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Unofficial Gaming MacBook Thread: Post Results Here
- Thread starter bobber205
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
i'm guessing that the orange box compilation would work on a macbook but that's theoretical. The only reason it would run is cos its the same engine, nothing else. If CS:S and HL2 series run it on the settings, i don't see why not.
I can't wait to get my macbook, its got the intel GMA X3100 ~ not excellent but an upgrade. Once i get this, i will test some games as i will have nothing else to do in my spare time at uni !
I can't wait to get my macbook, its got the intel GMA X3100 ~ not excellent but an upgrade. Once i get this, i will test some games as i will have nothing else to do in my spare time at uni !
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Oldblivion) XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps+ on medium settings indoors, outdoors no more than 20 FPS on lowest settings
- After countless hours of tweaking, I still haven't been able to enter the outdoor "world" of Oblivion at frame rates higher than 15-20 FPS on the absolutely LOWEST settings in Oldblivion - and just to note, the game looks so horrifically bad on lowest settings that I would honestly almost call it unplayable. Seriously, you can't see more than 20 feet away due to the fog (which is necessary to get it to move at these speeds), and it looks worse than Doom at points. Yes, the ORIGINAL Doom. Attempting to run Oldblivion outdoors on medium/high settings results in frame rates around 5 FPS or lower.
On the other hand, the game runs perfectly well indoors on medium settings, and looks quite beautiful at points. However, given the outdoor state of the game, I would suggest you question whether it's even worth the trouble, given that you will spend at least half of your time outdoors.
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps+ on medium settings indoors, outdoors no more than 20 FPS on lowest settings
- After countless hours of tweaking, I still haven't been able to enter the outdoor "world" of Oblivion at frame rates higher than 15-20 FPS on the absolutely LOWEST settings in Oldblivion - and just to note, the game looks so horrifically bad on lowest settings that I would honestly almost call it unplayable. Seriously, you can't see more than 20 feet away due to the fog (which is necessary to get it to move at these speeds), and it looks worse than Doom at points. Yes, the ORIGINAL Doom. Attempting to run Oldblivion outdoors on medium/high settings results in frame rates around 5 FPS or lower.
On the other hand, the game runs perfectly well indoors on medium settings, and looks quite beautiful at points. However, given the outdoor state of the game, I would suggest you question whether it's even worth the trouble, given that you will spend at least half of your time outdoors.
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps indoors, 15-20fps outdoors (low settings)
- After several hours of configuration tweaking and application of various parameter tricks, I managed to get Dark Messiah running remarkably well on my Macbook. The game looks absolutely stunning even on the lowest settings (provided you've applied the necessary config.ini changes, see tweakguides.com) under DirectX 8, and despite some slowdown outdoors it always remains very playable, gorgeous spell effects and all (not to mention beautifully savage decapitations).
The major problem is that, despite my best efforts, multiplayer remains virtually unplayable. The multiplayer maps are so large and contain so many players that they rarely perform above 10fps outdoors, which is obviously unacceptable for a competitive multiplayer title.
Still, the singleplayer of this game is absolutely incredible, and well worth the ridiculously low price tag on Steam. In fact, it may just be the best $20 I ever spent on gaming.
Neverwinter Nights XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30-40fps on highest settings.
- The game looks absolutely gorgeous and runs perfectly on the highest settings. I have yet to try Shadows of Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark, but I suspect they will be equally playable.
Unreal Tournament 2004 OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20 fps on highest settings, 30-40 fps on medium, 50-60 on lowest
- Absolutely no problems whatsoever since installing the UB update. The best part is that you can install this game natively on a Mac WITHOUT buying the Mac edition, instead opting for the (vastly cheaper) Windows version.
Instructions:
1. First, simply download and install the UT2004 Mac demo from Macgamefiles.
2. Rename "Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo.app" to "Unreal Tournament 2004.app"
3. Unpack the app and rename the Unix binary file inside in the same way, removing "demo" from the title.
4. Viewing the app in unpacked mode, unpack your copy of the game from your Windows CD version and drag the corresponding files/folders (maps, textures, sounds, music, etc.) to the Mac app, replacing everything (you can ignore the DLL files).
5. Apply the Universal Binary update. The update will say it can't find your copy of UT2004; simply select the app manually and you'll have no problem.
6. Unpack the UT2004 app and create a plain text file named "cdkey" (without the quotes) inside the System folder. Within that file, type your Windows version CD-key, including dashes.
7. That's it! You're all set and ready to play UT2004 natively on your Mac, WITHOUT spending a huge sum of money on the overpriced Mac version. Pick up the Windows UT2004 for under $10 on Amazon today; it's without a doubt the greatest multiplayer FPS in existence, as far as I'm concerned.
Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps average, occasionally slows down to about 40fps when unit cap is reached and units span the entire screen.
- Runs absolutely perfectly, except for its annoying tendency to occasionally lock up when you exit the program without disconnecting properly from Battle.net. To solve this issue, simply make sure to log out from Bnet completely before quitting the game (or simply go into Windowed mode before quitting in order to avoid locking up your entire computer).
Doom 3 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 15fps average
- Runs horribly on lowest settings. Not worth anyone's time of day.
Quake IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25fps indoors on low settings, 10-15fps outdoors
- Runs tolerably well on low settings, but outdoor portions can really suck the fun of it due to terrible drops in framerate. Multiplayer runs at virtually unplayable framerates on many maps (below 10fps much of the time).
Civilization IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20fps on lowest settings.
- Runs decently at lowest settings, but looks atrocious graphically. This game does not, repeat, does NOT scale well on low-end systems like the Macbook.
