First things first and I'll make this absolutely crystal clear

THIS IS NOT A THREAD FOR GAMES WHICH *REQUIRE* DIRECT3D. THESE ARE STILL UNSUPPORTED AND WILL NOT WORK. THIS IS ONLY FOR GAMES WHICH DO NOT REQUIRE DIRECT3D TO FUNCTION. If you want Direct 3D games then bootcamp is your only option

I literally tried this just as a punt to see whether it would work and it at least to me seems that if a game doesnt require Direct3D Parallels will run it silky smooth. If you have any pre 2002 games before the onset of Direct3D as a requirement not an optional extra try them out and see if they work!!!!

My setup ->
Macbook 2Ghz with 2GB of RAM
60GB hard drive
Parallels Windows 98 SE Machine with 4GB HDD and 512MB Ram
Windows 98 has been Windozed Updated to the hilt with every available update and DirectX 9

Games That I've personally Tested So Far - I'll try out more as I have time.

Deus Ex - Works a charm. Surprsingly it detects the Parallels Video Adapator as having Direct3D support . But anyhow it works a charm. You might want to resize your screen before launch if you want full screen play.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Dungeon Keeper - Opening Movie runs a bit choppy but in game play is silky smooth and fast
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Final Fantasy 7 - Squaresoft/Chocobo logo's are a bit choppy but the opening movie is fine. Game is playable bar some control issues.
STATUS : PLAYABLE
Final Fantasy 8 - Opening Movie runs silky smooth, in game play rocks, theres some control issues which I think can be resolved by reassigning the controls for the game
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Grim Fandango - Loads straight up, no graphical corruption, silky smooth
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Jedi Knight 2 - Silky smooth at 1024x768. Only minor graphical corruption on loading screens.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
MDK- Silky smooth and fully playable.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Monkey Island 4 - Escape from Monkey Island - Works silky smooth but you have to in the advanced config change to OpenGL and 32bit colour and before you launch the game switch to 640x480 to get it full screen.
STATUS: PLAYABLE WITH CONFIG ALTERATION
Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh - Works fine, you might wanna lower the vid res before launching tho if you want full screen fids.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Quake 2- Opening ID Logo a bit choppy and CD soundtrack doesnt play but exceptiong that silky smooth on software renderer at 1024x768
STATUS: PLAYABLE

Games that other people have tested
Baldurs Gate I - Minor user interface corruption and map doesnt autoscroll but perfectly playable.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Baldurs Game II - Map doesnt autoscroll but perfectly playable.
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Civilization 3 - Game Installs but fails on copy protection
STATUS: NOT playable
CSi - Perfectly playable
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Quake 2 - Works fine at 800x600 on XP SP2
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 - Works
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 - Opening Movies dont work but in game is fine albeit perhaps slightly jittery
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Sim Tower - Speeded up play is too speedy but without that playable
STATUS: PLAYABLE
Windows Spider Solitaire - Works fine
STATUS: PLAYABLE

Regards


-mrploddy

I am wanting to play old games for my DOS/Windows 98 colections. However when after I installed Parallels, I installed 98. Windows 98 too forever(10 mins for it go to 1% to 4%). So I canceled the install. Did you have the same problems when installing then it worked fine?

I have a MacMini Core Solo 1.5Gighertz 1gigram

Hugh

 

[chicagdan]

VM Ware

You guys do know that VM Ware has DirectX 8 support now ... right? While in beta it's free, so why not try it out?

 

[princealfie]

ANyone tested guild wars yet?

 

[Sdashiki]

Do we have to list games that are also available as Mac ports?

Quake 2
Deus Ex

come immediately to mind.

im all for a comprehensive list, but this is more than we really need when it can run native on OSX...

 

[thegoldenmackid]

GTA San Andreas and EA Sports NBA Live 2005....on XP SP2 via Parallels...didnt work

 

[sunfast]

I tried GTA 2 - it's available free from Rockstar! - and that said something about not able to set correct display mode or something. Any ideas?

 

[giganten]

Does anyone know if Worms World Party works under Parallels?