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps indoors, 15-20fps outdoors (low settings)
- After several hours of configuration tweaking and application of various parameter tricks, I managed to get Dark Messiah running remarkably well on my Macbook. The game looks absolutely stunning even on the lowest settings (provided you've applied the necessary config.ini changes, see tweakguides.com) under DirectX 8, and despite some slowdown outdoors it always remains very playable, gorgeous spell effects and all (not to mention beautifully savage decapitations).
The major problem is that, despite my best efforts, multiplayer remains virtually unplayable. The multiplayer maps are so large and contain so many players that they rarely perform above 10fps outdoors, which is obviously unacceptable for a competitive multiplayer title.
Still, the singleplayer of this game is absolutely incredible, and well worth the ridiculously low price tag on Steam. In fact, it may just be the best $20 I ever spent on gaming.
Neverwinter Nights XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30-40fps on highest settings.
- The game looks absolutely gorgeous and runs perfectly on the highest settings. I have yet to try Shadows of Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark, but I suspect they will be equally playable.
Unreal Tournament 2004 OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20 fps on highest settings, 30-40 fps on medium, 50-60 on lowest
- Absolutely no problems whatsoever since installing the UB update. The best part is that you can install this game natively on a Mac WITHOUT buying the Mac edition, instead opting for the (vastly cheaper) Windows version.
Instructions:
1. First, simply download and install the UT2004 Mac demo from Macgamefiles.
2. Rename "Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo.app" to "Unreal Tournament 2004.app"
3. Unpack the app and rename the Unix binary file inside in the same way, removing "demo" from the title.
4. Viewing the app in unpacked mode, unpack your copy of the game from your Windows CD version and drag the corresponding files/folders (maps, textures, sounds, music, etc.) to the Mac app, replacing everything (you can ignore the DLL files).
5. Apply the Universal Binary update. The update will say it can't find your copy of UT2004; simply select the app manually and you'll have no problem.
6. Unpack the UT2004 app and create a plain text file named "cdkey" (without the quotes) inside the System folder. Within that file, type your Windows version CD-key, including dashes.
7. That's it! You're all set and ready to play UT2004 natively on your Mac, WITHOUT spending a huge sum of money on the overpriced Mac version. Pick up the Windows UT2004 for under $10 on Amazon today; it's without a doubt the greatest multiplayer FPS in existence, as far as I'm concerned.
Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps average, occasionally slows down to about 40fps when unit cap is reached and units span the entire screen.
- Runs absolutely perfectly, except for its annoying tendency to occasionally lock up when you exit the program without disconnecting properly from Battle.net. To solve this issue, simply make sure to log out from Bnet completely before quitting the game (or simply go into Windowed mode before quitting in order to avoid locking up your entire computer).
Doom 3 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 15fps average
- Runs horribly on lowest settings. Not worth anyone's time of day.
Quake IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25fps indoors on low settings, 10-15fps outdoors
- Runs tolerably well on low settings, but outdoor portions can really suck the fun of it due to terrible drops in framerate. Multiplayer runs at virtually unplayable framerates on many maps (below 10fps much of the time).
Call of Duty 2 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps indoors on high settings, 20-30fps outdoors on high settings.
- Runs beautifully. Indoors, the game is absolutely indistinguishable from its Xbox 360 counterpart - and this is on a Macbook! Outdoors, performance ranges from acceptable to excellent depending on the scale of the battle, although heavy presence of smoke can cause the framerate to stutter significantly, even dropping as low as 15fps inside a heavy cloud (lowering settings does nothing to alleviate this).
Highly recommended, possibly the most graphically impressive title I've ever seen running natively on OSX.
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps indoors, 15-20fps outdoors (low settings)
- After several hours of configuration tweaking and application of various parameter tricks, I managed to get Dark Messiah running remarkably well on my Macbook. The game looks absolutely stunning even on the lowest settings (provided you've applied the necessary config.ini changes, see tweakguides.com) under DirectX 8, and despite some slowdown outdoors it always remains very playable, gorgeous spell effects and all (not to mention beautifully savage decapitations).
The major problem is that, despite my best efforts, multiplayer remains virtually unplayable. The multiplayer maps are so large and contain so many players that they rarely perform above 10fps outdoors, which is obviously unacceptable for a competitive multiplayer title.
Still, the singleplayer of this game is absolutely incredible, and well worth the ridiculously low price tag on Steam. In fact, it may just be the best $20 I ever spent on gaming.
Neverwinter Nights XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30-40fps on highest settings.
- The game looks absolutely gorgeous and runs perfectly on the highest settings. I have yet to try Shadows of Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark, but I suspect they will be equally playable.
Unreal Tournament 2004 OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20 fps on highest settings, 30-40 fps on medium, 50-60 on lowest
- Absolutely no problems whatsoever since installing the UB update. The best part is that you can install this game natively on a Mac WITHOUT buying the Mac edition, instead opting for the (vastly cheaper) Windows version.
Instructions:
1. First, simply download and install the UT2004 Mac demo from Macgamefiles.
2. Rename "Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo.app" to "Unreal Tournament 2004.app"
3. Unpack the app and rename the Unix binary file inside in the same way, removing "demo" from the title.
4. Viewing the app in unpacked mode, unpack your copy of the game from your Windows CD version and drag the corresponding files/folders (maps, textures, sounds, music, etc.) to the Mac app, replacing everything (you can ignore the DLL files).
5. Apply the Universal Binary update. The update will say it can't find your copy of UT2004; simply select the app manually and you'll have no problem.
6. Unpack the UT2004 app and create a plain text file named "cdkey" (without the quotes) inside the System folder. Within that file, type your Windows version CD-key, including dashes.
7. That's it! You're all set and ready to play UT2004 natively on your Mac, WITHOUT spending a huge sum of money on the overpriced Mac version. Pick up the Windows UT2004 for under $10 on Amazon today; it's without a doubt the greatest multiplayer FPS in existence, as far as I'm concerned.
Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps average, occasionally slows down to about 40fps when unit cap is reached and units span the entire screen.
- Runs absolutely perfectly, except for its annoying tendency to occasionally lock up when you exit the program without disconnecting properly from Battle.net. To solve this issue, simply make sure to log out from Bnet completely before quitting the game (or simply go into Windowed mode before quitting in order to avoid locking up your entire computer).
Doom 3 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 15fps average
- Runs horribly on lowest settings. Not worth anyone's time of day.
Quake IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25fps indoors on low settings, 10-15fps outdoors
- Runs tolerably well on low settings, but outdoor portions can really suck the fun of it due to terrible drops in framerate. Multiplayer runs at virtually unplayable framerates on many maps (below 10fps much of the time).
Counterstrike: Source OSX via Crossover Mac (runs through Mac's native CGL)
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20-25fps on medium/low settings, significantly reduced performance on high settings (read: unplayable, 10fps and under).
- While unplayable via Boot Camp, CS:S runs quite well natively on my Macbook via Crossover, as I discovered the other day. I rarely experienced any slowdown or stuttering, although I will note that playing CS:S at 20fps can cause a hit to skill for those used to playing it on much better machines (as I am). Still, it runs well enough to be highly recommended for fans who are tired of playing CS 1.6.
Half-Life 2 OSX via Crossover Mac
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25-30fps on medium settings.
- Runs remarkably well natively through Crossover, with the exception of the introduction cutscene and the credits (both of which appear as a black screen). Results are, on average, just as good as my experiences with HL2 on Bootcamp.
Half-Life 2: Episode One OSX via Crossover Mac
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20fps on lowest settings.
- Runs at a playable rate on lowest settings through Crossover, again with the exception of the introduction cutscene and the credits (both of which appear as a black screen, exactly as with HL2). The frame rate can occasionally slow down to as low as 15fps during intense firefights, which is rather disappointing and reduces the entertainment value of the game significantly at times. Still, it plays well enough that I still recommend it; however, if you have Boot Camp, the difference in performance is significant enough that I would still encourage you to play the game on your Windows XP partition.
Well, that's enough for the moment. I've got a host of other games I plan to re-install on my Macbook in order to accurately rate for the benefit of other members here. I know just how frustrating it is to meet the minimum requirements for a game and find out it's absolutely unplayable, or to hesitate buying games at all because of it. Hopefully my test results are useful for others in that same situation.
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps indoors, 15-20fps outdoors (low settings)
- After several hours of configuration tweaking and application of various parameter tricks, I managed to get Dark Messiah running remarkably well on my Macbook. The game looks absolutely stunning even on the lowest settings (provided you've applied the necessary config.ini changes, see tweakguides.com) under DirectX 8, and despite some slowdown outdoors it always remains very playable, gorgeous spell effects and all (not to mention beautifully savage decapitations).
The major problem is that, despite my best efforts, multiplayer remains virtually unplayable. The multiplayer maps are so large and contain so many players that they rarely perform above 10fps outdoors, which is obviously unacceptable for a competitive multiplayer title.
Still, the singleplayer of this game is absolutely incredible, and well worth the ridiculously low price tag on Steam. In fact, it may just be the best $20 I ever spent on gaming.
Neverwinter Nights XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30-40fps on highest settings.
- The game looks absolutely gorgeous and runs perfectly on the highest settings. I have yet to try Shadows of Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark, but I suspect they will be equally playable.
Unreal Tournament 2004 OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20 fps on highest settings, 30-40 fps on medium, 50-60 on lowest
- Absolutely no problems whatsoever since installing the UB update. The best part is that you can install this game natively on a Mac WITHOUT buying the Mac edition, instead opting for the (vastly cheaper) Windows version.
Instructions:
1. First, simply download and install the UT2004 Mac demo from Macgamefiles.
2. Rename "Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo.app" to "Unreal Tournament 2004.app"
3. Unpack the app and rename the Unix binary file inside in the same way, removing "demo" from the title.
4. Viewing the app in unpacked mode, unpack your copy of the game from your Windows CD version and drag the corresponding files/folders (maps, textures, sounds, music, etc.) to the Mac app, replacing everything (you can ignore the DLL files).
5. Apply the Universal Binary update. The update will say it can't find your copy of UT2004; simply select the app manually and you'll have no problem.
6. Unpack the UT2004 app and create a plain text file named "cdkey" (without the quotes) inside the System folder. Within that file, type your Windows version CD-key, including dashes.
7. That's it! You're all set and ready to play UT2004 natively on your Mac, WITHOUT spending a huge sum of money on the overpriced Mac version. Pick up the Windows UT2004 for under $10 on Amazon today; it's without a doubt the greatest multiplayer FPS in existence, as far as I'm concerned.
Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps average, occasionally slows down to about 40fps when unit cap is reached and units span the entire screen.
- Runs absolutely perfectly, except for its annoying tendency to occasionally lock up when you exit the program without disconnecting properly from Battle.net. To solve this issue, simply make sure to log out from Bnet completely before quitting the game (or simply go into Windowed mode before quitting in order to avoid locking up your entire computer).
Doom 3 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 15fps average
- Runs horribly on lowest settings. Not worth anyone's time of day.
Quake IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25fps indoors on low settings, 10-15fps outdoors
- Runs tolerably well on low settings, but outdoor portions can really suck the fun of it due to terrible drops in framerate. Multiplayer runs at virtually unplayable framerates on many maps (below 10fps much of the time).
Civilization IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20fps on lowest settings.
- Runs decently at lowest settings, but looks atrocious graphically. This game does not, repeat, does NOT scale well on low-end systems like the Macbook.
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps indoors, 15-20fps outdoors (low settings)
- After several hours of configuration tweaking and application of various parameter tricks, I managed to get Dark Messiah running remarkably well on my Macbook. The game looks absolutely stunning even on the lowest settings (provided you've applied the necessary config.ini changes, see tweakguides.com) under DirectX 8, and despite some slowdown outdoors it always remains very playable, gorgeous spell effects and all (not to mention beautifully savage decapitations).
The major problem is that, despite my best efforts, multiplayer remains virtually unplayable. The multiplayer maps are so large and contain so many players that they rarely perform above 10fps outdoors, which is obviously unacceptable for a competitive multiplayer title.
Still, the singleplayer of this game is absolutely incredible, and well worth the ridiculously low price tag on Steam. In fact, it may just be the best $20 I ever spent on gaming.
Neverwinter Nights XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30-40fps on highest settings.
- The game looks absolutely gorgeous and runs perfectly on the highest settings. I have yet to try Shadows of Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark, but I suspect they will be equally playable.
Unreal Tournament 2004 OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20 fps on highest settings, 30-40 fps on medium, 50-60 on lowest
- Absolutely no problems whatsoever since installing the UB update. The best part is that you can install this game natively on a Mac WITHOUT buying the Mac edition, instead opting for the (vastly cheaper) Windows version.
Instructions:
1. First, simply download and install the UT2004 Mac demo from Macgamefiles.
2. Rename "Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo.app" to "Unreal Tournament 2004.app"
3. Unpack the app and rename the Unix binary file inside in the same way, removing "demo" from the title.
4. Viewing the app in unpacked mode, unpack your copy of the game from your Windows CD version and drag the corresponding files/folders (maps, textures, sounds, music, etc.) to the Mac app, replacing everything (you can ignore the DLL files).
5. Apply the Universal Binary update. The update will say it can't find your copy of UT2004; simply select the app manually and you'll have no problem.
6. Unpack the UT2004 app and create a plain text file named "cdkey" (without the quotes) inside the System folder. Within that file, type your Windows version CD-key, including dashes.
7. That's it! You're all set and ready to play UT2004 natively on your Mac, WITHOUT spending a huge sum of money on the overpriced Mac version. Pick up the Windows UT2004 for under $10 on Amazon today; it's without a doubt the greatest multiplayer FPS in existence, as far as I'm concerned.
Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps average, occasionally slows down to about 40fps when unit cap is reached and units span the entire screen.
- Runs absolutely perfectly, except for its annoying tendency to occasionally lock up when you exit the program without disconnecting properly from Battle.net. To solve this issue, simply make sure to log out from Bnet completely before quitting the game (or simply go into Windowed mode before quitting in order to avoid locking up your entire computer).
Doom 3 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 15fps average
- Runs horribly on lowest settings. Not worth anyone's time of day.
Quake IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25fps indoors on low settings, 10-15fps outdoors
- Runs tolerably well on low settings, but outdoor portions can really suck the fun of it due to terrible drops in framerate. Multiplayer runs at virtually unplayable framerates on many maps (below 10fps much of the time).
Call of Duty 2 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps indoors on high settings, 20-30fps outdoors on high settings.
- Runs beautifully. Indoors, the game is absolutely indistinguishable from its Xbox 360 counterpart - and this is on a Macbook! Outdoors, performance ranges from acceptable to excellent depending on the scale of the battle, although heavy presence of smoke can cause the framerate to stutter significantly, even dropping as low as 15fps inside a heavy cloud (lowering settings does nothing to alleviate this).
Highly recommended, possibly the most graphically impressive title I've ever seen running natively on OSX.
Dark Messiah: Might and Magic XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30fps indoors, 15-20fps outdoors (low settings)
- After several hours of configuration tweaking and application of various parameter tricks, I managed to get Dark Messiah running remarkably well on my Macbook. The game looks absolutely stunning even on the lowest settings (provided you've applied the necessary config.ini changes, see tweakguides.com) under DirectX 8, and despite some slowdown outdoors it always remains very playable, gorgeous spell effects and all (not to mention beautifully savage decapitations).
The major problem is that, despite my best efforts, multiplayer remains virtually unplayable. The multiplayer maps are so large and contain so many players that they rarely perform above 10fps outdoors, which is obviously unacceptable for a competitive multiplayer title.
Still, the singleplayer of this game is absolutely incredible, and well worth the ridiculously low price tag on Steam. In fact, it may just be the best $20 I ever spent on gaming.
Neverwinter Nights XP / Bootcamp
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 30-40fps on highest settings.
- The game looks absolutely gorgeous and runs perfectly on the highest settings. I have yet to try Shadows of Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark, but I suspect they will be equally playable.
Unreal Tournament 2004 OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20 fps on highest settings, 30-40 fps on medium, 50-60 on lowest
- Absolutely no problems whatsoever since installing the UB update. The best part is that you can install this game natively on a Mac WITHOUT buying the Mac edition, instead opting for the (vastly cheaper) Windows version.
Instructions:
1. First, simply download and install the UT2004 Mac demo from Macgamefiles.
2. Rename "Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo.app" to "Unreal Tournament 2004.app"
3. Unpack the app and rename the Unix binary file inside in the same way, removing "demo" from the title.
4. Viewing the app in unpacked mode, unpack your copy of the game from your Windows CD version and drag the corresponding files/folders (maps, textures, sounds, music, etc.) to the Mac app, replacing everything (you can ignore the DLL files).
5. Apply the Universal Binary update. The update will say it can't find your copy of UT2004; simply select the app manually and you'll have no problem.
6. Unpack the UT2004 app and create a plain text file named "cdkey" (without the quotes) inside the System folder. Within that file, type your Windows version CD-key, including dashes.
7. That's it! You're all set and ready to play UT2004 natively on your Mac, WITHOUT spending a huge sum of money on the overpriced Mac version. Pick up the Windows UT2004 for under $10 on Amazon today; it's without a doubt the greatest multiplayer FPS in existence, as far as I'm concerned.
Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne OSX, UB update
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 50fps average, occasionally slows down to about 40fps when unit cap is reached and units span the entire screen.
- Runs absolutely perfectly, except for its annoying tendency to occasionally lock up when you exit the program without disconnecting properly from Battle.net. To solve this issue, simply make sure to log out from Bnet completely before quitting the game (or simply go into Windowed mode before quitting in order to avoid locking up your entire computer).
Doom 3 OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 15fps average
- Runs horribly on lowest settings. Not worth anyone's time of day.
Quake IV OSX
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25fps indoors on low settings, 10-15fps outdoors
- Runs tolerably well on low settings, but outdoor portions can really suck the fun of it due to terrible drops in framerate. Multiplayer runs at virtually unplayable framerates on many maps (below 10fps much of the time).
Counterstrike: Source OSX via Crossover Mac (runs through Mac's native CGL)
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20-25fps on medium/low settings, significantly reduced performance on high settings (read: unplayable, 10fps and under).
- While unplayable via Boot Camp, CS:S runs quite well natively on my Macbook via Crossover, as I discovered the other day. I rarely experienced any slowdown or stuttering, although I will note that playing CS:S at 20fps can cause a hit to skill for those used to playing it on much better machines (as I am). Still, it runs well enough to be highly recommended for fans who are tired of playing CS 1.6.
Half-Life 2 OSX via Crossover Mac
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 25-30fps on medium settings.
- Runs remarkably well natively through Crossover, with the exception of the introduction cutscene and the credits (both of which appear as a black screen). Results are, on average, just as good as my experiences with HL2 on Bootcamp.
Half-Life 2: Episode One OSX via Crossover Mac
- MacBook 2GHz, 2GB RAM
- 20fps on lowest settings.
- Runs at a playable rate on lowest settings through Crossover, again with the exception of the introduction cutscene and the credits (both of which appear as a black screen, exactly as with HL2). The frame rate can occasionally slow down to as low as 15fps during intense firefights, which is rather disappointing and reduces the entertainment value of the game significantly at times. Still, it plays well enough that I still recommend it; however, if you have Boot Camp, the difference in performance is significant enough that I would still encourage you to play the game on your Windows XP partition.
Well, that's enough for the moment. I've got a host of other games I plan to re-install on my Macbook in order to accurately rate for the benefit of other members here. I know just how frustrating it is to meet the minimum requirements for a game and find out it's absolutely unplayable, or to hesitate buying games at all because of it. Hopefully my test results are useful for others in that same situation.
It's ok, just click Edit under the post and you can delete the extra text.
I remember trying to run Halo (Universal Binary) on my MacBook and I got horrible results, however Unreal Tournament 2004 (as seen by the results) actually ran pretty well and was smooth with the details turned down.
It's ok, just click Edit under the post and you can delete the extra text.
I remember trying to run Halo (Universal Binary) on my MacBook and I got horrible results, however Unreal Tournament 2004 (as seen by the results) actually ran pretty well and was smooth with the details turned down.
Did you play the UB update of UT2004? Because I've been able to achieve rather impressive framerates even with fairly high settings.
Actually, I had very good experiences with the UB version of Halo as well. I haven't played it in quite some time, but if I remember correctly I managed to achieve a good 25fps outdoors on the right settings (around medium), which was certainly not horrible by any means.
Also, what are your Macbook stats? Both these titles are extremely RAM-intensive games (especially UT2004), and from what I've been told the processor speed makes a remarkable difference for Halo.
To Kwub,
Wow! That's a lot of good info on gaming. Can we assume that your MacBook has the new X3100 integrated graphics chip?
Also, any tips on how to know what a game will be most hungry for hardware-wise, i.e.- one game likes a lot of RAM, another benefits from a fast CPU, and another is all about the GPU?
Thanks!
Wow! That's a lot of good info on gaming. Can we assume that your MacBook has the new X3100 integrated graphics chip?
Also, any tips on how to know what a game will be most hungry for hardware-wise, i.e.- one game likes a lot of RAM, another benefits from a fast CPU, and another is all about the GPU?
Thanks!
It's actually a GMA 950, not the X3100. I can start posting extensive testing results on individual games, but for the moment I've essentially been installing them, tweaking them around, and playing them for an hour or so before uninstalling and moving on to testing the next.
For the most part, RAM seems to be consistently the single most important factor affecting the titles I've tested, seeing how much worse they perform on otherwise identical Macbooks with merely 1 gb of RAM instead of 2.
Thanks for the reply, Kwub.
You give me hope that Oblivion might play decently on my new 2.2GHz BlackBook with x3100 and 4GB of RAM (don't worry, I didn't buy the RAM from Apple!). Unfortunately, 32bit XP Pro can only address 3GB of RAM, but still not too shabby.
When I get a chance to try some games, I'll give a report to this thread.
Happy gaming!
You give me hope that Oblivion might play decently on my new 2.2GHz BlackBook with x3100 and 4GB of RAM (don't worry, I didn't buy the RAM from Apple!). Unfortunately, 32bit XP Pro can only address 3GB of RAM, but still not too shabby.
When I get a chance to try some games, I'll give a report to this thread.
Happy gaming!
Let me know what sort of results you get with the x3100. It would be very interesting to see a truly playable Oblivion (outdoors, that is) on a non-Pro Macbook.
Ugh - no dice so far
Had some extra money in pocket at Target last night and plunked the $30 down for Oblivion.
So far, though, it won't run. I've messed with a few things and run DXDiag, which all went swimmingly, straight through DX9 hardware acceleration.
And when I say won't run, I mean, it doesn't launch. I get a little window in the upper left and then an error message saying it had to close.
Oldblivion didn't change the situation at all. Highly considering taking it back and trading for NWN2.
I downloaded Call of Duty - United Offense Demo last week. Cranked it to highest settings and it ran great. So go figure.
Any hints?
: )
Had some extra money in pocket at Target last night and plunked the $30 down for Oblivion.
So far, though, it won't run. I've messed with a few things and run DXDiag, which all went swimmingly, straight through DX9 hardware acceleration.
And when I say won't run, I mean, it doesn't launch. I get a little window in the upper left and then an error message saying it had to close.
Oldblivion didn't change the situation at all. Highly considering taking it back and trading for NWN2.
I downloaded Call of Duty - United Offense Demo last week. Cranked it to highest settings and it ran great. So go figure.
Any hints?
: )
Success. Not the RAM.
Not surprisingly, I suppose, I beileve it was the driver for the GMA965. The driver that Apple installs is not on Intel's build list. I had downloaded Intel's latest offering, the 14.31.10.4864 but hadn't installed as it seemed that it, too, had some bugs that weren't necessarily any better than the .48XX official release before .4864.
But with 14.31.4864 Oblvion came right up. Interesting game so far. Haven't gotten outside, yet, but I think I'm close.
1280x800 at low settings did look nice and played fine if I were just walking around on my own, but definitely slowed up a bit when action got underway with 2 or 3 enemies. I need to look up to see how to get it to show FPS. Still not sold on the game. Not sure how I feel about the First Person Shooter style of RPG. I feel like my character would be more successful if combat were left to the dice, but then, lining up an arrow shot from distance makes me feel like I'm sniping, which is neat.
One of the things about RPG that I dig is party play. I like Baldur's Gate II better than Neverwinter Nights (which looks and interacts awesome) because the story is so much richer.
Anywho, second report is pretty decent.
Not surprisingly, I suppose, I beileve it was the driver for the GMA965. The driver that Apple installs is not on Intel's build list. I had downloaded Intel's latest offering, the 14.31.10.4864 but hadn't installed as it seemed that it, too, had some bugs that weren't necessarily any better than the .48XX official release before .4864.
But with 14.31.4864 Oblvion came right up. Interesting game so far. Haven't gotten outside, yet, but I think I'm close.
1280x800 at low settings did look nice and played fine if I were just walking around on my own, but definitely slowed up a bit when action got underway with 2 or 3 enemies. I need to look up to see how to get it to show FPS. Still not sold on the game. Not sure how I feel about the First Person Shooter style of RPG. I feel like my character would be more successful if combat were left to the dice, but then, lining up an arrow shot from distance makes me feel like I'm sniping, which is neat.
One of the things about RPG that I dig is party play. I like Baldur's Gate II better than Neverwinter Nights (which looks and interacts awesome) because the story is so much richer.
Anywho, second report is pretty decent.
Plasma Pong 1.3c (Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard)
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 1 GB memory, Intel GMA 950
- 48 to 52 fps on average (1280x800)
Plasma Pong isn't too intensive on the graphics side of things, but 50 fps is amazing compared to 25 fps on my older machine running Vista.
Paintball 2.0 Alpha build019 (Windows XP)
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 1 GB memory, Intel GMA 950
- 30 fps (1280x800)
The framerate is just a guess. As far as I know, there's no way of me knowing for sure, but the framerate is quite smooth compared to it running on my Vista machine with an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500.
All in all I find the Intel GMA 950 to be enough for the casual or light gamer.
P.S. Just a suggestion to the thread starter. You might want to require people to post the screen resolution used for each game as this definitely has an effect on the framerate.
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 1 GB memory, Intel GMA 950
- 48 to 52 fps on average (1280x800)
Plasma Pong isn't too intensive on the graphics side of things, but 50 fps is amazing compared to 25 fps on my older machine running Vista.
Paintball 2.0 Alpha build019 (Windows XP)
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, 1 GB memory, Intel GMA 950
- 30 fps (1280x800)
The framerate is just a guess. As far as I know, there's no way of me knowing for sure, but the framerate is quite smooth compared to it running on my Vista machine with an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500.
All in all I find the Intel GMA 950 to be enough for the casual or light gamer.
P.S. Just a suggestion to the thread starter. You might want to require people to post the screen resolution used for each game as this definitely has an effect on the framerate.
Gothic, Gothic 2 Gold - Macbook, stock white 2.2 GHz (GMA3100, 1GB RAM)
Gothic runs perfectly (still buggy) on max settings. Gothic 2 Gold (so far) is running well on maximum settings, gets slightly choppy sometimes when there's a wide area in sight. Might be perfect with extra RAM.
Don't think I'm going to even try to run Gothic 3, though.
Gothic runs perfectly (still buggy) on max settings. Gothic 2 Gold (so far) is running well on maximum settings, gets slightly choppy sometimes when there's a wide area in sight. Might be perfect with extra RAM.
Don't think I'm going to even try to run Gothic 3, though.
It's been a while, but I have some more results on some games.
Oblivion: Well, I got bored. I returned the game. What I did find was curious. I did get outside and to the city. I seemed to max out at about 10fps outdoors. I might have seen upper teens indoors. Mostly, though, I was about 7 or 8 fps outdoors. I played with most effects turned off at either 1024x768 or 1280x800. Adding effects definitely slowed things down, to about 5fps. Interestingly, resolution didn't seem to have much effect. If I put everything at the lowest, outdoors I might have gotten about 9fps. So, I think what I did play was at 1280x800, 'cus I figured if it's gonna be pokey, it might as well look nice. On the other hand, I didn't think 7/8fps was so bad and would consider it playable. Though, I didn't have any combat outdoors.
NeverWinter Nights 2 (for Windows): what I returned Oblivion for. I was quickly pulled into the story. I've played that at 1280x800, too, as resolution seems to have virtually no effect on fps. Again, I figure if it's gonna run slow, it might as well look nice. Again, I get about 7/8fps at 1280x800 at low detail, low shadow, and no extra shadow effects on. More shadow effects definitely slow things down, maybe 5pfs. Rotating the camera by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen is jumpy, but using the arrow keys is pretty smooth. Using the keyboard for movement has a little lag and lacks precision, but is doable. Overall, I find the game very playable and very enjoyable. Even with low detail, at 1280x800 (native resolution for the MacBook) the game looks nice and sharp.
Testing different settings with Oblivion and NWN2 and reading reports that 30fps should be minimum for RPG, I went back to NWN 1 for Mac.
I had finished the original NWN 1 on my 12"PBG4, 1.5/768, 64VRAM NVIDIA FX5200GO and had played that at pretty high settings with good results.
I copied over my old install of NWN 1 to my MacBook and gave it a go. The only saved games I still had were from Hordes of the Underdark in the dungeon. I found that I am getting low to mid 20s on fps regardless of settings. I couldn't do anything to get higher than 27/28fps. Regardless of reported fps, camera rotation and movement was always very smooth and everything looked fabulous: detail and multiple dancing shadows on all three characters in the party and other effects in the game.
So what's the deal with FPS in RPGs? Why the "need" for such high fps?
A couple more reports (all in OSX):
Rise of Nations Gold for Mac: seems to play fine (no noticeable difference from my 12"PBG4 noted above).
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn: also seems to play well, possibly a bit faster than on my 12"PBG4 (I play at 1024x768 with "3d effects" turned off).
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: runs great. First set up was with mostly high options and ran about 70fps. I then turned everything to highest and it dropped to 30-40fps with occasional dips below 30. Still quite nice.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead and Breakthrough: neither would launch. I spent maybe a couple hours digging through config files and the packages. Both Spearhead and Breakthrough get stuck at launch with what appears to be an inability to load OpenGL correctly. Phooey. This seems to be a hit or miss thing on Intel Macs. A big "Huh."
That's all I got!
Oblivion: Well, I got bored. I returned the game. What I did find was curious. I did get outside and to the city. I seemed to max out at about 10fps outdoors. I might have seen upper teens indoors. Mostly, though, I was about 7 or 8 fps outdoors. I played with most effects turned off at either 1024x768 or 1280x800. Adding effects definitely slowed things down, to about 5fps. Interestingly, resolution didn't seem to have much effect. If I put everything at the lowest, outdoors I might have gotten about 9fps. So, I think what I did play was at 1280x800, 'cus I figured if it's gonna be pokey, it might as well look nice. On the other hand, I didn't think 7/8fps was so bad and would consider it playable. Though, I didn't have any combat outdoors.
NeverWinter Nights 2 (for Windows): what I returned Oblivion for. I was quickly pulled into the story. I've played that at 1280x800, too, as resolution seems to have virtually no effect on fps. Again, I figure if it's gonna run slow, it might as well look nice. Again, I get about 7/8fps at 1280x800 at low detail, low shadow, and no extra shadow effects on. More shadow effects definitely slow things down, maybe 5pfs. Rotating the camera by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen is jumpy, but using the arrow keys is pretty smooth. Using the keyboard for movement has a little lag and lacks precision, but is doable. Overall, I find the game very playable and very enjoyable. Even with low detail, at 1280x800 (native resolution for the MacBook) the game looks nice and sharp.
Testing different settings with Oblivion and NWN2 and reading reports that 30fps should be minimum for RPG, I went back to NWN 1 for Mac.
I had finished the original NWN 1 on my 12"PBG4, 1.5/768, 64VRAM NVIDIA FX5200GO and had played that at pretty high settings with good results.
I copied over my old install of NWN 1 to my MacBook and gave it a go. The only saved games I still had were from Hordes of the Underdark in the dungeon. I found that I am getting low to mid 20s on fps regardless of settings. I couldn't do anything to get higher than 27/28fps. Regardless of reported fps, camera rotation and movement was always very smooth and everything looked fabulous: detail and multiple dancing shadows on all three characters in the party and other effects in the game.
So what's the deal with FPS in RPGs? Why the "need" for such high fps?
A couple more reports (all in OSX):
Rise of Nations Gold for Mac: seems to play fine (no noticeable difference from my 12"PBG4 noted above).
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn: also seems to play well, possibly a bit faster than on my 12"PBG4 (I play at 1024x768 with "3d effects" turned off).
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: runs great. First set up was with mostly high options and ran about 70fps. I then turned everything to highest and it dropped to 30-40fps with occasional dips below 30. Still quite nice.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead and Breakthrough: neither would launch. I spent maybe a couple hours digging through config files and the packages. Both Spearhead and Breakthrough get stuck at launch with what appears to be an inability to load OpenGL correctly. Phooey. This seems to be a hit or miss thing on Intel Macs. A big "Huh."
That's all I got!
THis is for the Intel GMA 950 macbook.
2.16ghz
1gb ram
Portal all low settings, portal render depth 2 : Playable, usually 20FPS or so, except in big vast areas. Horribel lighting, but you get used to it.
Team Fortress 2: CHoppy, Barely Playable, 10FPS or so, medium settings. Ironically runs better on medium than on low.
HalfLife 2: Very good, Very smooth, Medium-high settings.
2.16ghz
1gb ram
Portal all low settings, portal render depth 2 : Playable, usually 20FPS or so, except in big vast areas. Horribel lighting, but you get used to it.
Team Fortress 2: CHoppy, Barely Playable, 10FPS or so, medium settings. Ironically runs better on medium than on low.
HalfLife 2: Very good, Very smooth, Medium-high settings.
Hey i've previously posted my results in the thread "Macbook games, what ive tried", but i can see that my experience is useful for this thread's readers.
I have the newest macbook (GMA X3100) with 1 gb ram and 2 GHz CPU.
All Source engine games
All playable in windows. But you must set -dxlevel 81 in launch options, this makes it run under DirectX 8.1. Especially if you want TF2 and CS:S to be playable. Team Fortress 2 and HL2 ep2 will run a bit worse then the oldest source games, but playable at the cost of graphics detail. TF2 playable except at distant outdoor views. Portal works like a charm.
WOW
Runs totally fine in 1200x800. I havent touched the quality settings cause it runs fine both in normal and windowed mode. Can run many apps in the background at the same time too. Lags when i fly into undercity, but not when i walk around. have only played to lvl 20 so havent been in a crowded city, but i assume i will have to decrease quality settings then to run smoothly.
Starcraft
Works like a charm (no surprise) and is a game that i recommend to everybody. Lots of fun playing a lan game against friends. Can play lan games with windows machines as well as Macs. Just remember to upgrade everyones game with the lastes update
Ford Racing 2
Works fine under medium/low settings. Okey game for the bus etc... But close to be the worst driving game i've played.
See my post on page 16 in the "Macbook games, what ive tried"-thread for more specific info about the steam games.
Im getting 4gb of ram tomorrow. I hope this will increase the performance! I will post here if it does
-Soab
I have the newest macbook (GMA X3100) with 1 gb ram and 2 GHz CPU.
All Source engine games
All playable in windows. But you must set -dxlevel 81 in launch options, this makes it run under DirectX 8.1. Especially if you want TF2 and CS:S to be playable. Team Fortress 2 and HL2 ep2 will run a bit worse then the oldest source games, but playable at the cost of graphics detail. TF2 playable except at distant outdoor views. Portal works like a charm.
WOW
Runs totally fine in 1200x800. I havent touched the quality settings cause it runs fine both in normal and windowed mode. Can run many apps in the background at the same time too. Lags when i fly into undercity, but not when i walk around. have only played to lvl 20 so havent been in a crowded city, but i assume i will have to decrease quality settings then to run smoothly.
Starcraft
Works like a charm (no surprise
) and is a game that i recommend to everybody. Lots of fun playing a lan game against friends. Can play lan games with windows machines as well as Macs. Just remember to upgrade everyones game with the lastes update Ford Racing 2
Works fine under medium/low settings. Okey game for the bus etc... But close to be the worst driving game i've played.
See my post on page 16 in the "Macbook games, what ive tried"-thread for more specific info about the steam games.
Im getting 4gb of ram tomorrow. I hope this will increase the performance! I will post here if it does
-Soab
Team Fortress 2
-2.0 ghz
-1 gig of ram
-Vista
-X3100 graphics
Well alot of people were saying how they could run TF2 on their mac, so I thought I'd give it a try. It failed.
A FPS of 5-10 on average. Barely playable. I was very dissapointed. Obviously pulled down all the graphics and stuff, but still unplayable. Tried dxlevel 80, but to no avail.
Word of advice, use crossover. I heard it got a better framerate.
-2.0 ghz
-1 gig of ram
-Vista
-X3100 graphics
Well alot of people were saying how they could run TF2 on their mac, so I thought I'd give it a try. It failed.
A FPS of 5-10 on average. Barely playable. I was very dissapointed. Obviously pulled down all the graphics and stuff, but still unplayable. Tried dxlevel 80, but to no avail.
Word of advice, use crossover. I heard it got a better framerate.
Cant agree fully with you on that. i get at least 20-30 fps, and the game is playable except at places where you see a long way. I think your problem is that you dont have the latest driver for vista, i experienced a great difference. From hl2 not running at all to running playable. But all in all i wouldnt recommend this computer for playing tf2.
Well actually, I did get the latest version. Or at least I think I did.
Information says 7.14.10.1364 is the version I have. Maybe Installation went wrong???
Anyways, I managed to get it up to 10-20 fps, somewhat playable.
Could you explain your tweakings?
*EDIT* Rofl nvm at what I just said.
Information says 7.14.10.1364 is the version I have. Maybe Installation went wrong???
Anyways, I managed to get it up to 10-20 fps, somewhat playable.
Could you explain your tweakings?
*EDIT* Rofl nvm at what I just said.
Has anyone played Age of Empires 3 on the 2.2 macbook SR?
I read through the thread and didn't see anything about it?
I read through the thread and didn't see anything about it?
Ok, just to extend this thread a bit longer.
I am looking at getting a Macbook 2.2. with 2 gigs of ram. The games I am interested in playing under WIndows are Call of Duty and Counterstrike: Source. I will be playing these games at lan parties. Is this possible with this machine?
Thanks.
I am looking at getting a Macbook 2.2. with 2 gigs of ram. The games I am interested in playing under WIndows are Call of Duty and Counterstrike: Source. I will be playing these games at lan parties. Is this possible with this machine?
Thanks.